Sometimes plan A doesn't quite come off, and so it's important to have a plan B - even if that is to just call it a day. Various forecasts were chucking up differing wind speeds for the day and as we all know, sometimes they're just not correct. Well we set off from Buttermere this morning with our 50 fundraisers who were all raising money for Hospice at Home West Cumbria and made way for Red Pike. The Buttermere Lakeshore was a tad blustery but as we reached Bleaberry tarn some of us were commenting on how nice it was. Blue skies, sunshine...all is good. This soon changed - dramatically! As we hit approx. 650m the gusts were becoming stronger and far more frequent. It was clear progress was going to be tough and everyone dug in. Next thing we know we've got people being blown over, including myself. We got the group to halt and myself and Andy clambered to the summit of Red Pike to see if we were just in a tricky spot. We agreed that the constant 30+mph headwind would be too much to handle for the following hours and so we made the easy decision to pull the plug. Yes, people probably could have battled on, but it's all ok doing so until someone is hurt. We descended back to Bleaberry tarn and came up with a plan. It was here Scott informed me that his anemometer had read gusts of 64.6mph! Down into the valley we went and after a short break some of the fundraisers joined us on a loop of Rannerdale Knotts, on the summit of which was still 45mph! It's such a shame the wind had to spoil what would have been an excellent day otherwise, but it's out of everyone's hands and as above our priority was keeping everyone safe - the summit is of course optional. It's a bit crazy to find out that a challenge team we had out in Langdale completed their route and didn't encounter winds anywhere near as bad!! Thanks to Hospice at Home West Cumbria for letting us host for you, and thanks to all the fundraisers for accepting our decisions without any grumble. We're just as disappointed as you, trust me. Finally thanks to the guiding team for pooling together and aiding the decision making process. Until next time... Hospice at Home West Cumbria
