FKT: Damian Hall - Paddy Buckley Round (Wales, UK) - 2020-01-29

Athletes
Route variation
winter
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Finish date
Total time
21h 30m 6s
Report

This article outlines previous winter FKTs:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/01/damian_hall_breaks_winter_paddy_buckley_record-72187

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'.

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.