3 Peaks Challenge DONE!

"I wouldn't swap the pain - it was worth it for the view" - Bell X1

I'm too tired and incapacitated to do much else apart from sit in front of a computer and type so I thought I'd write about my recent challenge.

I must admit that I had no idea quite how hard it would be. There are so many things that can impact on the challenge. And we certainly found that out the hard way!

Friday 23rd
This was the day we drove up to Scotland. Adele and I did it two big stints yet it still took us about 12 hours to get up there including time to stop and eat. Below is a picture of us having a massive burger and milkshake at an American Diner. Oh we were so naive and happy then!

Very much looking forward to our 10oz burgers

When we finally got to the hostel at about 10pm, me, Lynch and Mike looked round Fort William, the town at the base of Ben Nevis. It seemed nice enough but at 1:30am (the morning before the challenge started!) a group of drunken yobs woke us up by kicking in a door just outside our room, singing and shouting whilst doing so. The police came and eventually took them away. Soon after a party of people, who were staying beneath us, starting drinking and laughing, and as such, I did not have the best of night's sleep.

Saturday 24th

After an inconsistent sleep, I wasn't feeling too enthusiastic, I must admit, as you may be able to tell by the photo below. But a lunchtime pint, a Wetherspoons burger and a purchase of a base-layer for a bargain price of £9.99 seemed to perk me up!

Apparently Mike was the only one who could muster a smile.

Re-introduced to my old friend.

At 16:30 we were at the Achintee Car Park at the base of Ben Nevis getting ready by stretching, preparing rolls, and excavating our bowels. And by 5pm we were off! After about 45 minutes Mike was regretting his burger and seemed to be suffering a bit already.

With the exception of Mike's Muppets t-shirt, I think we looked pretty professional!

The beginning of Ben Nevis. The path got much harder than this but I couldn't take a photo then!

The second half of the ascent really was a slog. It just continued to go up. This was a common theme with all the mountains it turned out! Still, we dug in. We were hoping to make it to the top in 2h 50 minutes and in fact we made it in 3 hours. The view was pretty non-existent because of the cloud. Still though, the feeling was pretty uplifting and I personally felt a real sense of achievement and optimism when we got there.

1,344m up. There is nowhere higher in the UK!

Once we got to the top Mike seemed to be re-ignited with energy and on the way back down we were much faster than expected. We barely stopped except to capture an amazing sunset. The best I've ever seen. I would recommend anyone climbing Ben Nevis, albeit slower and not before climbing 2 others, if only to see it. It really was something I wont forget. And I forget a lot of things.

Like a scene from Disney!

We ended up getting back to the car for 21:55. 5 minutes ahead of schedule and things were looking good. We were tired but we felt like if we got some sleep we could do it again.

Sunday 25th
The first blockage of the day came at about midnight when we hit the A82, the main road to Scafell. This was blocked between 10pm and 6am for the next few weeks and we found out the hard way. So already the small amount of time Mike and I made up was lost by this. A sterling effort from Adele and Lynch saw that we got to Mountain #2, Scafell Pike, at about 03:55. Late, but only by about 25 minutes. Problem number 2 was  that I had no sleep at all. Mike might have caught about an hour's nap but between us we were already exhausted before the day began. If anyone is planning on doing the 3 Peaks, don't do it in a Vauxhall Corsa. Make that your priority!

Our morning only got worse. When we set off it was pitch black so we only had our headlamps to light the way. We thought we might have gone wrong as we hadn't passed the river, as expected. However a group of seemingly competent people carried on walking passed us so we continued to head in the same direction. We eventually thought we either had to climb a steep hillside or trust the path ahead of us even more. As the group ahead of us seemed stuck (their headlamps were stationary!) we decided to start climbing. This was fatal! After a good 20-30 minutes of climbing up a boggy, thorny, rocky hillside on our hands and knees, with the path on top of the mountain getting further out of sight, we had to cut our losses, clamber back down the hill and retrace our path. As the sun was coming up, it became immediately, and heart-breakingly obvious where we should have gone. We never saw that other group again!

Once I changed my entire bottom half (sliding down the hill was pretty wet!) we started climbing a rather brutal, yet correct path called Brown Tongue.

Brown Tongue. The correct path.

As we were completed depleting of energy from a lack of sleep and from climbing up the wrong mountain, we fell badly behind schedule. To say that we were exhausted was a massive understatement. We were physically drained. But still, we eventually made it, and the clouds parted temporarily to give us an amazing view. What's more we also witnessed something that is apparently very rare. It's called a Glocken spectre and it was our silhouette on a rainbow, caused by the fact we were in between the sun and the clouds. Seeing that on top of England's highest peak made my subsequent chocolate even sweeter!

So close now!

Knackered and relieved. 978m. The highest point in England.

The moon above the clouds. Beautiful.

On the way back I knew that to stand literally the minutest of chances, I would have to go like the clappers. I used up the energy consumed from a big slab of chocolate to get back to Wasdale. I knew Mike was a bit behind but I figured that if I got back early then I could get his stuff ready, get changed and, crucially, urinate, so that when Mike did arrive we could shoot straight off. Despite the running and all the goodwill in the world, this would prove to be a futile use of reserves. We eventually left the dreaded Scafell Pike at about 10:00am with only 7 hours to, not only make it to Snowdonia on a bank holiday weekend, but to climb and descend its county's tallest mountain.

Glad to be rid of it!

Once again with the nifty driving from Adele and Lynch we made it to Wales in good time but unfortunately not good enough. We arrived at about 15:00 with only 2 hours to ascend and descend Snowdon. This was impossible. As such we had to change our target to go from peak-to-peak in 24 hours (as opposed to base-to-base). This was still a bit of a challenge in itself as when we arrived I had such a huge headache. I had to stop several times at the beginning because my head thumped with every footstep. Honestly, I think that if I wasn't doing it for charity I would have stopped there and then.

Still though we continued to plug away. This time Mike mostly took the lead as I hobbled behind him, one hand on my walking pole and one on my head. At moments, despite the headache, I still couldn't help smiling at the view. The Pig Trail that we took really did offer some amazing scenery looking over the lakes on the inside of the mountain.

Overlooking the Miners Pass.

Through sheer exhaustion we had to take more breaks this time. We continued to complete it as fast as we could though, despite knowing that we didn't meet our original target, and finally we made it to the top. In fact, better than our secondary target: we climbed peak to peak in 23 hours!

Smiling used up more muscles so we decided not to bother. 1085m high. The highest point in Wales.

I must admit that taking the train down was a thought that entered my head more than once as we struggled to put one foot in front of the other but as we got to the peak the last train was leaving! So there was nothing left for it but for us to walk down. We wanted to take the Miners path back down originally but as the sun was going down, it made that path particularly dangerous. So we decided to take the slightly "easier", longer route back down, the Llanberis Pass.

And our 3 hour hobble back begins!

I say easier. I guess for most it would be. But Mike's quads were agonising (I could tell from his constant moaning) as were the blisters on my feet (I'm sure Mike could tell too!). So although it was an easier gradient, it was twice as long as the other routes back and, as such, twice as painful for our poorly little bodies. We were cheered up by the fact that we completed our mission and even happier by the fact that we caught a sunset that challenged Ben Nevis in terms of view. It was absolutely breathtaking. I remember thinking: "I wish I was sharing this moment with Adele...not Mike!" I noticed a Lenticular Cloud, which is a rare type of cloud only seen round mountains because of the change in pressure. So that ticked off another thing that I'd always wanted to see.

Some lovely, lovely clouds. p.s. Read the Cloudspotters Guide!

Come 22:00 we were not only back to see Adele and Lynch at Llanberis Train Station Car Park (about 1.5 miles further away than necessary. We just didn't know what road we were on so we couldn't ask them to come and pick us up!) but we were selflessly letting them order us Chinese takeaway. The following couple of hours were a bit of a blur because we were so tired. We made it back to the hostel, struggled to force some food down ourselves, showered (separately) and fell asleep (separately).

We had done it. Despite the sheer pain, lack of mountain training, the unreliable car, the lack of sleep, the roadworks, the busy bank holiday weekend, the fact we got lost in the dark, and my VERY bad headache, we had climbed and descended all mountains in just over 28 hours and had climbed from peak to peak in just 23 hours.

Yes, we didn't hit the original target but we did hit the second! And some people class the 3 Peaks Challenge as doing all three in 72 hours. Not 28! I am completely satisfied that because we did them one after the other without stopping, and because we all put absolutely everything into it, I can confidently say: Challenge Completed!

Monday 26th

Before Lynch and Adele's 6 hour journey back in very congested Bank Holiday traffic, we managed to sneak in an excellent fry-up. I must admit that I owe Lynch and Adele a lot!

Cooked breakfast on the left. Stone-skimming on the right. A great way to finish off a weekend of very mixed emotions!

And that's the story! If I could do it again I would:

• Not get lost
• Make sure we didn't drive a Corsa
• Take a group photo!

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with everything else. Except the inability to walk properly for 2 days thereafter (and counting!). And Mike's ridiculous conversations. And Lynch's repeating playlist.... OK this could go on for a while...

Remember this wasn't only done so that I could complete a personal challenge this year. Like I said, if it wasn't for the very generous donations and followings from family and friends, I probably wouldn't have climbed Snowdon and I certainly wouldn't be writing all this now. So thank you so much to everyone who has followed and donated. You have undoubtedly changed the lives of adults who need your help. And please, if you haven't already and you have a spare few quid, please donate to Build Charity and make our agonies worthwhile!

Click here to give!

Thank you x