News and Events
The Three Peaks Challenge 5th /6th May 2007
We spent Friday 4 May in two rather uncomfortable mini buses driving from Salisbury to Fort William. Mini buses are fine for sitting in but not so great if you want to sleep. Each team had two drivers and with the aid of ipods etc, we were able to make the journey pass quite quickly. Some did not appreciate my singing but they have no taste.
Our hotel in Fort William was situated on a roundabout in order to ensure that we did not get too much sleep so we were up early to check our kit, attend the team briefing and travel to the Glen Nevis start. After a quick kit check by the organisers and a few photographs, we were off!
Dressed in light clothing, we set off in confident mood. The ‘A’ team consisting of the older members set off first in the knowledge that the ‘B’ team aged 19 - 25, starting 20 minutes later would attempt a quick overhaul.
Ben Nevis (1,344m), Scotland’s highest mountain has a well used track most of the way up from Glen Nevis, past the Red Burn and then by a series of zig zag tracks up past Five Finger Gully and onto the summit. Snow over one metre deep covered the summit with dangerous cornices clearly visible at the edges.
As it was, the slow but sure, older team arrived at the Peak of Ben
Nevis with no sign of their pursuers, in a time of 2hrs 34min. However,
the youngsters arrived shortly afterwards, mid photo shoot. Undeterred,
the oldies set off again. The weather remained good throughout, apart
from some cloud on the peak. The snow cap on the peak meant a final ascent
and initial descent through calf deep slushy snow. Through sheer determination
and a bit of guile where short cuts were possible, the ‘A’ team arrived back at the Glen Nevis base with the youngsters having cut our lead to 5 minutes. Total time of Ben Nevis climbs: A Team 4hrs 35min; B Team 4hrs 20 min.
We all settled down to a well earned bowl of pasta and probably dawdled a bit too long before setting off to conquer the highest mountain in England.
Scafell Pike (978m) is somewhere that, on the one hand we will remember
with pride but on the other hand would rather forget. The conditions
were
atrocious. Of the seven teams competing, only four completed the climb
with one team spending eight hours on the mountain and once daylight
came, discovering they had bivouacked within a few metres of the edge
of a cliff! Visibility was down to less than five metres with horizontal
rain and 40mph winds. We later learned that the other two teams who did
not make it, had lost their way and were told to give up as it was too
dangerous for them to continue wandering around the mountain, given the
zero visibility. Their "3 peaks" was over.We had started up Scafell Pike at 11:45pm. At this stage visibility was still good with the sky dark and cloudy. The wind was starting to blow and bad weather forecast. The ‘B’ team set off five minutes behind us. Their pace was quick and they could see the
head torches of the oldies who stopped every few minutes to check the route and take a bearing. The youngsters had no need for map or compass as they closed the gap on their colleagues. We wished them well as they passed us and disappeared in the gathering gloom. As we moved forward checking and rechecking our course in what was now very poor visibility was saw another group of head torches heading our way. Was this a team which had already completed the climb? No it was our younger colleagues seeking guidance! We then moved forward as a joint team of twelve with Robbie Constant (JPMorgan Cazenove) and Sholto Moger (Strutt & Parker),
two of our guest walkers, doing a splendid job of navigation. Scafell
Pike consists of a mixture of grass and rocks lower down with loose rocks
and shale higher up. As we scrambled the last three hundred metres, I
was wondering how we would manage to get back down. Wearing glasses made
treacherous conditions worse. The driving rain and low cloud turned optical
lenses into frosted glass!
We did make it back down, discovering tracks which were not there on
the way up, but none the less finding it treacherous all the way down.
It was a huge relief to reach our mini bus, exhausted, soaked to the
skin but safe and in one piece. Total time of Scafell Pike climbs: A
Team 5hrs 25 min; B Team 5hrs 20 min.We immediately set of for the highest mountain in Wales. We now had no time to lose if we were going to achieve our 24 hour limit. We arrived at Snowdon (1085m) at 10:30am to find the world and my wife already there. It was odd to be accompanied by family and friends on such serious business but very encouraging to be supported on our final ascent. It was a simple climb - we chose the Pyg track. This is an easy path in daylight with the biggest obstacle being the bank holiday hoards. However they were all very encouraging and stood aside when they realized we had a time to beat. It took us 1 hour 47 minutes to the summit. The conditions were dry but very cold and windy with drifting clouds over the peak. Total time of Snowdon climbs: A Team 1hrs 47 min; B Team 1hrs 43 min.
Mileage 1188 round trip. Sleep – none, pasta consumed – lots.
Total challenge times: Team A 23hrs 10 mins; Team B 22hrs 45min
Acknowledgements:
1.Sherborne School who generously lent a bus for the venture.
2.Sparsholt Agricultural College who also lent a bus for the venture. 3.www.merseyventure.com who organised the event and made us carry the correct safety equipment .
4. Woodlands Lodge Hotel for sponsoring our shirts (reception@woodlands-lodge.co.uk) 5. You and all my friends and clients who have helped and inspired us to achieve our goal.
6. Our drivers for waiting patiently at the bottom of each mountain.
7. Our families for putting up with preoccupation with
the challenge
and our absence on training days.
Jeremy Major
9 May 2007