On Wednesday 29th January Damian Hall successfully completed a Winter Paddy Buckley Round in a time of 21:20:30, beating the previous record of 21:37, held by Jim Mann. What makes the achievement all the more impressive is that Damian completed the round in a solo/unsupported style, and with snow on the ground, making it a true winter round.
The Paddy Buckley Round takes in a large proportion of the major peaks within northern Snowdonia, with five legs covering the mountain ranges of Snowdon, the Glyders, Carneddau, Moelwyns, and Hebog/Nantlle. It is universally considered to be a step-up from the Bob Graham, not necessarily because of its distance (which is largely the same), but because of the additional height gain - the PB having 8,700m compared to the BG's 8,160m. Add into the mix more rough and untravelled terrain, and in the current set of circumstances a lot of snow on the tops, and you have yourself a true 'challenge'.
© Open Tracking
In previous years we have reported on two separate winter records: Tom Phillips' 2015 round, which took 22:49, and Jim Mann's highly impressive 2017 effort, which brought the record down to 21:37. What made Jim's time all the more impressive was that he had broken the winter Ramsay Round (the Paddy Buckley's Scottish cousin) record only a few weeks before.
We're going to try and catch up with Damian for more details as/when he's recovered, but in the meanwhile we'll give him a few moments to rest.
Thanks once-again to everyone that followed and commented on the thread that tracked his progress throughout. Blessed are the dot-watchers…
© Sean Kelly, Mar 2006
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