Of the original team of 9, 3 had to drop out due to work committments or illness /injury, and we ended up roping in an extra driver at the 11th hour, but we did it!
The
team in Ambleside, early Sunday morning
Ian,
Gavin, Eveen, Tom, George, David & Andrew (Anthony
behind camera!)
In two cars, with Andrew and Gavin doing the bulk of the driving, and Eveen coming along for the ride, the five walkers - Anthony, David, Tom, Ian and George - achieved their goal, despite horrendous weather - and, hopefully, raised upwards of £600 towards the building fund for the Kiev orphanage.
We left Leeds at 1pm on the Friday to drive up to Fort William, where we grabbed a quick meal, before turning in at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel for an all too short night's sleep (who was that snorer?!?).
At 5.40am on Saturday,
we set off up Ben Nevis in overcast conditions and headed into the clouds
- worryingly, we soon passed two other ggroups on their way down!
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The top third of the mountain was shrowded in mist, which gave way to windswept rain as we neared the summit - but by 8.50am we crossed the last drift of snow and hastily took some snaps before heading back for the relative shelter of the lower slopes. The rain opersisted most of the way down, so we were pretty wet and bedraggled by the time we met up with the support team (just turned 11.15am - nicely within our 6 hour target), and headed for the Cafe Beag before heading off South.
The traffic through the Highlands was pretty bad, but we made up time once on the motorway and reached the start point for the ascent of ScaFell Pike only slightly behind schedule, at 5.45pm.
Anthony had struggled somewhat on Ben Nevis, and his knees were playing up (old cartiledge injury), so he decided to sit this one out, as time was going to be of the essence. The remaining four set off somewhat apprehensively, as steady drizzle set in from the lowering clouds. As they neared the summit, they realised they had lost the path - but then so had several other groups, all asking "Which way to the top?" as the mist closed in and the light began to fade. After almost an hour of this, they had failed to locate the Trig. point, but were pretty convinced they had come within a stone's throw, so decided to start back down. Unfortunately, after a realtively easy beginning, the chose route down to Langdale proved treacherous going, and for some time they struggled a few steps at a time over featureless scree - the path which seemed obvious by daylight proving impossible to locate in the dark.
Back in the carpark, the support team were beginning to get anxious as the anticipated return time of 11pm passed - off course, none of our mobiles were operating so deep among the mountains! - then the six hour point went by and still no sign. A land line call to our Hostel proved that no message had been left to say they'd returned by a different route, and a drive along the road past other possible paths off the mountains proved fruitless. Then, just before 1am we spotted torch light coming round the corner of the hotel and, yes, a red kagoule ... they'd made it! Thankfully the rain had pretty much stopped on the downward leg, so, though tired and hungry (the flask of soup was well appreciated) they were not seriously wet or cold. So it was back to the hostel for a well-earned crash on the bunk!
Someone set their alarm for 6.30am, when we'd agreed on 7am! Still, it gave us time for a shower and to load up the cars before beating the breakfast queue. And by 9am we were ready for off. No holdups on the road today, and we even had time to stop for coffee and cakes just off the motorway in Wales and still arrive at Pen-y-pass by our target time of 1pm.
The
walkers at the foot of Snowdon
David,
Anthony, Tom, Ian & George
Anthony seemed to have recovered well, and felt fit to rejoin the team for the final Peak - in fact, after the night's exertions, he was probably the fittest and, after trailing behind on Ben Nevis, was in the lead much of the way up Snowdon! However, we decided that, at this stage, caution was the better form of valour, and elected to come down via the gentle Llanberis Path, rather than risk the steep beginings of the Miner's Track, even if this meant sacrificing the 36 hour target for completion.
Although a little overcast, the weather initially seemed quite promising, with the odd bit of sunshine breaking through the clouds.
The steeper bits of the Pyg Track proved quite a challenge for some of last night's heroes, but we made steady progress. Then, about two thirds of the way to the top it started to rain. And the wind grew stronger. and the rain fell more heavily. By the time we came out on the final exposed run to the summit, it was blowing a gale and there was hail mixed in the rain. As we made it to the Trig point, we had to cling on to avoid being blown over the edge! Within minutes, despite our waterproofs, we were soaked to the skin, as we retraced our step then began the slow descent into Llanberis, our boots rapidly filling with water! As the heavy rain and wind continued (we were on the exposed side of the slope!), the path seemed endless - but at least it was unchallenging and clear to follow. Eventually, after what seemed like and age, we arrived down in the village and found our cars in the car park - but no drivers: we were actually ahead of time! In fact, we'd finished 10 minutes within the 36 hour target time for the Challenge!
A quick call to Andrew's mobile and it was a somewhat undignified struggle into dry clothes round the back of the public toilets, then into the pub for a well-earned meal. All tired, weary and aching, but proud to have made it to the end! The weather was pretty foul on the M62 back to Leeds, but no problems were encountered, and I guess we were all safely tucked up in our warm little beds by midnight.