The Three Peaks Challenge
So you've never heard of the three peaks challenge? That means that you're not a walker who's done much hill walking in the UK then!
The three peaks challenge is to walk up and down each of the three highest peaks in the UK within 24hrs. That's Ben Nevis (nr Fort William, in the Highlands of Scotland), Scafell Pike in Cumbria (north-west England), and Snowdon in north Wales. To give you an idea, here's a map showing the route driven:
And that doesn't include the drive to get from Wrexham to Ben Nevis in the first place.
Ben Nevis was largely unknown and the highest of the peaks. Snowdon is our "local" mountain, and familiar to everyone involved. Scafell was unknown to almost all the walkers, as well as being completed partly in the dark, and has a bit of a reputation for being a tough walk.
I wasn't walking, like a fool... no no no, I was driving. With 3 minibusses, there 6 of us keeping each other awake and driving through the night to get the walkers to where they needed to be. We had a nice relaxing drive up, and the walkers set off in a fine and enthusiastic mood.
A few hours after they started Ben Nevis, we were having a discussion about who was most likely to kill themselves up one of the mountains, hoping it wasn't really going to happen, when I got a phone call...
http://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/nantwich-woman-rescued-britains-highest-9605477
Turns out that one of our walkers had fallen over and gashed her knee badly enough that bone was visible. Their challenge was over. Mountain Rescue were summoned (not international rescue, sadly), and a helicopter sent from Prestwick (that's MILES away!).
By the time most of the other walkers had made it down, we'd come to a decision. Of the three minibusses, we had enough people and enthusiasm to take a bus full of walkers who wanted to continue the challenge, while leaving enough capacity for everyone else to get back safely. We weren't far behind our expected departure time from Ben Nevis; it was still possible to complete the challenge.
So off we went, leaving Ben Nevis around 2230, driving through the night with our sleepy (and slightly stinky) cargo. We arrived at Wasdale, the foot of Scafell Pike, at about 4am. The sun was just about rising, the clouds were dark but not yet too forboding, and our walkers set off. About an hour after they set off, we drivers were sleeping in the bus, when I was woken up by the most horrific thunderstorm I have ever seen. The clouds had turned from mildly forboding to deeply ominous, water was flooding over the bus like someone was throwing buckets at it, and there was lightning flashing every few seconds. This went on seemingly forever.
One of the (arguably) more sensible walkers had turned back at some point and came to sleep with us in the bus, leaving the other 5 to carry on in the storm. We slept some more, waking when the rest arrived back at the bus sometime around 0830. The poor souls looked like they'd been dragged through a river and had some stories to tell. We'd (sensibly) pre-booked bacon/sausage sandwiches from the Wasdale Head pub for the morning, and as there were now 8 of us instead of the expected 24, we chomped our way through as many sandwiches as we could squeeze in!
We let the walkers change into dry clothes, and set off in an even sleepier and even stinkier bus for familar territory - Snowdon.
We dumped the walkers at Snowdon just around 2pm, leaving them a rather challenging 3hrs to climb up to the peak of Snowdon and make it back down again. While they did that, we headed in to Llanberis to find coffee, food, more sleep, and to try to catch up with the other people who we left at Ben Nevis. It turned out that after being airlifted off the mountain, our injured walker was taken to the local hopsital in Fort William and stitched up with 13 stitches. Everyone involved was amazed to see them walk out on their own, if a bit stiffly. They were all almost back at base.
We managed to completely miss the walkers' arrival back at the base of Snowdon, but others who'd made their way to Snowdon after arriving back at the base said all of the walkers were running down the footpath, desperate to beat the 24hr target. They all made it,. with completion times ranging from 23hrs 45m to 23hrs 57m.
That was one hell of a drive, and an experience that I'd repeat any day. We went prepared, and made the right decisions. We managed, despite the severe setback, to safely get everyone to where they needed to be. If I do it again, I'd like to find some way to get more sleep. In the end I think I managed about 3hrs sleep in the 36 we were away, which isn't a great idea.
The three peaks challenge is to walk up and down each of the three highest peaks in the UK within 24hrs. That's Ben Nevis (nr Fort William, in the Highlands of Scotland), Scafell Pike in Cumbria (north-west England), and Snowdon in north Wales. To give you an idea, here's a map showing the route driven:
And that doesn't include the drive to get from Wrexham to Ben Nevis in the first place.
Ben Nevis was largely unknown and the highest of the peaks. Snowdon is our "local" mountain, and familiar to everyone involved. Scafell was unknown to almost all the walkers, as well as being completed partly in the dark, and has a bit of a reputation for being a tough walk.
I wasn't walking, like a fool... no no no, I was driving. With 3 minibusses, there 6 of us keeping each other awake and driving through the night to get the walkers to where they needed to be. We had a nice relaxing drive up, and the walkers set off in a fine and enthusiastic mood.
A few hours after they started Ben Nevis, we were having a discussion about who was most likely to kill themselves up one of the mountains, hoping it wasn't really going to happen, when I got a phone call...
http://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/nantwich-woman-rescued-britains-highest-9605477
Turns out that one of our walkers had fallen over and gashed her knee badly enough that bone was visible. Their challenge was over. Mountain Rescue were summoned (not international rescue, sadly), and a helicopter sent from Prestwick (that's MILES away!).
By the time most of the other walkers had made it down, we'd come to a decision. Of the three minibusses, we had enough people and enthusiasm to take a bus full of walkers who wanted to continue the challenge, while leaving enough capacity for everyone else to get back safely. We weren't far behind our expected departure time from Ben Nevis; it was still possible to complete the challenge.
So off we went, leaving Ben Nevis around 2230, driving through the night with our sleepy (and slightly stinky) cargo. We arrived at Wasdale, the foot of Scafell Pike, at about 4am. The sun was just about rising, the clouds were dark but not yet too forboding, and our walkers set off. About an hour after they set off, we drivers were sleeping in the bus, when I was woken up by the most horrific thunderstorm I have ever seen. The clouds had turned from mildly forboding to deeply ominous, water was flooding over the bus like someone was throwing buckets at it, and there was lightning flashing every few seconds. This went on seemingly forever.
One of the (arguably) more sensible walkers had turned back at some point and came to sleep with us in the bus, leaving the other 5 to carry on in the storm. We slept some more, waking when the rest arrived back at the bus sometime around 0830. The poor souls looked like they'd been dragged through a river and had some stories to tell. We'd (sensibly) pre-booked bacon/sausage sandwiches from the Wasdale Head pub for the morning, and as there were now 8 of us instead of the expected 24, we chomped our way through as many sandwiches as we could squeeze in!
We let the walkers change into dry clothes, and set off in an even sleepier and even stinkier bus for familar territory - Snowdon.
We dumped the walkers at Snowdon just around 2pm, leaving them a rather challenging 3hrs to climb up to the peak of Snowdon and make it back down again. While they did that, we headed in to Llanberis to find coffee, food, more sleep, and to try to catch up with the other people who we left at Ben Nevis. It turned out that after being airlifted off the mountain, our injured walker was taken to the local hopsital in Fort William and stitched up with 13 stitches. Everyone involved was amazed to see them walk out on their own, if a bit stiffly. They were all almost back at base.
We managed to completely miss the walkers' arrival back at the base of Snowdon, but others who'd made their way to Snowdon after arriving back at the base said all of the walkers were running down the footpath, desperate to beat the 24hr target. They all made it,. with completion times ranging from 23hrs 45m to 23hrs 57m.
That was one hell of a drive, and an experience that I'd repeat any day. We went prepared, and made the right decisions. We managed, despite the severe setback, to safely get everyone to where they needed to be. If I do it again, I'd like to find some way to get more sleep. In the end I think I managed about 3hrs sleep in the 36 we were away, which isn't a great idea.