Three peaks

The three peaks challenge seems to have a folklore all of its own. Most people have heard of it, most of them who don’t walk regularly or climb mountains seem to regard it as something that only the dangerously insane would attempt. I have a number of said friends, one of whom caught me at a delicate moment (ie she bought me a lot of wine) and got me to agree to it.

So, the plan, as relayed when I was drunk and therefore when it sounded somewhat reasonable. 10 of us were to hire a minibus, leave Clapham Junction at about midday and drive up to Fort William in Scotland. We’d sleep, wake up refreshed, bound up Ben Nevis, jump in the bus, drive to the Lakes District in England (singing all the way), climb up Scafell Pike before sleeping soundly in the bus on the way to Snowdon in North West Wales and enjoying a leisurely stroll to the top and a champagne breakfast whilst there, all the time laughing and singing. All this within 24 hours, that is the challenge. What could be easier.

The first real snag was the trip up to Scotland. We got away from Clapham Junction at midday. Spirits were high, songs were being sung, all was good. Several queues, much swearing and a couple of satnav inspired wrong turns later, we arrived at our hotel, at 1am. I will say that the hotel had the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, such a shame that we really only got 5 or so hours worth of sleep prior to undertaking the challenge.

Ben Nevis was the starting point. It was by far the highest mountain at 1,400m, and was also the only climb which started at sea level. We started at about 8:00. Two thirds of the way up was the first sign of snow. Yep, snow. It wasn’t actually snowing, this was snow that had yet to melt from winter. Amidst the snow, we did come across one of the more bizarre sights over the course of the trip. Three Christian guys had read a section of the bible which said “Jesus said to pick up your mat…”. This caused these three guys to pick up a mat-tress, a double mattress mind, carry it to the top of the mountain and toboggan down the snow. They were my heroes.

Summit reached, walk to the bottom, pot noodle break before off to the Lakes District at about 3pm. We arrived at Scafell Pike at about 10pm and began to climb in the fading sunlight. Climbing Scafell is like climbing a narrow, massive and very steep staircase for a couple of hours. Whatsmore, we chose to do this challenge on a weekend where several other groups were doing the same thing. Some of them start at Snowdon, but we all get to Scafell at about the same time. So really, it’s like climbing and descending a steep staircase for a couple of hours with thousands of other people in the dark. Most of these other people were dressed like they were climbing mountains, but one guy was doing this challenge whilst dressed as Bananaman, which deserves a special mention.

A few wrong turns and a few close encounters with rabbit and sheep poo later, we were on the road to Snowdon at about 2:30am, arriving at about 6:30am. The challenge is to get from the base of Ben Nevis to the top of Snowdon within 24 hours. There was some spirit left, but the reality is that after climbing 2 mountains and having a bad night’s sleep in a bus on bumpy roads, the last thing any of us really felt like doing was climbing another friggin mountain, especially the long and winding road that leads to the top of Snowdon. But we did it, and ended up getting there at about 9:30, making a final time of 25 and a half hours. Not within the 24 hours then, but by the time we got to the top, nobody really cared.

As most of you know, this was a charity event. Overall, between myself and my fellow smile train collector, we managed to raise over £600 – well over double what we’d set out to do, and enough to pay for life changing surgery for 4 children. A very special thanks to those of you who did sponsor me.

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98967&id=528267125&l=809b5d9b81