Exploration
This guy climbed Ireland's 273 highest mountains in just 56 days
When James Forrest set out to break the record for climbing all of Ireland’s mountains above 600m he didn’t know that Storm Ali was inbound…
James Forrest isn’t a full time adventurer but last year he still managed to summit all of the mountains in England and Wales over 2,000ft (the Nuttalls) within six months, achieving the feat via long weekends and day raids.
This summer, he turned to his next challenge, which he had ‘sketched out on the back of an envelope’, of climbing the every single Vandeleur-Lynam (any mountains in Ireland over 600m) within a two-month window whilst on a work sabbatical. There were 273 of them in all.
His attempt took 56 days in total with 46 days of active trekking and scrambling, in a famously windswept land, often with just the deer or sea eagles for company. It was a punishing schedule, even though by his own admission James is not an elite athlete. "I’m not an ultra-runner, I'm not very fast, I'm not exceptionally fit. I'm a mid-thirties rambler who just keeps plodding on, and I get these records almost by default, because no one else has been stupid enough to ever do it before!"
What he hadn’t factored into his calculations was the sudden and downright rude arrival of a storm cell off the Atlantic, called Ali, which caused havoc across the country, with 100mph winds and torrential downpours. So, how did he soldier on and defeat the elements before they blew his chance away?
He climbed the height of Everest every week for 8 weeks in a row
James traverses MacGillyCuddy's Reeks
© James Forrest
Averaging 25km a day in the mountains is going to rack up some serious vertical ascent. "I worked out I climbed the height of Everest every week for eight weeks in a row," he says. To make his routes as efficient as possible he wild camped on ridges up in the mountains and walked linear routes – rather than loops – which meant he had to hitchhike back to his parked car.
He dined on freeze-dried meals and Haribo
When a spot of skyrunning is needed
© James Forrest
To lighten his load, slashing his pack from 20kg to 10kg, James carried freeze-dried meals, as well as dried fruit, nuts, protein flapjacks and lots of sweets! "I try to go ultra-lightweight – my Terra Nova tent is is under a 1kg, I've got the world's lightest stove and the world's lightest sleeping mat," he says.
James trekked 40km in a single day
Another day hiking in the stunning mountains of Ireland
© James Forrest
Six weeks into the challenge James' fitness had built up to the point he did a 40km trek in the Nephin range of tough, remote mountains: "I'd walked so often, six days a week, 25km every day, that I'd become a bit of a hiking machine. 40km was tough, mainly because of the ascent and the terrain – there's very few paths – but it was a really enjoyable. I always get a sense of achievement, a buzz, from ticking something off like that and knowing that I'm moving towards my goal."
Storm Ali almost blew his attempt away
Storm Ali seriously threatened to derail the mission
© James Forrest
Rain and wind was to be expected, but even James wasn’t quite prepared for the worst that Ireland’s weather had to throw at him. "At one point I'd hiked for 10 days in a row," he says, "and it was just torrential rain every day – by the end of that I just felt mentally broken. I did come quite close to thinking, 'Oh, I'm just going to sack this off'. But even when it's really tough, there's always a slight, perverse, pleasure in it all and I didn't want to be a quitter, so I just kept going and dug deep." What kept him going was that he knew for all the lows, the mountains also reward you with dizzying highs…
His haunted video went viral
One such high came with an unexpected morning treat on the slopes of Knockowen. James had started to climb the evening before and pitched his tent after a long, hard slog through the rain, despite being soaked to the bone. "That morning, I unzipped my tent and couldn't believe my eyes," he recalls. "It was this perfect day with an incredible cloud inversion over the lake below me, some of the peaks poking up above the sea of clouds, and it felt like waking up in heaven. It was just so beautiful."
He reflected that this was his 100th mountain and then saw a Brocken Spectre – which is a kind of cloud-bound rainbow – shining below him. The phone video he shot of it all then went viral on Twitter, racking up 47,000 likes and 12,000 comments.
Irish hospitality came to his aid
James making his way through the Mt Brandon range in the Dingle Peninsula
© James Forrest
The feat was solo and unsupported so James lived out of his car and tent, relying on the kindness of strangers and lifts so he could hitchhike back to his car after a linear hike.
"One day, I was in the range of mountains called the Knockmealdowns, and everyone was just passing me by. Then this guy called John who was in his eighties just pulled over and gave me a ride – exactly the sort of person you wouldn't expect to pull over and pick up a stranger. He was tootling along in his car, but he was just so warm and generous." On another evening he was saved from sleeping in a ditch after a couple overheard him explaining in a petrol station how he’d messed up his navigation.
The mountains were less fearsome up close
James waking up above the clouds on Knockowen
© James Forrest
Some of the rugged summits that required scrambling looked daunting when James viewed them from below. This sense of fear was particularly strong when craning his neck up towards Faha Ridge, up on Mount Brandon, and the Hag's Tooth. "Both of those were grade 2 scrambles. I've got a decent head for heights, but when I looked at them, they just looked almost impossible. Impenetrable and just scary. In reality, when I was actually there it was way easier than it looked; good scrambling, a few rocky steps, using my hands and my feet – classic scrambling, and just getting up close and personal with the rocks."
He hit the wall with one day to go…
This is not actually Photoshopped
© James Forrest
The penultimate two days of his challenge turned out to be the toughest for James. "I just generally felt really tired; so fatigued, I thought I was either going to faint or throw up. I just didn't feel good at all. I think I'd pushed myself so hard."
It wasn’t looking good. "But then, out of nowhere, I then just got a second wind, and, in the afternoon, just managed to breathe through it."
In the end, it was all worth it: "I touched the final summit, and then just started laughing to myself about everything, the storms, and mishaps, and cockups, and sleeping wild, and having this insane adventure of a lifetime, a really cool experience, and I just couldn't quite believe it. I was really, really happy, and also, then, just desperate to get down, go to get some fast food, and then go straight to bed!"