Grand Traverse Record Race

I exported the file from Garmin Basecamp and managed to get it down to 1,1mb. It seems like all the info is still there when I open it in Google Earth.

I have been waiting patiently for a while now for the days to get longer and for the nights to get warmer. Looking at the weather forecasts for the next few days, and at the upcoming full moon, I see an opportunity too good to be missed.

My bag is packed and comes in at a slick 3.5kg, and my manager has given me the necessary leave. All is set to go for a grand traverse. Solo!

I will thus set out in the early hours of Sunday morning, as close to midnight as possible. If all goes well, I will reach Cleft Peak by 10am, and if it keeps going well, I might even reach Mafadi by 17pm just in time to descend into the Jarateng valley before it gets dark.

The night will be the crux, and actually all I really want is to come out of it alive. If I manage that, I should have made it up Giants, and be well on my way towards Thabana Ntlenyana. On Monday, during the day, I will aim to get as far as possible for the simple reason that I want to keep Monday night to a minimum and to get to a warm, soft sleeping bag.

The aim is to finish by midnight, for a total of 48 hours.

Partly for safety reasons and partly because of the interest generated by Ryan and Ryno earlier this year, I will be taking along a satellite tracking device. Every 15 minutes it will transmit my position, and it can be viewed at my.yb.tl/grandtraverseandrew

Unfortunately I cannot find a way to insert my planned route, so I will have to leave it up to you to read the contours and to work out where I am. And, for some funny reason the blog entries with some cool pics only show up if you use the drop down at the top left of screen to see “all time”.

Break a leg Andrew (can I say that?)
Hope the weather stays stable and that you have an easy run!
Will be following with interest

All the best Andrew, we know you can do it

Go for it Andrew, if I was your age I would have joined you....sadly in my younger days we did not have such things such as trail running, although I did run up some peaks and people thought I was mad!! ALL THE BEST

Richard Hunt wrote: Go for it Andrew, if I was your age I would have joined you....sadly in my younger days we did not have such things such as trail running, although I did run up some peaks and people thought I was mad!! ALL THE BEST

I am his age.....and don't want to join him cause I'll die trying....

One guy who has shown over the years that this is possible is our Andrew. Good luck pal, will be following your progress.

Good travels Andrew.

May the mountains bless you with a smooth and fast passage!

Hardcore comes to mind.