Planning at Langstrothdale    Chris Burden

Langstrothdale Chase presents very different challenges to the planner from Attermire.

The main characteristics which bear on planning are

  1. The comparative lack of line features (paths, walls, streams etc)
  1. The considerable amount of climb between the foot and top of the hillside
  1. The openness of the terrain, with extensive views.
  1. The subtlety of many features, necessitating great care in identifying attack points.
  1. The hard to cross lower reaches of the central valley due to extensive bracken growth and the steep sided and rocky nature of the valley sides.
  1. Finally I felt that the demands of Attermire the previous day would leave most competitors preferring courses on the short side with climb, (at least on the course!) kept to a minimum.

Planning had to start by identifying where to put the junior courses.  All the way up to TD4
(i.e. J/W4) they require line features either to follow or as catching features.  Therefore these courses had to focus on the central valley and its tributary valleys and the path which runs down across the area from Horse Head Moor to Raisgill Farm. To some extent we had to compromise on the guidelines.  This was perhaps most obvious on the JW3 course where on one leg the juniors were asked to contour for 200m to a control on a stream running at right angles to their line of attack.  This is a skill that is not expected at this level.  It was very clear from watching the juniors that contouring was a skill that few had mastered, as I saw many lose height unnecessarily, although all recovered well when they hit the stream.  We had bad weather contingency plans to move JW3 and JW2 down one technical difficulty level.

The demands of the JW2 course virtually dictated where to place the start.  If the weather had been rough the intention was for you to be able to seek shelter, from the wind if not the rain, while preparing for the start in the deep valley.  As it was you all had a significant climb to the start.  I hope the run made it worthwhile.   
The main intention on the senior courses was to provide at least one long leg crossing the central cluster of steep-sided valleys, which would encourage runners to look at an alternative of attacking the controls from higher than the direct line, where the running was easier.  The lower slopes, particularly with the increase in bracken growth required more careful navigational skills.
I planned for the numbers of competitors that we have had at the two previous Langstrothdale events, the last of which was the day after the much closer National Event at Kilnsey.  I was somewhat taken aback by the number of entries, particularly on the courses catering for the older competitors.  Unfortunately I was away on holiday when entries closed 2 weeks before the event, otherwise we may well have considered planning two extra courses.  Langstrothdale due to its openness really requires a minimum 2 minute start interval, rather than the 1 minute some of you were given.   I hope the "procession" did not spoil your enjoyment.
For the future I believe Langstrothdale is worthy of being a standalone Badge venue.  The far eastern end of the area and the very upper slopes were not used on this occasion, due to my consideration of the post-Attermire effect.   Both areas are amongst the best at Langstrothdale.  Now we know that the obliging Mr Charnley of Raisgill Farm can carry control site hardware high up on the fell there is even less reason for avoiding this part of the area.  On this occasion I discovered this too late and carried everything up myself !

Finally many thanks to all those who helped with bagging the maps and taking the controls in.  Without this army of help planning could be intolerable.
         
Just an observation from Aireport .. The gathering of White course competitors and the setting off en masse with Geoff and Lindsay Hensman worked really well from the parents' and the competitors' viewpoints.  Youngsters were safely 'dropped off' and immediately started the comparisons of gear and such like beloved of O competitors.   It certainly gave a buzz to the social swirl that is so vital for juniors.  (RM)

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