The Schedule Calculator

In order to have your successful round recognised you need to have registered your attempt. Write to

Brian Covell
26 Westwood Avenue, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5BB

indicating the date and time of your attempt along with the direction that you intend to go. He will send a sheet on which to record your times and pacers and companions.

When to start

Choosing when to set off really means “Which bit to do in the dark?” This depends on things like: How much does the dark affect your speed?; The ground underfoot; Waking your pacers at some ungodly hour. For a clockwise round:

Midnight
Not much difference from daylight speed over the first section but Hall’s Fell in the dark. Likely to be coming off Robinson in the Dark.
0100
Not much difference from daylight speed over the first section. Should get Hall’s Fell in the early light. You will be coming off Robinson in the dark.
1900
Helvellyn section in the dark - possibly too slow for this easy section but increasingly popular.
2200
Sort of the worst of all worlds - the easy bit of the first leg in the light, Hall’s Fell and a good bit of the next leg in the dark.

For an anti-clockwise round:

0400
A bit of a nightmare time to start, not much chance of a sleep beforehand. Effectively the opposite daylight wise of a midnight start on a clockwise round.
0700
A fairly civilised start time but with the Helvellyn section being in the dark

For those intending to attempt a fast (< 20hrs) then 0400 seems to be a popular choice.

The following form allows you to calculate the best start time for your intended round. Simply choose the appropriate values and click on the button. A new window containing a table is then generated showing which tops you will be visiting in the dark; at dusk; and in morning light. Times are adjusted for BST, where necessary. No allowance is made for poor weather or bright moonlight so there may be 30 minutes either way of both these times. Twilight varies between 45 minutes at the winter solstice to 75 minutes at the summer solstice for both morning and evening. You will need JavaScript enabled in your browser and to allow new windows (pop-ups) to be created for this form to work.

The default start values are 0000hrs for the closest Saturday to midsummer, going in a clockwise direction.

Clicking on the “Calculate” or “Save” buttons will record the information in a cookie. This cookie is used by other parts of this site to present only that information relevant to your choice.

The Rocky Terrain option affects the times between Blencathra and Threlkeld; Bowfell to Scafell and the area around Great Gable.

There is no need to set the schedule for all three possibilities, the code will finish at the first Keswick option it comes across. The schedule in the popup window will be colour coded in the same way as the options in the form. If the rocky option has been chosen then these will be indicated in the schedule with (R).

Schedule Calculator:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
Sunrise/set