Wind speed on a summit

Pre SOTA found myself airbourne on Cat bells in the lakes - was blown about 2m and had to crawl off the ridge (which isn’t very sharp). I’m guessing in excess of 80MPH gust?? Paul

1 Like

I remember on one summit in the Lake District (but right now can’t remember which!) it was blowing a hooley and to move into it I had to lean forward at some ridiculous angle, about 30deg from the vertical. This worked well until a companion crossed in front of me which cut the force of the wind and I went flat on my face! On another occasion a group of us were nearing the summit of Mynnydd Mawr (NW-026) in windy conditions and it started to rain. One guy started to put his cagoul on and a sudden enormous gust lifted him right off the ground and deposited him unhurt several metres down the hill. Without any discussion we bailed out and went to the pub! Finally, a story I’ve told here before, some years ago, I was traversing the summit ridge of Aran Fawddwy (NW-007) on a sunny but windy day, and a sudden fierce wind blew up which knocked me off my feet and actually rolled me along the gound until I fetched up against the fence along the top of the cliffs. As I lay there, pebbles about 5cm in diameter were being blown past my face. My subsequent descent would have shamed a fell runner, only to find the campsite in Cwm Cowarch in considerable disarray, I never found my tent bag!

Spend a long enough time in the mountains and you amass a fund of these anecdotes, best told in a pub with a half and a half!

Sure are Neil! Just got out of there in time as they say… We hit a couple of blizzards that were near to taking the motorway down to a single lane just south of the border, but otherwise an uneventful journey.

Take care and keep warm!

73 de Paul G4MD

Have taken my ebay 1 up the hills many a time. Last time was sat when up ben vrackie, at 500m was 25mph. Didn’t check the top as it was too cold/windy to hang about, no chance of putting an antenna up so didn’t bother. Im 6’2" 18 stone+ kit and wind was blowing me across the ice.

When you mentioned it, I thought we were better off where we were on Cairnsmore of Carsphairn GM/SS-038. At least my antenna was reasonably stable, which couldn’t be said of the activation on Shalloch on Minnoch GM/SS-042 the following day. Trying to keep the antenna pointing in the right direction was especially trying during the 2m CW contact with Frank G3RMD. Paul did offer to halt his activation to assist - I think the expletives may have been burning his ears despite wearing headphones!

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjD9oyuis7ZAhULSsAKHSkNCQ4QFggrMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mwis.org.uk%2F&usg=AOvVaw2BgKY1lOoyzr7mk-C8bZhk Here’s the mountain weather service for the UK. Personally wether I’m mountaineering or not I’m not going to carry an anometer.

you’ll be blown off the ground at 65mph plus.
You’ll find walking a real problem at around 45/50mph
Walking into the wind at 25mph is hard work.

That does me. :wink:

1 Like

and even without walking, being sitting, operating SOTA while exposed to such winds and even slower ones, makes you get frozen within very few minutes. Wind is not actually something that I like…

Typical Scottish understatement?

At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard on the spot and asked him to estimate the wind speed.He replied that he was sorry, but he didn’t have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff. (AberdeenEvening Express)

VK4TJ

1 Like

Us Scots on the west coast walk with a permanent lean, just like the trees that grow near the sea. :wink:

1 Like

This was my windiest (W7M/CL-027) - surely not enough to blow over a Land Rover! - but it was enough that I had to take off my spectacles - lest the wind do it for me & Barb-AE7AQ could not stand - she had to crawl. I was able to stand in a crouch - but just barely & with much buffetting. Luckily - the approach was in the lee - so it was more fun than troublesome!
73,
Rob - AE7AP

Past Sunday, 90 km/h wind. I was trying yo active a “vértice geodésico” un the summit but impossible.

Last weekend on W7I/SR-130, the wind speed probably wasn’t that extreme. 20+mph(?) maybe, but combined with the cold it felt like a lot greater. Having a shelter helps, but increases the noise with the flapping. Makes it sound much worse than it is. Although without the shelter (bothy) it would have been a no-go.

Not sure about carrying an anemometer, but could be a good addition from a data standpoint. One can certainly operate in windier conditions when it is warmer (if the antenna stays up).

Short video inside the bothy bag on the summit last weekend: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DiAr6CuEpCGGA0o92

Jim/K7MK