Story
Mission: To climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hrs.
Firstly we want to say many thanks to our sponsors. Your support really matters to the 948 Foundation and hence the Sports in and around St Albans. It also motivated us through the darkest hours of the challenge on Scafell Pike. We have yet to do the final total but we have raised over £3000 for charity which far exceeded our expectations so well done to all of you.
Secondly a massive thank you to Stig 1 and 2, Elaine and Liam who completed a driving marathon to get the rest of us safely to the mountains. This is probably a greater achievement than the climbing.
Thirdly a huge thank you to the organisers and the inspirational leaders Richard and Andy S.
I honestly don't think we would have completed it without you
I'll start with a warning: If you are ever invited to a Christmas "Thank the Rugby Coaches drink with the parents" be careful what you sign up to whilst under the influence! That is how this adventure started. The month of May seemed a long way off and anyway these things often never take off. Little did I know that I had totally underestimated Richard's motivational and organisational skills and Andy's experience.
By the time we reached Fort William the awesome reality (and responsibility) of what we were about to undertake was really hitting home. As we approached the start of the climb the butterflies were doing a rumba and 80’s band Europe’s “The Final Countdown” was playing in my head. In the car park there were two other groups of 3 Peakers. I’m sure the team will not be offended if I say that the other 2 teams were not worried by the threat they thought we posed to their times as they saw the SAGA Commandoes descending from the buses.
A quick “faf” about with equipment and we were off, starting the clock at 4:50 pm on Friday 7th May 2010. The foot hills gently led us through the spectacular scenery of Glen Nevis and Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe (the lake). From there on things got a lot harder as the path zigged and zagged then zagged then zigged again for an age until we came to the first snow. Initially it was a novelty that allowed us to take some “I’m an Arctic Explorer, me” photos. However, after half an hour of foot sliding, 50% extra effort for every step, exhaustion, the novelty wore off.
We all reached the summit and had a fantastic view across the Nevis Range, the sea lochs and the Isle of Mull as the sun set and then had to negotiate the path down in the dusk “roaming in gloaming”.
I suppose we must have slept on the way to Scafell Pike; everyone tried to get in some sort of position of comfort. Credit to Elaine and Liam for staying awake and to co-driver Dave for chatting to Liam. I'm sure it's not the ideal way to spend your birthday, but Liam never complained. The sat-nav on the Silver Bus took them up hill and down dale to Wastwater. Is there any truth in the rumour that Elaine was practising for Paris-Dakar?
There were few mishaps for the Red Bus – apart from a wrong turn down a terraced street somewhere in Cumbria. I dimly remember waking and thinking this can't be right – Liam announced that we were booked into Mrs Miggins B&B, by that stage I was wishing he had.
We had a brief stop at the services for fuel and a sandwich. It was quite amusing seeing Dave C, one of the London's top chefs, trying to eat a Panini that looked like a piece of leather between two sheets of card board. He declared it "considerably worse that I could possibly have imagined".
We found the car park in Wasdale and exited our warm bus at 4:20pm in pitch dark to be welcomed by a cold North wind howling through the trees. This must be how new born polar bears feel. Our spirits were pretty low.
After the ritual "faf" we set off. Initially the path was in a sheltered valley but we missed the point where it crossed the Lingmel stream and nearly went on the wrong course. Fortunately we spotted the path and crossed over to it. We came to the top of the valley and were met with a sub zero force 8 wind from the North and a barren moon like surface, except there's no wind on the moon. It was getting extremely unpleasant and the only thing to do was to put your head into the wind and plod on. Unfortunately this doesn't help navigation. Here we discovered that Dave H has a deep fear of cairns and has to avoid them at all costs, as a result he headed off towards the cliffs of Mickledor. "Ahh but we don't need maps".
The journey to the summit was awful in the wind and the never ending moonscape. Once we got to the summit we touched the trig point and sheltering behind the stones we put on extra layers. I looked at my watch it was 6:10am on a Saturday morning, "what the hell are we doing here?" We got off the mountain as quickly as possible as the mist closed in around us.
And so another marathon drive began for the Stigs. We realised that actually we were doing well; we had completed 2 mountains and thanks to the drivers had about an hour in hand. When we reached Pen-y-Pass it was great to be met by 2 non-climbing friends and like an athletics coach encouraging a charge approaching the final lap seeing them there really motivated us. Another "faf" about and we marched along the Miner's track.
The terrain of the Miner's track actually helps quite a bit, as initially it is flat which gave our aching legs a chance to ease up before the final climb. The main obstacle here was the sheer volume of people including children and babes in arms – you can't help wondering what some people are thinking. The climb has a few tricky places but again there was no rain and the wind was much quieter on Snowdon. We took our lives in our hands climbing the steps to touch the trig point, probably the most dangerous part of the 24 hours as 100 people jostled for position on the edge of the precipice. Then down asap to try and finish with an hour to spare. The final flat section of the Miner's track seemed to go on forever and then had the nerve to go up hill. Dave and I jogged the final 300 yards in agony and finished in 22 hours and 58 mins.
AMAZING, WE HAD ACTUALLY DONE IT! We had climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hours.
In fact we were so quick that the Stigs weren't there.
Next stop the Tyn y Coed pub for a few beers and a much needed warming fire. Richard also presented us with our medals – a great touch, thanks.
We had been incredibly lucky with the weather, firstly with the Ash Cloud, then the chances of not having rain on any of those mountains for 24 hours and getting a view from the tops must be hundreds to one against.
Had it all been worth it? Certainly and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Was it worth the hours of training? Undoubtedly; it gave us a goal to get fit for.
Did we enjoy the camaraderie? Definitely
Could we tolerate the discomfort of sleeping in a minibus? Yes
Would we do it again? NO! Once is enough and anyway now we've crossed it off the bucket list.
And we never want to see another cereal bar (Trill) or Lucozade Sprt again!
Post Script: In case we take the mountains too lightly, we all read the incidents in the Lochaber Mountain rescue booklet and this was emphasized as a man was killed on Snowdon on Saturday afternoon – we wondered what the helicopter was doing.
Stats
Start 4.50pm
Down at 10.03pm
Depart Ben Nevis 10.10pm
Arrive Wasdale 4.05am
start 4.25am
All down at 7.48am
Depart Wasdale 8.00am
Arrive Pen Y Pass 12.15pm
Start 12.25am
Finish 3.48pm (First down, rest very quickly after)
Mileages:
Glasgow - Nevis 98 miles
Nevis - Wasdale 5' 55"
Wasdale - Pen Y Pass 4'15"
Total 490 miles in 10'10"
Return to Watford 238 miles
Total mileage 826 miles
Total distance walked: 23.36 miles
Total elevation: 9035ft
Total calories burned per climber: 6546
Leader
Richard Rutty
Stigs (Drivers)
Elaine Horne
Liam Barrett
Mountaineers
Alistair Kerslake
Andy Cross
Andy Sykes
Dave Coutts
Dave Hunt
Kevin McGahan
Neil Crawley
Phil Horne
Steve Hull