Is it possible to climb three peaks in 24 hours?

When climbing Kili there was a bunch of Welsh girls in my group. They were lovely. On the post climb party we were all enjoying a few beers and one of them said they would like to see my do the three peaks challenge….as long as I posed naked at the top of each peak. Of course I could do that. 

The challenge consists of climbing the highest mountain in Scotland (Ben Nevis), the highest in England (Scafell Pike) and the highest in Wales (Snowdon) all within 24 hours. I was game for a challenge and could easily strip at the top of each mountain. Except that would be illegal (the striping part that is.) Weirdly about a week prior to the actual challenge a girl was jailed in Malaysia for striping at the top of Mount Kinabalu. Yikes. I would be keeping my clothes on.

So with clothes packed I made my way up to Glasgow airport to meet my group. A friendly bunch and our leader was a Scouser. I was in safe hands. I climbed aboard the van that would be my home for the weekend. I picked my seat (a single one) and made myself comfortable. The scenery on the drive up to Fort William where we would stay for the night was nothing short of stunning. Driving along the banks of Loch Lomond was beautiful and evoked memories of summer days out when I lived in Perth. The chatter amongst the group consisted of the usual when a group of strangers first meet. Where are you from? What do you do? Why are you doing this challenge? Have you done anything like this before? For the latter question I was a little embarrassed to say that I wasn’t really a trekker or climber and hadn’t really done much specific training for what we were about to attempt. I shouldn’t really be worried as my trekking CV isn’t too shabby. Ice trekking on the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand. Trek through the Olgas and Kings Canyon in central Australia in the 50 degree heat. Kilimanjaro. It’s not to be sniffed at.

Footnote aside we then arrived at the hotel and quickly checked in and re-grouped in the hotel bar for a briefing. It was very brief. We learnt the time we had to be ready (6:15am), that it may rain on the first mountain and that the driving portion of our challenge would be considered to be 10 hours even if it took 11 hours. The reason being that with EU driving laws the van driver must take certain breaks which then can make it harder to complete the challenge in 24 hours. So if the driving consisted of 10 hours then that left 14 hours to climb all three peaks. Mike (our guide) was aiming for 5 hours for “the Ben”, 4 hours for Scafell and 4 hours for Snowdown leaving one hour “play time”.

Post briefing most of the group went into shopping mode and made their way to Morrisons to buy supplies. I went with them although wasn’t really sure what I was going to buy as I already had a lot of snack bars to keep me going and my camelbak for water. I watched the group descend on the supermarket and it was like a nuclear holocaust was on the horizon. They filled shopping trollies full of water, coke, pasta, sandwiches, chocolate, sports drinks, fruit, nuts, biscuits, cheese, salads and many other items I am sure. I stood there thinking shit…maybe I should be buying food too? I had only picked up a bag of nuts, one small bottle of coke and a sandwich so that I could have those when I came off the first mountain. My plan was to eat snacks at each service station along the way so they would be fresh. I panicked though and caved into peer pressure and bought a few more snack bars and a pack a babybel. Neither of which were eaten by the end of the trip so I should have stayed strong.

I made my way back to the hotel and packed my bag for the trip. Everything was ready for the early start. Chris (my roomie for the night) was from the west of England (but sounded uber Welsh.) I asked if he wanted to go down to the hotel bar to grab some dinner. He declined. A little bit deflating but none the less I made my way downstairs and asked for a table for one. I stocked up on carbs whilst listening to the cabaret act and enjoyed a short walk through the town before bedtime. With it being mid summer the sun was still high in the sky and breaking with my nightly tradition I actually closed the curtains in order to get some sleep.

So morning arrived. A quick breakfast and a coffee to calm the nerves. Mike was helping a younger girl in the group tie her boots and he words were “if I had worked in the shop I wouldn’t have sold you those boots.” Yikes. Way to make her feel confident about the 24 hours ahead. I’ll tie my own boots I thought just in case he told me the same. So onto the bus for the start it was. It was raining but having adequate waterproofs it felt fine. The start of Ben Nevis was very lush. As we go higher the views started to become spectacular. We passed a waterfall which didn’t seem that big but the noise filled the valley. It was peaceful. However; about a third of the way up the wind was becoming very strong and was crossing our path. It was quite scary. If it caught you then it really did take you off balance. As we were on the edge of the mountain it did make me worry. Mike pushed on through and then said to us to keep to the left of the path and walk crouched over to try and stay as secure as possible. The wind was relentless and stayed with us. I started to think it would be too dangerous to carry on but Mike said as long as it stayed as it was then we would be ok. Any worse and we would need to reconsider. The rain was lashing down by this point. Combined with the wind it felt like hail as it hit my face. We were reaching the summit and the floor turned to snow. It seemed in through my boots and soaked my socks. I looked ahead as we walked in single file and it looked like a scene from Antarctic trekking documentaries. How was this weather possible in July? We stopped and huddled together like penguins for a few minutes to re-group and then made our way to the summit. We got there and visibility was nearly nonexistent. No views of the world below but we had done it. A quick photo and back down the mountain it was. As we descended the same route the weather improved until we got back to a normal summer rainy day at the bottom.  On the way down I passed one man wearing just shorts and t-shirts and a poncho and another carrying a mountain bike. I pray they were not going to the summit. Our climb had taken us 6 hours 15 minutes which I was pleased with in those conditions. However; that did mean we had already lost our “play hour” and so the 24 hour mark would be a stretch. I ate my sandwich and had my bottle of coke. I heard one of the group say to their friend “I don’t want any food. I have eaten that much of my own snot I am actually quite full.” Good line. She did speak the truth…it was impossible for your nose not to run in that weather. So mountain one was done and according to my Fitbit I had walked 34km and climbed 459 stories. 

Good effort for lunch time on a Saturday.

So the drive down to the Lake District began. It actually went pretty quickly. We stopped at Annandale Water services so I had another sandwich and filled my flask with strong black coffee in preparation for the morning of Snowdon. The services reminds me of my Mum. On drives to and from Scotland she liked to stop here as it had a lake you could walk around. I went out and sat by the lake to eat my sandwich and think about my parents. I miss them.

As we arrived at the foot of Scafell Pike it was dusk. The sunset across the water of the lakes was beautiful. It was slightly tinted by the story our guide told us of a man weighing down his wife in the lake after he murdered her only for her body to be discovered many years later. We began to climb the mountain I was thoroughly enjoying it (that’s after having mistaken a different peak as the one we were going to climb.) The ascent under the sunset was fantastic and looking down onto the deepest lake in the Lake District was a beautiful sight to see. It was only as we reached the summit that the wind picked up a little but in comparison to Ben Nevis it was child’s play! We stopped just short of the summit to re-group. One girl in the group was suffering badly with foot pain and had fallen about 5 or so minutes behind. It was a nice idea to summit each mountain together despite one guy in our group voicing that he didn’t think we should have to wait for her. Bastard.

We got to the top in the dark and had a group picture. The climb had covered a lot of rocks so I was nervous about the decent, especially now in pitch black with only my head torch to guide me. However; it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and soon I was in my own pace and was approaching the bottom of the mountain. It felt strangely nice to be walking in the dark on the highest peak in the country. We passed a few crazy people only ascending the mountain at that time with the added trouble of not even wearing a head torch. How they saw where they were going was beyond me. We had taken 4.5 hours to complete the peak so again were a little over our plan. I got back on the van, got into my sleeping bag and enjoyed several hours of shut eye before I awoke in Wales. The only disturbance I had was when we pulled over twice to let people off the bus to vomit. Nice. I did hope they were ok but valued my sleep a little more at the time so I didn’t even enquire as to who it was until the next morning.

I felt quite refreshed post sleep and my coffee. Someone mentioned that they found it ironic that the tallest person on the bus had slept the most and how cozy I had looked. Did they all not sleep well I asked? No. Ok. Fair enough. Should have been more organized with their sleep plan then shouldn’t they? Of course I wasn’t brave enough to say that out loud you understand?

Mike decided to split us into two groups for the last peak. A fast group (which would go with the second guide and Mike partner who had come to help) and the slower group who would go with Mike himself. In my head I had made the decision to go in the slow group as I didn’t want to be pinpointed as the cause of the fast group missing a certain time (mostly likely to come from the aforementioned bastard on Scafell Pike) however Mike wanted me in the fast group. The pace was actually just on for me so I am pleased he made the decision for me. It was a steep initial climb and then the views were great looking down on the valley (said in a Welsh accent in my head) below. I stayed at the back of the group with Christine (the other helper) which essentially felt like I had a one to one guide up and down the mountain. She was a pleasure to talk to and a school geography teacher meaning she would occasionally stop and tell me about the type of rock and lava. I would share these facts with you if only I could remember them. That’s not on the basis that they were boring facts but more that it seems after 2.5 mountains it becomes a little trickier to retain newly acquired information.

So we made it down from Snowdon in 4 hours which was a good effort. Unfortunately 4 out of group of 15 didn’t make it (as in didn’t climb all three peaks and not that they died) which was a shame but everyone has their limits and should be pleased with wherever they got to.

Post climb I took a selfie having finished the challenge, changed and then made my way to the café for a coffee. Our guide said I looked smart and didn’t look like the typical three peak challenge finisher. Snaps for me. It was an amazing 24 hours (or 45 minutes over if we add the times up) but definitely a life moment. One more to add to the CV of trekking meaning I can be a little less nervous when answering “so have you done anything like this before” on the next trip.