The Norfolk Arms did the 3-Peaks Challenge
The Challenge: To climb the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales, namely; Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours.
4.30am. The dawn of Friday 27th August 2010 greeted us with a slight mist over Ben Nevis, and more importantly a hearty breakfast. It was the perfect start to the Norfolk Arms 3 Peaks Challenge!
After we had loaded the minibus with equipment, the 10 of us, including our faithful driver, made our way to the foot of the Ben. Once we had taken a group photograph still looking awake and eager, we began the first ascent. 6.15am.
At 1344m we had initially thought that this would be the hardest of the three climbs, but actually it proved by far the most enjoyable. Whether it was the high spirits, watching the sun rise in the valley or the view down “Five Finger Gully” and the associated adrenaline rush of the 400ft drop, we can’t be sure. However, all of these factors combined encouraged us to complete Ben Nevis in 4 hours 50 minutes.
After a quick change we were back in the minibus to begin the long journey to the Lake District and Scafell Pike. We were making good time until traffic around Glasgow and Carlisle impeded us and we eventually arrived at 6.15pm, an hour later than scheduled at Wasdale Head, the foot of Scafell Pike.
Whilst it is generally accepted that driving for the 3 Peaks accounts for 10 hours of the 24 hour challenge, and therefore our difficulties on the roads (including having a 60mph limited minibus) wouldn’t count against us, our competitive nature still had us secretly hoping we would complete the challenge in the 24 hour period.
With this in mind we pushed on with the ascent of Scafell. In retrospect however, we perhaps should have taken more time to analyse the route as we took a slight “detour” up the wrong side of the valley. A quick scramble across some fields and fording a river put us back on track with little time lost-more luck than judgement! We laughed and forged on, though quickly the difficult terrain and general fatigue started to dampen morale.
By the time we reached the summit, most struggled to raise a smile, despite the beautiful vista of the sun setting over the lakes. Perhaps also hindering our enthusiasm was the knowledge that we had lost our way in daylight, now in the fading light it would be even harder to navigate some of the more difficult terrain. Thankfully three members of the group had not lost their zeal and with song we descended in good time.
Exhausted we set off for Snowdon. The 3 ½ hour time for Scafell had taken its toll on our knees but had given us a window of 5 hours 40 minutes to complete Snowdon. Were we to make expected times on the roads it was also not out of the question to finish the challenge by 6.15am - 24 hours after we began! The minibus was extremely quiet on this leg of the journey as most tried to get some sleep in the cramped conditions.
3.05 am Saturday 28th August. We arrive at Snowdon in the pitch black. Dressed in warm clothing and waterproofs and armed with headlamps and torches we set off up the “Pyg Track”.
We had again been delayed on the journey and despite best efforts to keep a fast pace, the darkness and inclement conditions, along with general fatigue and a number of injuries meant that our descent of the Llanberis Path was completed in 4 hours.
In total we finished the 3 Peaks in 24 hours 50 minutes (22 hours 20 minutes if you excused the traffic!). Whilst a little disappointed that we had come so close, we all knew that it was physically impossible for us to have given any more.
Looking back as we write this, it is by far the greatest achievement any of us have accomplished. We would like to thank everyone who sponsored our challenge. Due to your generosity we raised a staggering total of £1,250 for charity, divided equally between Chestnut Tree House and Arthritis Research UK.
We are now planning next years challenge….!
(Caption for photo: Roy Flower, Sarah Wingate, Richard Swan, Jez Stewart, Simon Robotham and Mike Slator)
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