We started the first leg of our journey from to at 06.00, and with a few stops for toilet breaks and breakfast we should arrive approximately 8 hours later. The 12 seater mini bus was pretty much filled with our gear and we had made it as comfy as possible with pillows, sleeping bags and blankets if we could manage to get our heads down. The drive through Glencoe, then past on the A82 was breathtaking, nobody was trying to sleep on this stretch of the journey.
We arrived in dead on schedule at 14.00 giving us 3 hours to get prepared. After a good pub lunch and the odd Guinness we went back to the van and took the short drive out of the town centre to the start of the path near Claggan. We were pleasantly surprised to find a pub there, and, as we had at least an hour to kill before our start time of 17.00, we thought it would be rude not to sample the wares of the Ben Nevis Inn.
At 16.30 we wished a team of four good luck as they set off on there challenge. By now we were itching to get started, but we stuck to our plan. Leaving earlier would mean having longer to walk in the dark on our second mountain.
17.00 arrived and we passed through the gate at the start of the path, and the beginning of our challenge. As this was the only mountain we hadn’t walked before, we were slightly surprised by the length and terrain of the path, and what we initially thought was the summit was in fact a different peak called Carn Dearg. didn’t come into view for a good mile or so of steady climbing.
The view of as we ascended was stunning, intermittently appearing through the clouds below us, with the sun shining off Loch Eil. We started to see other teams descending who had began their challenge earlier, and with brief words of encouragement and summit weather reports, we passed, quietly assessing each other for signs of fatigue. At approximately 900m we went into cloud cover, the temperature began to drop and it began to hail lightly. As we progressed the hail turned into snow until it was almost completely white-out, the trail was covered and we made our way to the summit carefully following the . Upon reaching the summit at 19.25, we stopped briefly for a photo and immediately began our descent, as it was -4 degrees and several of the team began to feel the cold.
It didn’t seem to take long to come out of the clouds, there was no more snow or hail and came back into view. We now had a steady 2 hour descent back to the van, but the rocky path was starting to take its toll on the older members knees.
4 hours 30 minutes after we started we were back at the van, the two drivers had filled the flasks with boiled water for us to make tea, coffee and pot noodles. It was now 21.45 and we were ready for the 6 hour 15 minute drive to Scafell. With the A82 past closed for road works between 22.00 & 06.00, the drivers had to find a different route back onto the M74 to take us back into .
With the navigation well under control the passengers could now try and get some sleep before the second stage of the challenge. In turned out that trying to get some sleep was a challenge in itself. Confined and uncomfortable, cramp soon set in, and with the brightest, biggest full moon we had ever seen it soon put an end to sleep, for some of us at least.
After an un-eventful and faultless drive down to Wasdale Head we arrived at 04.00 and prepared ourselves for .
04.10 we were off, with headtorches ready for a dark start to the ascent, but, after 10 minutes it was light enough for us to continue without them. It was a lovely start to the day and at times we could see the summit clear of cloud, but true to form on Scafell, as we got higher the clouds began to roll over. We began to see the same teams from descending, and again, we passed pleasantries and inquired about summit conditions, and quietly checked them out for an insight into our own physical future.
It was around 850m when the view was lost, and we went into the cloud. This time it was dry, and we reached the summit by carefully using the again. Visibility was pour and we couldn’t wait for a break in the clouds to see the scenery, so we took a few pictures at the trig point and began our descent.
It was now clear to us that going down was harder than going up. We were all beginning to suffer with the pressure being put on our knees and feet. Calf and thigh muscles were being tested and when we stopped for a breath, we all noticed that our legs were trembling from the effort. Time for energy food to keep us going, nuts, raisins, sugary sweets, dextrose tablets and plenty of water.
At times it seemed like Wastwater lake at the bottom was getting further away, and the terrain was getting worse, but we eventually got off the rocky steps and began our more gradual walk back to the car park and the relative comfort of the van.
We reached the van by 07.30, got out of our boots and socks, stored the rucksacks, made our hot drinks and pot noodles and began our final leg of the trip to at 07.45.
Once the minor roads in the were negotiated and we reached the M6, all the passengers were ready and able to sleep.
After what seemed a very long drive on the A55, we were getting closer to our goal. We arrived at a full Pen y Pass car park at 12.15, literally bundled out the van into perfect sunny weather. Wearing shorts, t-shirts, sun-cream & sunglasses we started our final ascent up the miners track. With the weather being so good, there was an awful lot of people on the mountain. Normally we may have grumbled at being slowed down by the volume of traffic, but now we had 4 hours 36 minutes to complete before our 17.00 deadline. We have previously finished in 3 hours 5 minutes, so we were confident we could do it in the time remaining, although we have never attempted it after two other climbs.
The legs and lungs seemed to hold up on the first part of the ascent up to the third lake, it was here that we now began the stepped climb to meet the pyg track. Once on the pyg track it seemed to get a little easier, and we gradually made our way up to the Llanberis path. We have been up twice before and each time the weather was against us, and we were in cloud cover very early on. Today was very different, and we had a clear view of the summit all the way up. Once we reached the Llanberis path, where we previously saw nothing but cloud and was beginning to doubt that there actually was anything over the other side, we were greeted with spectacular views of the coastline and some of the other peaks in the Snowdonia range.
It was now a relatively easy task of following the railway up to the summit, but the trains had been busy that day and the trig point was pretty packed, which included several woman wearing heals and children in sandals! We resisted the urge to yell at them, and squeezed in amongst the throng to touch the trig. We took a few pictures and left a little marker at the base of the trig steps. Now it was time to descend.
After the efforts of descending the previous two mountains, we were all surprised to find slightly easier to come down off. Once back down to the top lake, the path becomes very easy compared to what we had already done, and we even contemplated jogging back to the van to see if we could beat the 23 hour mark. That was soon vetoed as some of the older contingency felt that energy needed to be reserved for the celebratory drinks afterwards.So after nearly 11 hours of walking, 19 hours of driving, several pot noodles, cups of tea, sausage rolls, english breakfasts, redbull, pasties, scotch eggs, energy tablets, sandwiches, lucozade, cereal bars, sweets etc…etc. we approached the Pen y Pass car park and the end of our 3 peak challenge.
Awaiting us were our truly brilliant drivers Stuart Gartshore and Nigel Wright, who had throughout kept our spirits and our confidence high with there banter, expert map reading, organisation and general driving abilities. Even better still, members of our family were there with cold beers. It was now 16.08 we had done the challenge in 23 hours and 8 minutes, with 52 minutes left to spare............Time to celebrate.
We wish to thank everybody who has sponsored us, and we will update the total raised once we have collected it.
Also it has to be said that the amount of help we received from A1 vehicle hire, Croft Building & Conservation Ltd. & Bespoke Joinery Services was truly inspiring for us, and we can’t thank them enough for there support.
Thanks again from Team WHY ThE 3 Peaks.
(Stuart Gartshore, Nigel Wright, , Liam Whyte, Patrick Whyte, Katie Whyte & Sam Whyte)
