News - Tue 9th Jun 2015 - Curved Ridge Confirmed - Tresidder & Wild to Race - Salomon Skyline Scotland

Curved Ridge Confirmed - Tresidder & Wild to Race

9th Jun 2015

Es Tresidder and Finlay Wild, the two leading British ridge runners of their generation, have confirmed that they will race in August.

In addition to this great news, the organisers of the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ race have confirmed that they will include the classic grade III scramble of Curved Ridge in the race route.

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Es Tresidder on the Aonach Eagach © Ian Corless

Es Tresidder, who holds the Snowdon horseshoe record (1:25:08 details HERE), said, “I’ve always loved exploring that line between running and mountaineering and ever since running my first Skyrace, the legendary Sentiero delle Grigne in Italy, I’ve wondered about whether you could do something similar in the UK: very technical, fully marked so as not to offer too much advantage to locals, very long and very aesthetic. Until now this sort of ground has been the reserve of solo records such as those on the Cuillin ridge or Snowdon horseshoe, but it will be awesome to have a race over such technical terrain. I’m planning on making this race one of my main objectives for the summer.”

The confirmed route for the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ will now take in the two most popular and iconic mountaineering challenges in Glencoe with the inclusion of both Curved Ridge and the Aonach Eagach in a route that is 45.6km with over 4,000m of ascent. 

Race Director, Shane Ohly explained his decision to include Curved Ridge. “From the start we wanted to included Curved Ridge but were unable to confirm this 100% until completing a series of risk assessments on the route in different weather conditions and consulting with independent experts on our plans to manage the runners on the route. The winter snow stayed on the higher parts of the route longer than expected so we had to delay this announcement until the route and our management plans could be site assessed in snow free conditions. I am happy that we have now done this.” 

He continued, “I am not creating another mass participation running event, rather, a world-class course for experienced and competent participants and the inclusion of Curved Ridge is in keeping with this. The Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ is a fusion of mountain running and alpinism where competitors need to be skilled at both disciplines to negotiate the course.”

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Finlay Wild scrambling on the Aonach Eagach © Ian Corless

Finlay Wild, the Fort William based runner and Cuillin Ridge record holder (2:59:22 - details HERE), said, “I'm really excited about this race. The European Skyraces look like a fantastic mix of technical running and scrambling, and Scotland certainly has loads of suitable terrain. Running the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ includes some of the best scrambling in Lochaber. The Aonach Eagach is one of the most famous ridges in Scotland and is well suited to running as the more technical sections are short-lived and relatively easy. Of course much of the route is hugely exposed and should attract only confident scramblers. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but for runners who relish moving fast on rough mountaineering ground this route is totally inspiring. Although not as rough as the Cuillin, there's a huge amount of interesting technical terrain up there. In fact a large amount of the route is on narrow but very runnable ridges, with fantastic views to the rest of Glencoe and beyond. I love the feeling of being on top of the world that comes with running light and fast along narrow exposed ridges. For me, the biggest challenge will be the sheer length of the route.”

The Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ will take place on Saturday 22nd August 2015 and will be part of the UK Sky Runner Series.

There is a selection of images from Ian Corless taken on the Aonach Eagach earlier in May HERE.

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