This morning was blowing a gale so I headed out to a moorland (about 1,400 feet above sea level) where there is a wide footpath built on an old railway trackbed. When I got there the wind was blowing really hard across the path with strong gusts every few seconds. I would think that it was a comfortable 40 mph with gusts up to 60mph.
I put on my 24 inch pegs and set off along the path. The first quarter mile from the carpark is partially protected by fir trees which gave me a chance to get used to stilting in a cross wind, but at the end of the wood the path opens out onto high moorland with only heather growing and the wind threatening to blow me away. I progressed steadily leaning into the wind but having great difficulty staying upright when a gust caught me. After about 300 yards the path crosses a deep gully which is crossed by a wide wooden footbridge with smooth wooden decking. This I crossed without problem and carried on along the track for about a mile when it started to rain. I have found that strong cross winds I can cope with but horizontal heavy rain in that wind is a different problem so I turned round and headed back. Quickly getting soaked and having difficulty seeing due to rain on my spectacles, I battled back along the track finding that the wind had moved round a few degrees and it was now a head wind. When I got back to the bridge, the wood decking was now wet, and I found very slippery. Struggling to stay upright I took very short steps , attempting to keep the stilts as vertical as possible. Suddenley a huge gust hit me head-on and whipped the stilts out from under me and I went down heavily. A few seconds to get my breath back, using the railings I got upright again and carried on over the bridge slipping and sliding all the way, but managed to get off the bridge before another gust caught me. The path back to the car was now soaking wet and had turned from a good surface into a slippery mud surface. So the last half mile was extremely difficult to cope with. I experienced many "nearly but not quite" moments and was glad when I got back into the shelter of the trees.
Total distance on my new stilt feet about 3 miles. Total time just over 2 hours. One heavy fall but no injuries. If it stops raining I might try the 36inch ones this afternoon
I put on my 24 inch pegs and set off along the path. The first quarter mile from the carpark is partially protected by fir trees which gave me a chance to get used to stilting in a cross wind, but at the end of the wood the path opens out onto high moorland with only heather growing and the wind threatening to blow me away. I progressed steadily leaning into the wind but having great difficulty staying upright when a gust caught me. After about 300 yards the path crosses a deep gully which is crossed by a wide wooden footbridge with smooth wooden decking. This I crossed without problem and carried on along the track for about a mile when it started to rain. I have found that strong cross winds I can cope with but horizontal heavy rain in that wind is a different problem so I turned round and headed back. Quickly getting soaked and having difficulty seeing due to rain on my spectacles, I battled back along the track finding that the wind had moved round a few degrees and it was now a head wind. When I got back to the bridge, the wood decking was now wet, and I found very slippery. Struggling to stay upright I took very short steps , attempting to keep the stilts as vertical as possible. Suddenley a huge gust hit me head-on and whipped the stilts out from under me and I went down heavily. A few seconds to get my breath back, using the railings I got upright again and carried on over the bridge slipping and sliding all the way, but managed to get off the bridge before another gust caught me. The path back to the car was now soaking wet and had turned from a good surface into a slippery mud surface. So the last half mile was extremely difficult to cope with. I experienced many "nearly but not quite" moments and was glad when I got back into the shelter of the trees.
Total distance on my new stilt feet about 3 miles. Total time just over 2 hours. One heavy fall but no injuries. If it stops raining I might try the 36inch ones this afternoon
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United Kingdom
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Re: Adventurous Stilting - Strong Winds
Sat, December 16, 2006 - 11:17 PMIt rained all the rest of Thursday and most of Friday but yesterday morning there was a hard frost but still a strong wind blowing. I went back to my moorland path and found a gate post high enough to be able to use to put on the 36inch pegs. I spent some little time getting used to the extra height while being sheltered from the wind by the trees and then set out onto the high moorland.
I found the extra height in the strong cross wind rather precarious. Much more difficult to maintain vertical stability but a lot of fun and much more time in which to correct a stagger before coming to the point of no return. I stood on a patch of smooth ice which was a puddle on Thursday without noticing it and the instant launching of that stilt nearly caused a quick fall but the puddle was just a couple of feet wide and the slide stopped when the stilt hit dry ground. I spent an hour struggling against the stong wind, but now feel much more confident with the higher stilts. I must use them more often
