Christopher Brasher on the trail of The Greatest of
Them All
If you are invited
to assist The Greatest of Them all it behoves you to make certain that you are
at the right spot at the right time. Since the right spot was 2,500 feet up
near the summit of Stoney Cove Pike and the right time was very early in the
morning, Ken and I decided to 'bivvy' on the summit.
All might have been
well if we had not lingered in the pub until chucking-out time, which is why
the first rain of the night struck us as we hauled our rucksacks in the dark up
the mountain. By the time we found a level patch for our two miniscule tents,
it was 1.00 am and the rain was bouncing off our anoraks like a McEnroe smash.
It was not a
comfortable night. Ken could sit up in his tent but I was stuffed into a
coffin-like envelope surrounded by wet clothes and wet boots.
But then the sound
of the lark startled the dull night and the sun gave us life and by the time
Bill O'Conner, photographer, author and mountaineer, reached us just after 6.00
am we were ready to go looking for The Greatest of Them All.
Those readers who
have been with this column for 20 years or so will know that I speak about Joss
Naylor, MBE, who has been The Greatest of Them All since that day in 1975 when
he ran over 72 Lake District mountains inside 24 hours.
Now, at the age of
54, Joss had a new idea: to cross from one side of the Lake District to the
other in under 12 hours; from Pooley Bridge at the east end of Ullswater to
Greendale, the farmhouse at the west end of Wasdale to which he and his wife
Mary will retire.
The distance is a
trifle under 50 miles and, since it involves traversing all the highest summits
en route, Joss and his running mate son-in-law, Colin Dulson, would have to
climb 16,000 feet (more than the height of Mont Blanc) and, what is even harder
on the legs, descend the same height.
At about 7.30 am,
two hours after his dawn start, we spotted two stick-like figures emerging out
of the mist, pausing only to drink a minute cup of Bovril before heading down
to the Kirskstone Pass.
Colin, aged 27,
powerfully built and at the height of his strength, was with him and we
marvelled at the contrast, There is nothing to Joss except bone and gristle. He
stands 5ft. 11ins tall and yet weighs only 9 stone; there does not seem to be
any muscle included and yet he can climb faster, descend more recklessly, for
far longer than any man of his time. Which is why we missed him at Dunmail
Raise, the last of only two road crossings on the entire route.
So we drove as fast
as safety dictated into Borrowdale and up to Honister Pass. Then we traversed
Grey Knotts and Brandreth until we came to Moses Trod, the path across the
face of Great Gable which, supposedly, was used by a smuggler called Moses to
carry illicit whisky into the heart of the Lakes.
And then we stood in
the wind and rain waiting for him to hurtle off Great Gable. An hour later,
cold and wet, we looked behind us and saw two yellow-jacketed, bare-legged
figures climbing fast up Kirkfell and we knew that we had failed them.
We had what he and
Colin needed - hot milk and energy drink and Mars Bars and chocolate - but
there was no way we could catch them now. So we trudged back, disconsolately,
through the rain and had our tea. We thought of him fighting the elements on
that last hard section. Of course, being Joss, he made it. It took him 11 and a
half hours and then he stood in the cold beck and scrubbed himself down.
"Everything was
against us today - the punishing wind and the rain and the sudden drop in
temperature", he said. "It was cruel coming off Bowfell - the slabs
were treacherous and you knew when you were going to go flat on your back. It
was the cold that was eating up our energy. Given a good day it will be very
enjoyable".
That enjoyment is
limited to the over-fifties. The first dozen who can run the Joss Naylor
Crossing in under 12 hours and raise at least £100 for Joss' favourite charity,
The Multiple Sclerosis Society, will be presented with an engraved tankard. And
the first dozen over-sixties (I hope to be one of them) who cross in under 18
hours, also get a tankard.
I bet that none of
us will be fit enough next day to work the early shift for seven and a half
hours and then come home to walk the hills to see that his year's crop of lambs
are keeping well. Joss can do it, but then Joss has sinews stronger than any man-made
substance and his will is harder than a diamond.
Published in The
Observer, Sunday 24th June 1990
