New fell shoes
Today I’d intended to try and run up Moel Siabod (872m) in Snowdonia, but having driven all the way there I was denied this challenge by dreadful weather (see below photo). And that’s not fog - it’s rain being driven by high winds. Somewhere in there was a mountain, but common sense prevented me from finding it today.
Somewhat disappointed after this setback, I walked into Joe Brown’s in Capel Curig and bought my first pair of fell shoes :). I chose “inov-8 mud claw 330” as they were light and looked like they had lots of grip.
While driving back from Snowdonia I was itching to try the new shoes out, and so I stopped off at Moel Famau for a consolation run! By this time I was also starving as I’d only had a light breakfast. But he who dares…
Of course it was sod’s law the weather had started clearing by this time and the sun was out, but there was still very strong winds. I did this route in reverse, ascending around the south-east side of the forest, then up a very steep track to the summit. The new inov-8’s were ace! The fell shoes didn’t have as much cushioning as trainers, and so I could really feel the surface under my feet. I was amazed at how much grip there was - the copious rubber grips really performed well on forest track, mud, grass and scree. At the summit the wind was gusting at probably 70 mph and I was bent double just trying to stay on my feet. I descended down the steep south facing trail on very loose scree and onward through the forest. The grip from the inov-8’s was outstanding and provided extra confidence for hurtling down the mountain at high speed.
