| A mistake the size of Mount
Everest
Thousands of Westcountry walkers are about to discover they are
a great deal fitter than they thought now experts have revealed
that a mistake the size of Mount Everest has been made in calculating
the total ascents and descents made by the 630-mile South West Coast
Path.
For years it has been believed that Britain's favourite right-of-way
climbs and falls the equivalent of three Everests during its journey
around the coast from Minehead to Poole. Now, using the very latest
in high tech altitude equipment, a man and wife team has established
the path actually represents a walk four times the size of the world's
tallest mountain. "Cor! No wonder I'm feeling tired..."
was the first response of the South
West Coast Path Association's (SWCPA) secretary Eric Wallis
on hearing of the somewhat oversized miscalculation. "To think
that in 630 miles of walking you are walking from sea level to the
top of Mount Everest four times - it's incredible..."
Marian and Roger Brown of Cumbria, who walked the whole South
West Coast Path during three separate visits to the region, have
made the new calculation using a revolutionary type of altimeter
which measures the total height gain and descent on each section
of the walk.
The Suunto x6 HR altimeter logs the cumulative climbs and descents
over a specified section of walking. "It is important to point
out that it measures genuine ascent and descent that does not depend
on mapping conventions and map contours," Roger explained.
Or, to put it another way: "It adds to ascent whenever you
are climbing and adds to descent whenever you are descending,"
Roger says. "The figure for the whole coast path is 114,928
feet (35,030 metres), which is about 1000 feet (305 metres) short
of four times the height of Mount Everest from sea level."
Mr Wallis was amazed at the finding. He told the WMN: "Several
years ago, before the days of all these modern gadgets, the South
West Coast Path Association - using 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps
- counted the contour lines along the coast path. It arrived at
a figure of 91,000 feet, which is three times Everest - which is
the figure we have used since then." The association's chairman,
Bryan Cath, added: "We are indebted to Marian and Roger for
the mammoth task they undertook for the association. These detailed
figures will now be used in the association's Annual Guide and on
the distance ready-reckoner on our website www.swcp.org.uk".
Around a 150 of the association's members are rewarded with a certificate
for completing the entire route each year, either in one go or by
totting up a series of coast walks. Each of these long distance
hikers will now be adding a Himalayan sized slice of pride to their
sense of achievement. Sidebar
"If you really want to experience how the coast path climbs
and falls, try the section between Hartland Point and Bude,"
says SWCPA secretary Eric Wallis. "It goes up and down just
about every step of the way." Eric is right, but there are
plenty of other sections of this remarkable path that will knock
the breath out of the average walker in less than 20 minutes.
Even at it outset the path climbs the best part of 1,000 feet
out of Minehead. It then traverses the mighty hills of northern
Exmoor in a heart-pumping jaunt that will test the nerve and lungs
of the fittest athlete.
By the time you reach Lynmouth you will have an inkling of what
it's like to set out on a journey that climbs and descends the equivalent
of four Everests. |
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