Big days: pace, food and turning back

A long round of several summits, or one of the big challenges, is mostly a matter of pacing, eating and honest timekeeping. Fitness matters less than you'd think.

Plan it in legs

• Break the day at natural points (a summit, a pass) and work out a time for each with Naismith's rule.
• Set a turn-back time for the key point of the day: if you're not there by then, you take the short way down. Decide it at home, when you're thinking clearly.
• Mark the bail-out routes: the passes and ridges where you could drop off the round, and where each one leaves you.
• Start early. An hour in hand at the start is worth two at the end.

Pace

• Walk at a pace you could hold a conversation at, from the first step. Going out fast costs more than it gains.
• Take short stops often, not long ones rarely: five minutes an hour, with a layer on as soon as you stop.
• Shorten your stride uphill and keep moving. On descents, poles save knees late in the day.

Food and water

• Eat a little every hour from the start. Once you feel empty it is hard to catch up.
• Carry food you'll want to eat when tired: mix sweet and savoury.
• Note where you can refill with water. Fast-flowing streams high on the hill, above any livestock or buildings, are generally the safest choice; a filter or tablets remove the doubt.

When it stops being a walk: scrambling grades

Scrambling is ground steep enough to need hands. In Britain it is graded 1 to 3.

• Grade 1: easy scrambling with the route usually clear, though it may be exposed. Striding Edge and Crib Goch are grade 1 in summer.
• Grade 2: steeper and more sustained, with moves you'd not want to reverse and route-finding to do. Some parties carry a rope.
• Grade 3: close to easy rock climbing. A rope and the skill to use it are usual.

Wet rock, wind and winter conditions each raise the difficulty sharply. A grade 1 ridge under snow is a mountaineering route.

General guidance from the TRXO team, last read through on 6 Nov 2026. It is no substitute for training or for your own judgement on the day.