In reply to SteveSBlake: Sorry, Kilian Journet. But KJ is alps based so could recce his routes a lot before going for them, with the Cuillin I doubt he could get to recce it too much.
I'm not sure re Steck...
Steck isn't 'that' running fit is he? which sounds stupid to say but in terms of pure running he doesn't trouble the front of the field. Not to the same level as Wild who is one of the best in Britain. My best time at Jungfrau is a good chunk quicker than Stecks, and Finlay beats me by a good 10 minutes? over a 1:15 race say on Snowdon and 15 at the Ben? Jungfrau is just a very hilly road/trail race to the base of the Eiger North Face, but a good measure of pure fitness.
I'm not sure, but depends if the Cuillin is untechnical enough in places for fitness to matter. This is 30-35 mins quicker than previous good climbers/fit guys have done which suggests being a good runner is a significant advantage. I don't know though. However, as said FW hardly looked shattered after the end so maybe its technical enough that they always comfortable.
The other thing is its so complex that time to recce must be pretty crucial and FW has that advantage. Not sure how much Es reccied it back when he did it, but thought he was Edinburgh based then.