Last week-end I had the pleasure of leading a group form Mondelez (Cadbury, Kenco etc.) on a National 3 peaks Challenge in aid of Macmillan Cancer Research.
Very briefly for anyone not aware, the National 3 Peaks is a challenge to walk to the top of the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales i.e. Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon straight after each other. The key target is to accomplish this within 24 hours ( though many just go to try and finish), which has got increasingly more difficult with busier roads, stricter speed limits and now speed limited mini-buses which can't go above about 65 mph even on a motorway. Add to that stricter laws on hours of driving and tacographs for commercial drivers, and the pressure is now on for teams to be swift on the hill because the road section is all about damage limitation.
This effort was also a two day push, meaning we started out form Chester on Saturday morning and were climbing Ben Nevis that same evening, whereas the majority of attempts involve driving up to Scotland the day before.
So, I met my team at Chester services at 0530 and they were in a bouncy, excited mood even at that time - the joys of youth ! The drive up was slightly complicated by having to pick up two of the team at Glasgow airport and then we were delayed by roadworks round Loch Lomond and an extreme triathlon between Crianlarich and Glencoe - the CIty to Summit race involving swim the Forth at Edinburgh, cycle 110m to Glen Coe and then a marathon finishing up and down Ben Nevis - wow ! Given the delays we arrived at Fort Bill at around 1415, and driver laws meant our man had to have 9 hours break so we couldn't finish on the Ben until after 2315. The other Mountain Leader, Bryan, and I had a quick conflab and decided on a 5:00-5:15 target time and a set off time of 1815.
Ben Nevis:
We started in good spirits, great weather and a consequently over fast pace which caused no small amount of suffering higher up, though most people were quite wowed by the sudden onset of winter on the summit plateau as passed the snowline and into the cloud. The steady stream of heroic triathletes - including one D.McCloud supporting a friend - staggering up and down the Ben provided much needed encouragement. Despite the pain, our gallant team got up and down in around 5:15 and were heartened to see the bus arrive just as we approached - so no waiting and no lost time.
Drive section 1:
The faffing at the end was kept to a minimum and we all experienced the joys of trying to get changed, have a wet wipe wash and eat whilst our driver did his best to keep the foot on the floor round the windy roads. Most of the team seemed to get to sleep but I - sans pillow and a cramped seat - could do no better than an odd doze. A compulsory pit stop of 45 mins at Annandale Water provided the opportunity to sort kit out for the next leg before a few more zzzs on the last section to Wasdale.
Scafell Pike:
We piled out of the van at Wasdale and set off in good time with a target of 3:30 and a beautiful morning though on the west side we were going to be in deep shade nearly all the way. The team had been forewarned about the steep grind up the lower section of Scafell but it still tested some of them to their limits, though again they all made it to the top of a cloudy but clear summit and some amazing views. The steep descent on rocky ground also - proved testing, followed the knee breaker path but we made it in 3:25 slightly better than target - nice !
Drive section 2:
The early part of this is a white knuckle ride round very narrow, twisty, single track roads with kamikaze sheep and dozy tourists, but we survived with nothing worse than slightly queasy stomachs and tried to sleep on the motorway section to Chester. At this point we had a driver change and acquired Frank a scouser and born entertainer who kept us occupied with a stream of jokes, stories and special musical compilations on top of a sterling job at getting us to Pen-y-Pass ahead of schedule.
Snowdon:
With tired legs but grim determination the team set off knowing anything better than 4:15 would give us a sub 24 and the regular shouts and chants of encouragement indicated nothing less would do. We went up the PYG track and summited in a little over 2 hours, the view as we reached the bwlch was amazing and revived even the most tired. But, with tired bodies and minds Bryan and I decided a decent down the miners path - though over a km longer - would be safer. Despite a few flutters of panic from some of the team based on earlier experiences, we made it back safe and sound in 3:45 - smashed the sub 24 by 30 mins !
All in all a great effort by an enthusiastic team who although quite young and fit were inexperienced hill walkers and had to dig deep on the steep uphill climbs. So well done to them for a great personal achievement and for raising over £7000 for Macmillan - superb.
And for once I even took some pictures ! View them on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shandyd05/sets/72157633911593988/
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