A personal account of the Three Peaks Challenge, 10-11th June 2006

I had only been walking for less than an hour, and already I wondered whether I would be able to make it. I was breathless and my legs felt like jelly. After months of talking a team of people into taking part in this challenge, training as often as I could on the coastal paths around Cornwall, thinking and breathing the Three Peaks Challenge, surely I wasn't going to have to give up this early? I couldn’t believe it. I still don’t know now, a few days after the event, why I felt so bad at this early stage. It could have been the heat (unheard of 28 degrees in the Highlands of Scotland at 4pm), it could have been something I’d eaten, it could have been dehydration, or it could have been anxiety/excitement at actually starting this long awaited event.

I do know, however, that it was the rest of the team that kept me going, and this proved to be a recurring theme throughout the challenge. Whenever one of us struggled the rest of the team pulled together to help, by carrying each others rucksacks for a while, by taking breaks even when they may have felt happy to keep going, by encouragement and jokes, and above all by keeping together as a team, and refusing to let anyone get left behind. We all soon realised how difficult it was to be the one at the back, struggling to keep up with the others, so those that were finding a route particularly difficult were encouraged to the front.

The event officially started at Ben Nevis on the Saturday afternoon, but most of the team had travelled from Cornwall in a minibus all day on the Friday first. After stopping en route just outside Glasgow, we travelled on to Fort William on the Saturday, and then spent an anxious couple of hours getting ready at the foot of the mountain, wondering what we were letting ourselves in for, with one eye on the first England match of the World Cup, on a tiny TV rigged up inside the minibus. Eventually we got going, and set off at a cracking pace, only for me to find that I couldn’t keep up. After a while, with the teams help, I managed to settle down into a more comfortable pace, and we made some progress. The beginning of the walk up Ben Nevis is quite steep, up stepped rocks that take your breath away, and at that time of day there was a lot of people going up and down. After a while the path levels out to a much less stony track, and at the half way point there was a mountain stream to fill up the water bottles. This point was also a checkpoint within the challenge, and we had been issued with radios so that we could record our progress for the benefit of the base camp, for safety reasons. We also found the constant chatter on the radios rather comforting, as we heard about walkers dropping out of the event and being tracked back down the mountains (referred to as lone walkers, required to call base camp from each team’s radio as they passed us going up).

We pressed on, and started the rather laborious zigzags, which provide a less steep route up the mountain than straight up, and also a convenient excuse to stop for a drink at each corner. The path was stony, and we had to watch every footstep to avoid tripping over the stones, or lose our footing altogether. In fact, we spent most of the time we were on the mountains looking down at our feet, afraid to stop and look at the view as this would slow the team down.

Once we got near the top of Ben Nevis we found snow, quite deep in places, and the change in weather was quite extreme – we now had to wrap up against the wind and cold. One of the hardest things about the event is having to carry so much in your rucksack, but the organisers had insisted that we carry waterproofs, fleece, warm hat and gloves, as well as sun hat, sun cream and masses of water. We were glad of most of it, and could see the sense in carrying it all, although our backs and shoulders are now reminding us of quite how heavy it was.

Once we had reached the top and got over the initial euphoria, the cold and time pressure drove us back down again. We enjoyed the snow on the descent – some sliding down for a few yards as they lost their footing. We were careful to keep well away from the snowy north face, which fell down in a sheer drop to our right. Once we got back to the zigzags, we then retraced our steps, although now a new challenge was felt by some team members, as each step down puts great pressure on your knees. Even with walking poles, each step can be agony. Nevertheless we made good time, and were pleased to get to the bottom in a time of 5 hours and 44 minutes, only 14 minutes longer than the target. Our joy was increased when we found out that other teams hadn’t fared so well, with 14 still to finish (we had started 24th out of 31 teams).

Our support crew then excelled themselves. We got back to the minibus to be treated to a pasta meal cooked on camping stoves, with cups of tea provided as soon as thought about. They then ensured that we kept hydrated, and drove us through the night down to a motorway service station near Scaffell Pike. Here we had a briefing at 3.30am, before grabbing something to eat. Some teams were using the time to have a wash, but we decided that only the support drivers would notice if we all smelt the same! We headed out to Seathwaite Farm from where the route up Scaffell Pike started. We had been told to be as quiet as possible as the field where we started the route from also had people camping in, but I can’t really believe that 31 minibuses driving in at 5am didn’t disturb their night’s camping!

I quite enjoyed the relatively gentle walk up Scaffell to start with, but as we approached the top, a new problem arose – a ‘boulder field’. This turned out to be a layer of rocks about 3ft high, none lying square against another, with gaps between them waiting to trap an unwary foot. We were glad that the weather was dry, as these boulders were covered in patches of lichen and must be awful to cross in the rain. We stumbled across (or those whose legs were not quite as tired hopped from one boulder to another). Before the summit there was then a bit of downhill, before a steep incline to the top. Because the teams had all started much closer together on this mountain, there was a mass of people trying to go up and then down one steep path to the summit, sometimes almost on all fours, with loose rocks slipping about all over the place. We did not hang about at the top, keen to make our way down, and as the mist had come in, we could not see the view anyway.

The route down then became a torture for almost all of us. Some had blisters by now; others had trouble with their knees. I struggled with a weak ankle, and by the end every step was painful. We eventually reached the bottom, but this mountain had taken us 5 hours, ½ hour longer than target. We were now ¾ of an hour down on the times allotted for the walking, and it seemed unlikely that we would be able to make this up on Snowdon. We were also getting very tired, and a few of us needed attention from the medics that were standing by. My ankle has been weak since birth, and climbing these mountains had put a lot of strain on it. The medics advised me not to continue, and I was devastated. I had tears streaming down my face as I limped my way back to the minibus, and none of the other team members knew what to say.

We continued towards Snowdon in the minibus. We all tried to catch up on sleep, but there was little legroom in between the luggage, and few of us managed to nod off. We stopped at a service station to grab some lunch, and took our time to travel down to Wales. We knew it was important that everyone was as well rested and fed as possible before walking up the last of the Three Peaks.

Once we had reached the car park at the bottom of Snowdon I felt that my ankle had benefited from the ice pack given to me by the medics, and I discussed with the team my hope that I may be able to finish the challenge after all. By this point we all realised that we were not going to be able to complete the challenge within a strict 24 hours, but we nonetheless all wanted every member of the team to be able to get up and down all three mountains. With this support from my team mates, I decided to at least try and walk Snowdon, even if I had to turn back half way. We set off at 5pm, and walked up the steep tarmac road at the start, before joining yet another stony path to the top. We did not rush, and made sure we stopped to drink plenty of water. We all made it to the top, and I savoured the views that had not been visible when I had walked up Snowdon with my daughter 2 weeks earlier in the mist and rain. In fact the walk down Snowdon was perhaps the best part of the walk. Although every step hurt knee and ankle joints, it was a beautiful evening and we watched he sun set as we hobbled to the end.

By the time we got back to the reception that had been laid on at the hotel at the bottom of the mountain, it was just about dark. Worse, the midges were out in force, attacking all exposed flesh, and swarming up my nose and into my ears – not the best way to finish! We were applauded across the finish by a few stalwarts of the Care organisation, who gave us medals, T-shirts and bags to commemorate the event. We tracked down the buffet in the hotel, and ate what we could, before begging our drivers to get us back to our guest house so that we could go to sleep! I managed a shower before crashing into bed, but was not able to join the rest of the team downstairs in the bar – I was just too tired.

The whole event had been a real experience, and enjoyable as a team. Others supporting us from outside did not seem to understand quite what it was like – the most memorable comments included ‘was it steep?’ and ‘did your blisters hurt?’! Although we had taken 15 ¾ hours to complete the walking (compared to a target time of 14 hours) we are still proud that we all made it. Many teams split up and ended up walking in smaller pairings, but we stuck together throughout, and were glad of each others support.

Many people have asked me since I have got back whether I would do it again. I would say no, although I would like to walk up more mountains. Next time, though, I will make sure that I do not put myself under any time pressure, but will instead enjoy the mountains and the views, and complete the walk at my own pace. All the way home in the minibus we were comparing injuries, and reminding each other of our experiences. Talk started turning to next year…. but none of us felt that we wanted to repeat this particular challenge!

Tel: 01566 777189

Fax: 01566 777199