10/05/2021

Ascendancy founder, Laurie Crayston, has set a new record by climbing 150 Wainwrights in a continuous hike without support, beating the previous record, believed to be 42 (a Bob Graham Round).

Averaging 30—35km per day the expedition lasted for a total of 15 days before Laurie was forced to pull out due to potentially long term injury to his foot.

Battling freezing high winds, hail, snow and much more in just lightweight ‘summer’ kit, Laurie lived off around 2200 kcals per day, sourcing these solely from Protein brownies & cookies that he had carried with him from the start.

The trek involved 14 consecutive wild camps in temperatures as low as -6C. Unable to sleep during the night for having to keep himself warm, Laurie averaged just a couple of hours sleep per day - a little at dusk and a little at dawn.

Having been slowed up by the arctic weather almost every day Laurie had to hunker down for the best part of two days when the storm came in at its worst; delivery 70kmph winds, temperatures as low as -10C windchill and up to twelve inches of snow. Having only lightweight kit the challenge became in Lauries words, ; ‘A test of my mental fortitude and ability to survive, rather the more athletic pursuit it was supposed to be. It just goes to show what the weather can be like in the Lakes and even in May, you need to go out there expecting wintry conditions.’

After twelve long days of walking with wet feet, unable to keep them dry, Laurie’s feet became swollen and soft, causing him to lose the skin on the majority of his toes due to them rubbing on his boots. Cutting his boots to relieve pressure on his feet, he was able to go on for another 50km, topping up his Wainwright total to 150 before having to pull out due to trench foot concerns.

Laurie has vowed to attempt the challenge again and with a little better weather is certain he’ll make it round.

We’ll be sure to cover his next attempt! You can follow his journey on Instagram at @lauriecrayston.

Original Post - 25/04/2021

Our founder, Laurie Crayston, is once again attempting to become the first person in history to complete a solo, unsupported and continuous round of all 214 Wainwright fells.

Described as ‘effectively impossible’ the challenge involves climbing to the top of all 214 Wainwright’s without any external assistance, carrying absolutely everything he needs for the challenge on his own back, from the start.

A lot of Wainwrights history has been made since Laurie first attempted this challenge back in June 2019; we’ve seen Steve Birkinshaws record broken by Paul Tierney, the first female completions by Sabrina Verjee & Mel Steventon in 2020, and also in 2020 the ‘Self-supported’ record was broken by James Forrest. Laurie says ‘I’m proud to say that to the best of my knowledge, I’m still the only person to attempt the unsupported version of this challenge and if I make it, it will be the first unsupported round of the Wainwrights, ever’.

So what makes a challenge unsupported?

For an adventure to be unsupported, you must carry everything (except water) you need from the start. The FKT (Fastest Known Time) website provides a clear definition as follows:

Unsupported means you truly have no external support of any kind. This means you carry everything you need from start to finish except water from natural sources (public taps along the trail are fine, but no water from any commercial source even if free). This naturally limits the length of an Unsupported trip. Spectating in person by friends, family, or photographers is supportive, and thus not in the spirit of this style, and will be classified as Supported starting February 4, 2021 (all FKT classifications previous to this date will remain unchanged).

All other previous Wainwright rounds have involved some form of pre-arranged support; whether they were assisted by a large support teams, accommodation (camper vans, churches, hostels), healthcare, nutrition, logistics, navigation, stash boxes of food & fresh clothing left along the route, etc.

These challenges are therefore classed as simply ‘supported’ or ‘self-supported’ and defined as follows:

Self-Supported

Self-Supported means you may have as much support as you can manage or find along the way, but not from any thing or person just for you; any support you employ must be equally available to anyone else. This can range from caching supplies in advance, purchasing supplies along the way, staying at motels, to finding or begging for food or water; camping in a friends yard would be Supported, because that is not available to the public. Most long thru-hiking routes are done Self-Supported. To get a Self-Supported FKT you also have to beat the fastest Unsupported time. Any spectating will be considered as Support starting February 4, 2021 (no previous FKT classifications will be changed).

Supported

Supported trips can have as much support means you can enlist, as long as you are entirely self-powered. This can range from one person handing you water once, to an entire team that accompanies you the whole distance giving you everything (except physical assistance). Whether it’s just once or continuously, any support at all means it’s a Supported trip. On longer routes, Supported can enable the fastest trips due to the ability to carry less weight. To get a Supported FKT you also have to beat the fastest Self-Supported and Unsupported times.

When is he starting and how long is he aiming for?

‘I’m going to be starting on the morning of Monday 26th April, no later than 10am. I’m aiming to complete the round in under 14 days’.

What route will he be taking?

Laurie will mostly be following the route that Steve Birkinshaw created for his record-breaking round, starting and finishing at Moot Hall in Keswick. ‘There’s a couple of minor changes in the order and I’ll also be doing the route in reverse, with Catbells as my first peak and Latrigg as my 214th’.

Why is he doing this?

‘There are now so many reasons why I want to complete this challenge - too many to list - so I’ll focus on the main couple.

Firstly I want to prove to myself and to the world that it can be done, no matter how ‘impossible’ it may seem. Not only that but I want to show what can be achieved simply by never giving up. I’ve failed to complete this challenge on three occasions now, but each time I’ve learnt, I’ve tweaked things, I’ve improved my training and my strategies, and each time I’ve come back more prepared than the previous attempt. This year, I decided to make this the absolute priority in my life. I drastically cut down my workload and put the time instead towards my training. I want to be able to show what can be achieved with just a little consistency of effort.

Equally important, this year I’m doing the challenge to raise money for Samaritans. The last twelve and a bit months have been an incredibly difficult time for so many people and I haven’t been immune to mental struggles. After a barrage of awful life events towards the end of 2020 my mental health completely crashed and I suffered from a whole concoction of anxiety, stress & panic attacks, questioning at the worst of it whether or not I really wanted to be alive. I knew I was in trouble and sought help by calling Samaritans. While that call was just the start of my journey back to a better place, it gave me the confidence to talk to friends and family about what I was going through, and who knows where I’d be without it. Samaritans do incredible work and literally save lives every single day. I owe the lady on the other end of that phone so much for the twenty minutes I spent talking to her and I want to use this challenge to give something back while raising awareness about the work they do and encouraging others going through their own mental battles to seek help’.

If you would like to donate you can do so here.

Where can you track Laurie’s progress?

Firstly, due to the unsupported nature of this challenge, Laurie politely asks that no one joins him on the fells. You can follow his progress using the tracking link here and he’ll also regularly be posting on his personal Instagram here.