We did it!  The long weeks of preparation culminated in the 3 Peaks Challenge last weekend.  It started off with Ben Nevis on Saturday afternoon and finished with Snowdon on Sunday morning.  Did we survive it – yes we did.

Before going into a brief description of the event, we would first like to thank all those who sponsored us for this event.  We have raised over £9,000 so far and the total raised by all the teams is over £600,000.  Several teams managed to raise over £60,000 alone. That’s really great.  So once again, thank you to all who sponsored us.  But if you were away, forgot or just want to add your contribution you can still do so.  The details are at the bottom of this email – we would very much like to break the £10,000 so would appreciate every little bit extra.

So how was the event?  We started off in Fort William for a light and energising last meal at MacDonalds (funny how a lot of teams ended up there).  Then it was on to Ben Nevis for the climb and we assembled at the start of the tourist path.  Teams were started at 20 second intervals and the pace set was impressive.  It was fairly warm and sunny and we headed up with barely a pause.  It was freezing at the top (with a patch of snow to be negotiated on the way up and down) but clear.  The pace down was equally impressive and we held off a few teams to finish just over halfway down the order.  A bacon roll and cup of tea helped fix us up before it was off to Helvellyn.

The weather deteriorated on the journey and arriving at Helvellyn at 01:30 we were greeted with gusting winds and showers.  Earlier teams were struggling to find the route and the summit as we started out.  Conditions worsened and it was not much fun – dark, wet, windy and swirling cloud.  It was hard to find the track, never mind keep on it.  As we neared the summit the wind was increasing and visibility getting worse and the marshals took the decision to turn every one back.  We were at the last point before the summit, metres away, but for safety reasons we could not continue.  So it was a long slog down a difficult path back for the ever welcoming bacon roll and tea.  Who put the ‘hell’ in Helvellyn?

Back in the coaches and trying to catch a bit of sleep on the way to Snowdon.  The rain eased but the winds got worse and on arrival we were told that we could not use the planned track and would go up the LLanberis path instead.  When we arrived at the start we were told that due to winds of up to 90mph at the summit we would not be able to go all the way.  We did as we were told and trekked up until turned round and trekked down again to a very welcome beer. We did about the same distance as planned, without the summit.

While we did not reach the summits of the last two, we were as close as we could get given the conditions.  Better to be safe than hurt and with 120 people climbing in the group, it was a major headache for the organisers to decide how far they could let us go.  We know we would have made it easily if allowed to and we feel no lesser sense of achievement.  The exertion, the lack of good sleep and the odd diet during the event were a big part of it, as was the general camaraderie between teams and participants.

We want to thank the Sailors Society for organising the event.  It was handled extremely well throughout with problems solved and people kept safe.  Their important and great work deserves our support.  If you have not yet supported us, please read on how to do so and help us raise just that little bit more – every pound counts.

Will we do it again in 2010 ? Watch this space.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Sailors’ Society will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

RIO TINTO MARINE