Well, we did it with just over 5 minutes to spare in 24 hours. Tough event.

Here is the blog for those of you that are interested:

The build up the week before was a busy one for me. I had a test day for my Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 at Rockingham Speedway on Thursday, which always takes quite a bit out of me with the G force generated by what is a very fast race car.

Friday night my wife and I had to go to a 40th reunion party in Sheffield. No alcohol but didn't get to bed until 12.30 am Saturday.

Saturday morning it was touch and go whether my booked helicopter flight to Fort William would be able to fly due to the very high winds and severe weather generally in Scotland. Fortunately I got two ballsy pilots who understood that I had to get this thing done to raise money for my charity, The Prince's Trust.

Arrived around 12.30 Saturday afternoon to be met by James Ketchell and his father John, who was to be our driver between climbs. James is a renowned adventurer who has climbed Everest, rowed across the Atlantic and cycled across the USA. The reason we could not do this challenge in the summer was that he is rowing across the Indian Ocean, and I have a full season of motor racing in the British GT Cup championship and the World Series Maserati Championship.

We set off at 13.15 up Ben Nevis, at 4500 feet the highest mountain in the UK. It was very cold, high winds and heavy rain at the time. The higher we got , the worse the conditions. The last 1000 feet we incurred calf high snow, had to fit our crampons, and then sheet ice. It was a white out on what had become a glacier. Had to navigate by GPS but we got to the summit. So cold our clothing was frozen on the outside and even our eyelashes froze.. Lots of other people on the climb on the way up but we were the only ones to execute the summit. Winds were 60-70 mph. Got back down to the bottom at 19.00.

Fifteen minute turnaround to put on dry clothing then John got us down to Scafell Pike in the Lake District in 4 hours 45 minutes in his £500 Mercedes Estate! Ate in the car, slept for maybe 30 minutes but difficult when the adrenaline is running so high. Fifteen minute kit up then set off up Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England at 3200 feet, in the dark with just our head torches for company at 00.15 Sunday morning. The torrential rain on the way down had fortunately stopped by this time, but it was very windy, around 80-90 mph at the top. I know this because it blew me over 4 times. The tracks on this mountain are difficult to follow in places and we took several wrong turns up and down. The last 500feet were surrounded in cloud, surprising given the strength of the wind. Four hours later we were back at the car, the time now being 05.15 due to the clocks in the UK going forward one hour at 2am to British Summer Time. Fifteen minutes kit down then off the Wales.

Torrential rain again, about 90 minutes sleep (feeling tired by now) John got us to the foot of Snowden, the highest mountain in Wales at 3500 feet, by 09.15.m. We were now 45 minutes behind our own self imposed schedule, but after a 15 minute kit up we set off at 09.30 with 4 hours 45 minutes to get up and down Snowden, doable but tight.

Then we made the mistake. James suggested that instead of going up by the Pyg route, the most direct, we would go up the Miners route, which would be longer but a bit easier. Major error of judgement by us both as it turned out.

This route is really easy going initially with the option of 2 steep climbs thereafter to the summit. The weather now was torrential rain again and the winds on the way and particularly at the top blew me over again 4 times. When we got to the first steep ascent option it was washed out by 2 waterfalls which would be too strong to navigate, so we pushed on to the second option, which was not much better. Time was now running out fast so we started up, had to abandon the scree and climb up a waterfall as it was more secure, but then came to a vertical wet rock face. I was really uncomfortable with this predicament as we could not get down , the only way was up, with no ropes or protection, rucksacks, poles etc to carry.

Anyway we did it, joined back up with the track and pushed on to the summit, very tired by now. Reached it by 12.15 pm, just 2 hours for the descent, really tight and not sure if we would make it. James started telling me how well we had done and it was still an achievement even if we didn't make the 24 hour deadline.　 I explained to James how important it was to me to achieve my goal and despite being in pain from the metal in his right ankle, sustained in a motorcycle accident years ago , he still helped me to push on hard.

We chose the Pyg descent, had to navigate around a lot of other crazy people, fortunately towards the bottom there were some sections where we could run, and we made it with 5 minutes to spare. Few!

We were soaked through. I had no spare dry clothing so had to travel back home to Leeds in my wet gear, to a well earned shower, bath and hot meal. Today surprisingly not as tired as I thought I would be, just tight calves and thighs.

Many thanks to James and John. This achievement would not have been possible without James' organisation ( he rehearsed the climbs the weekend before! ) , commitment and navigational skills.　 John drove　 like a demon and made sure we reduced the travel time to a minimum.

Thanks guys, you are stars.

To those of you who have made your donations thank you very much. To those that have yet to do so, please give generously. The Prince's Trust is a great charity that helps young people, often with no hope or future, to find themselves and get out of the pile