2020

[al78]

I'll second that. They had to live through one of the worst recessions in the last 100 years 13 years ago, now they have had to live through one of the worst pandemics and resultant economic destruction. I feel very lucky I was born early enough to have a house and a stable job that has weathered both of these. Next on the list, the consequences of climate change and unsustainable living, well they say bad luck comes in groups of three. There is a whole generation who have been punished for being born at the wrong time.

Get a bit of balance. We came up through inadequately heated houses, crap TV, 10 pm pub shutting, prog rock, Thatcher and hill gear that weighed a ton even before it got soaking, which it did without fail. And don't get me started on uniformly dire keg beer (Younger's Tartan "Your beer is good!") or the state of the toilets at Hampden. We'd have welcomed a pandemic for a bit of interest in our grey lives!

BORING

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Not_as_bad_as

[dav2930]

I'll second that. They had to live through one of the worst recessions in the last 100 years 13 years ago, now they have had to live through one of the worst pandemics and resultant economic destruction. I feel very lucky I was born early enough to have a house and a stable job that has weathered both of these. Next on the list, the consequences of climate change and unsustainable living, well they say bad luck comes in groups of three. There is a whole generation who have been punished for being born at the wrong time.

Get a bit of balance. We came up through inadequately heated houses, crap TV, 10 pm pub shutting, prog rock, Thatcher and hill gear that weighed a ton even before it got soaking, which it did without fail. And don't get me started on uniformly dire keg beer (Younger's Tartan "Your beer is good!") or the state of the toilets at Hampden. We'd have welcomed a pandemic for a bit of interest in our grey lives!

BORING

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Not_as_bad_as

But I don't think weedavie considers for one moment that the current pandemic is really not as bad as crap TV, prog rock, heavy gear, bad beer and the state of the toilets at Hampden etc. A "not as bad as" fallacy relies on A actually being by general consent not as bad as B for the hint of plausibility that its proposer hopes will obscure its obvious fallaciousness. So I suspect that weedavie is throwing a dash of ironic humour into the general gloom? At least I hope he is!

[Alteknacker]

Get a bit of balance. We came up through inadequately heated houses, crap TV, 10 pm pub shutting, prog rock, Thatcher and hill gear that weighed a ton even before it got soaking, which it did without fail. And don't get me started on uniformly dire keg beer (Younger's Tartan "Your beer is good!") or the state of the toilets at Hampden. We'd have welcomed a pandemic for a bit of interest in our grey lives!

Absolutely ....

[jupe1407]

It's been a really weird year year (obviously) ranging from being a bag of pure shite to some high points.

Lows
- Dad being in hospital for 2 weeks for removal of a bowel tumour
- Dad being in hospital for a further 3 weeks after breaking his hip when going for a pish (he tripped over the hospital bed sheets during recovery from the first procedure)
- Mum being in a total state because he wasn't allowed visitors for the first 2 weeks (they're both 76)
- The above incidents bringing sudden realisation that my parents are in fact not immortal
- My April hillwalking fortnight which had been meticulously planned being binned off due to Covid
- Cottages.com initially refusing refunds

Highs
- Threatening cottages.com with legal action and getting my money back
- Sending them a massive GIRFUY email once it was in my account
- Managing to get an amazing fortnight away in Autumn, firstly in Skye after that almost fell through and then Laide.
- Walking Blaven with some of my best pals during the above week in Skye
- Doing the Sgurr Dubh Mor/Sgurr Alasdair route in a day of glorious views and epic scrambling with Sick Kid (Allison) and spending a weeks in Skye with them.
- Raising £1700 for Anne's brain injury charity through calendar sales
- Using the restrictions/lockdowns to get fitter than I've ever been and lose 3 stone.
- Being able to spend xmas with my parents when I wasn't even sure if my Dad was even still going to be around.

[Sgurr]

MINUSES Husband hitting bollard, breaking hip, catching Covid and generally seeming to age at least 5 years in 6 months
Not seeing daughter and grand-kids and missing out on new grand-dog (4 dogs now: a dog per grand child).
Having to cancel a repeat visit to Carn Mor Lodge and the Fisherfield.
Having to cancel hotels or cottages a week in each month in the Lake District to try to progress the Wainwrights (The income for that has dried up anyway due to Covid...tenant of old shop can only pay a bit of rent, so said forget the rest)
Having to cancel a Torridon meet-up in September..
Spending days "negotiating" with the Chinese guys on Amazon Marketplace who sold us a defective exercise bike.
My concentration seems to have nose-dived and reading a book in a day is a thing of the past (may be age but more likely worry).

PLUSES
Husband can get up tiny hills the easiest possible way.
Nobody in immediate family has lost their job.
Discovered local path ways I never knew about before including finding Gregory's pole for measuring an early meridian in a farm cottage garden.
Did all the bookings via booking.com so had no problems at all in cancelling as the money hadn't gone.
Got a refund from the Chines, so got a really tough exercise bike from a guy who was socially distancing his gym and selling half the bikes...and he carried it upstairs for us.
Although I managed to get blocked into a secondary stairway trying to get a bed downstairs for husband, the police rescued me.
I have had more Editor's Picks for BBC Weather Watchers than last year, some of which actually appeared on the forecast rather than their Twitter page
Although it is flat walking, & mostly not hill walking, I have averaged 11375 fitbit steps a day since I got it last Xmas. I didn't do so much some days asI swam (40 miles), so maybe would have been more .It seems to translate into 3084 miles, which would be Lands End to John o'Groats, back and back again (the traffic free way)
Discovered I could still do the 7 Fife Marilyns in a day, despite little hill training.
Husband has taken back cooking the evening meal.
Mastered zoom and can now talk to former hill-walking friends in Birmingham and Oz. (Shocked how the Ozzies believe that everyone should do their own risk assessment re. Covid which is maybe a negative. Like most hill walkers, I am used to my own risk assesments, but don't trust drunken people in pubs.)

[KeithS]

- Managing to get an amazing fortnight away in Autumn, firstly in Skye after that almost fell through and then Laide.
.

Wish I could get home to Laide, Nicola won't let me in

[mynthdd2]

There seem to be more positives than negatives documented here and of course the mountains will always be here too

[mynthdd2]

PS Nicola does her best but me being in the remote Scottish hills with a bit rain, snow and wind....?

Meanwhile, fingers crossed for a brave new year so "Here's tae us" (who knows the rest of that toast!?)


A

[CharlesT]

PS Nicola does her best but me being in the remote Scottish hills with a bit rain, snow and wind....?

Meanwhile, fingers crossed for a brave new year so "Here's tae us" (who knows the rest of that toast!?)


A

Here's tae us
Wha's like us
Damn few,
And they're a' deid
Mair's the pity!

[litljortindan]

Had the usual low key start to the year but a nice snowy sunrise ascent of Mither tap stood out from the small hills up to March. Then I had a choice of retrieving stuff from the office or going for a walk and I chose the latter; what I considered at the time to be a fairly responsible short up and down walk to Leacachain.
During lockdown we got out as much as we could and that was helped a lot by an almost completely dry April and a quiet main road. We enjoyed exploring the local area and I discovered a couple of very small local hills that helped me to keep my spirits and fitness up, the main one being Logg Hill, something of a beauty spot, and the other being Hospital Wood which is where I tried to build my fitness by alternating jogging and sprinting. I was never clear one why no more than one type of exercise was permitted. Also started taking more interest in the birdlife around.
July saw me raring to go but mindful of the need to not overdo things. Breabag turned out to be a good choice to start with; excellent views, a surprise bowling green pre-summit and lots of deer posing in front of Suilven. Other highlights:

Carn Ealasaid: nice sunrise and lovely colours
Learmour Craig: a dramatic corner and the biggest heard of deer I've ever seen
Na Cnapain: more of a lowlight with possibly the worst descent ever
Geal-Charn: sunrise, inversion, fogbows
Sail Mhor: the antidote to Na Cnapain, once on its slopes, as it was like an escalator and made me feel fit
Ghrianain (Kylestrome): wonderful reflections
Airgid: superb views complemented by a sighting of a stoat at the summit
Utha: surprisingly good summit view
Druim Eadar da Choire: good views of Rum and Eigg
Creag Dhubh: a fine, misty sunrise start but very slippery rock that upended me
Carn Eilrig: a beautiful walk-in
Binnein Shuas: fine reflections in the loch

I'm pleased with what I managed to do but more pleased that I got to do a lot of local walks with my wife and that we've both managed to avoid coronavirus. I'm sorry for anyone who has been affected and let's hope we are rid of the pandemic next year.
I guess we might be in for a bit of a wait for the hills again but I won't mind that.

[mrssanta]

Well we managed 7 Munros. But on the plus side I have walked a lot from my own front door and discovered some lovely spots I haven't been to before. It was great watching the seasons turning in my local woods and moors.
Avoided my local hill Roseberry Topping which is always busy despite the whole expanse of moor next to it.
Kept working at the GP coalface. Been a tough year, but in a fab team and one year closer to retirement

[dav2930]

But on the plus side I have walked a lot from my own front door and discovered some lovely spots I haven't been to before.

Same here. I've learned to appreciate my immediate locality more than ever before. I do miss the Highlands, though - haven't been there since last February.

[wildmountaintimes]

Managed 47 new Munros despite missing 3 or 4 months due to lockdown and a further two months due to the car finally dying.

Sat my mountain leader training at Glenmore in August.