Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon - the connoisseurs mountain marathon

Scottish Highlands - 12th/13th June 2010
A Two-Day Mountain Competition for Pairs with Overnight Campsite
Location is ONLY 1½ hrs Drive North of Glasgow/Edinburgh and 2¾ - 3 hrs from Inverness!

This year will be a 'South' year for the LAMM and it's a great opportunity for those who don't usually have enough time for the journey to the north of Scotland, to join us at a magnificent location only 1½ hours drive north of Glasgow/Edinburgh. Our planner this year is Andy Spenceley, well known to MMers and fell runners alike. Andy planned the excellent courses at Inchnadamph in 2006 and Glenfinnan in 2008. The emphasis is always on challenging routes in classic high mountain country. Our area for 2010 is scattered with Munros and Corbetts and we've tried hard to find a site for the Midcamp that allows us to make best use of the area and provide great courses. The Midcamp will be a wild mountain location at 400m but we daren't give away any more clues ..... Suffice to say, this LAMM bears all the hallmarks of another 'Connoisseurs Mountain Marathon' and we're getting excited about it already! As usual we will be assisted by our friendly team of LAMM helpers.

Please ENTER NOW to avoid disappointment - its only early February and the event is already more than 50% full!

A NOTE FROM OUR PLANNER
So what does a “South” LAMM mean to you? Perhaps running over less interesting hills and maybe you’d expect lots of peat bog and heather; perhaps spending the day fighting though thick forest ……….Well, don’t believe any of that as the area has some well known “classic” hills; enough Munros to keep any bagger happy (and possibly even route choices that will allow you to bag some summits); a mixture of steep rocky slopes and faster gentler, grassy hillsides; there are steep sided glens, that might remind you of the north-west, but you’ll also be crossing wider, more open glens. And as for forests, there are some on the map, but you’ll hardly touch them. You might think you’ll miss looking down to of the sea lochs of the north-west highlands as in previous years but, with the good weather we’ve planned for June, the views from the high points of this area will be just as outstanding.

The mid-camp is very “interesting”. You will definitely not be spoiled by manicured grass like at Loch Arkaig (2008) or Glen Lyon (2007). This one is back to basics being in a much higher, remote and rougher area - a real mountain campsite (but we do hope to airlift in some portaloos!). Of course, starting from nearly 400m on day 2 you should have the advantage that day 2 will be all downhill – though, if you believe that, you’ll believe anything!

So the only way to know what to believe is to give it a go. You won’t be disappointed.

As expected, with an hour’s advantage from the first day, the winners of the elite were Andy Symonds and Jethro Lennox, athough Jethro had been sick on the course and they said they had had to slow down. The other two elite pairs in the chasing start managed to take back 20 minutes from them and also exchanged places. The prize for the winners was the entry to the BAMM in Sweden on 14th/15th August, including air fares and accomodation.More >>

At the finish at 19:00 hours teams are still arriving. The first got here at around 12:45 just as the download tent was being put in place, but luckily the weather this afternoon has been hot and sunny, with a pleasant breeze to keep away the midges, so no one seemed to mind spending a few hours cooling their feet in the river, catching up with friends, looking at the planner’s route choices for the day just eating and sleeping in the sun. More >>

The competitors are now out on the course and are making their way to the overnight at Carnach (025281) at the east end of the small Loch na Leitreach, a place with a name on the map, but only one house, and that uninhabited. The Elite course started a short walk south of the event centre, with a massive climb from just above sea level to pick up checkpoints on either side, and at either end of the Five Sisters ridge, taking them, depending on the exact route chosen to around 1000m. More >>

Around 1,000 competitors, who will be competing in teams of two, are now arriving for the 16th Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon, at Morvich in Kintail - ready to spend the next two days, running and walking in the hills to the north of Glen Shiel. The total area of the event is approximately 400 square kilometres and includes 14 Munros (and there is a checkpoint on the summit of one of them) and The Falls of Glomach, which at 370 ft are among the tallest in Britain (and without wanting to give any spoilers it is possible that some competitors could see them). To the south west of the area in particular the hills are very steep with lots of rock, and overall the various courses are a little shorter, but with more climb than usual. More >>>

The LAMM venue is Morvich in Kintail. Morvich is reached by taking the A87 road towards Kyle of Lochalsh. Bear right to Morvich 1.5 kilometres after Shiel Bridge. You'll see a yellow LAMM sign. Follow the minor road for 2 kilometres until you reach a T junction and you'll have made it to the LAMM. Parking is on the right at the junction and the Event Centre is in a huge field to your left. It will be a very short walk with your bags. Please do not use any public parking. Best to fill up with petrol on the east side of Fort William if you are coming that way but a word of warning - the Mountain Bike World Cup will take place in Fort William this weekend so there will be extra traffic on the A82 and in Fort Bill. We also think the A82 is closed after 22:00 each night from Tarbert for a few miles to Inverarnan due to roadworks and if you hit this problem you will need to divert via Inverary and Dalmally. Have a safe journey. We look forward to seeing you from 3pm onwards.

Kintail is the area where a record 28 Munros were climbed within 24 hours by Jon Broxap in 1988 and it contains as large a concentration of big mountains as Ben Nevis and the Lochaber area. The Cluanie Ridge and Five Sisters of Kintail are very familiar to those who love the Scottish Mountains and big waterfalls. As with any LAMM this is big mountain country and in view of the weather forecast, the hills deserve extra respect and care. Think LAMM for spectacular mountain courses, think of an Autumn MM when considering what you need to carry! Our course planner is Angela Mudge, who has planned the LAMM courses on a number of occasions. Andy Spenceley, who planned our courses at Inchnadamph and Glenfinnan, is our controller. He reports that these mountain generally have fast running on ridges and good going on the grassy slopes, however some marked paths are very boggy..