Three Peaks Challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowden)

J-FRO

J-FRO

J-FRO

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So OcUK'ers, have any of you ever completed the three peak challenge?

I'm looking to do it this summer but I'd like to hear about everyone else's experiences. Did you do it in the full 24 hours? did you do it with a guided group? How much did it set you back? What was the best bit about it overall? Did you do it with friends or with a group through an organisation?

My current thoughts are just to pay to join a group and go off and do it. I hate having the try and rally friends together to fork up money to do something relatively costly, nothing ever gets done. But on the other hand who knows what bunch of crazies you might get hooked with?
 
ripoffthemonkey said:
I have always wented to build a snowden....
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They call them igloos! :)

I've always wanted to do this, done Snowdon a few times now and will be doing Scarfell Pike in June.. Its just a pain getting a group of friends together to do something like the Three Peaks.
 
Judgeneo said:
Did not realise this was within a 24hour window... That makes it a hell of a lot harder
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That is what makes it difficult but also not very appealing to many.

Done all 3 separately, and would not have an issue doing all 3 back to back within 24 hours (I climbed 10,200ft this last weekend over 9 hours of ascent and descent combined), but the logistics of driving from peak to peak is not very enticing. Would rather do Nevis 3 times via 3 different routes.
 
J-FRO said:
So OcUK'ers, have any of you ever completed the three peak challenge?

I'm looking to do it this summer but I'd like to hear about everyone else's experiences. Did you do it in the full 24 hours? did you do it with a guided group? How much did it set you back? What was the best bit about it overall? Did you do it with friends or with a group through an organisation?

My current thoughts are just to pay to join a group and go off and do it. I hate having the try and rally friends together to fork up money to do something relatively costly, nothing ever gets done. But on the other hand who knows what bunch of crazies you might get hooked with?
Click to expand...

I would have thought it would be easier to find a couple of friends to do it together with, perhaps best to get a dedicated driver.
 
Can't even pull that off as a typo...darn.

Well I'm looking at one company so far who charge £320 per person. That includes the travel between the 3 mountains and a guide to get up there as well as breakfast as well. Other meals we have to supply ourselves or something which really, as its only 24 hours, doesn't mean much will need to be carried.

24 hours does sound pretty challenging huh? Apparently this company start the walk up Ben Nevis hoping to complete it by 5pm, it's then apparently a 6 hour journey to Scafell Pike and that climb is done in the dark and usually finished about 3am. From there its mean to be 5 hours to Snowdon which gives c. 4 hours to climb that. Seems mental, but I think I'm perfectly fit enough to do it.

Groups are apparently about 25+ people, so it could be a laugh. But my main concern is the money really. Will need to get from Essex to Ben Nevis and then a train back from Bangor after Snowdon!
 
Did it 2 years running (2010,2011) in about 20hrs both times. It's not too difficult just tiring due to the lack of sleep.

I did it with a group of work friends both times. Train for it before hand and you'll be fine. I can guarantee that you'll not want to see Snowden again afterwards. Walking down the what seems like an endless gradual decent as the sun comes up having slept for about an hour in 20 and having walked 25 miles of steep ascent and decent is not a nice feeling.

It feels like an achievement though!

Edit: we did it for charity and got our company to pay for the travel etc. Could you not try and organise something similar? We also drove ourselves between the 6 of us.
 
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If money is tight try and organize it yourself. I would be concerned doing it in a group. In a group you are as slow as the slowest person, and it is not easy to make personal adaptations based on your current condition (e..g, maybe it is going to be very beneficial for you to take a 3 minute break and eat-drink but within a group you can't so easily).

If I wanted to do the 3 peak challenge it would either be alone with a dedicated driver or perhaps 2-3 of us and we share the driving. I would hate to be in a group of more than 5 people doing such an event.

You don't need a dedicated guide for these mountains in summer with good weather (unless you are completely inexperienced, in which case I don't see the point in being dragged up 3 random mountains by a stranger). the difficulty is simply the driving logistics, maybe a company is he best way to solved that but I would try and get some friends together.
 
Hmmm our firm does have like a "charity of the year" which we sponsor, might be a good idea to see if they want to sponsor a group of 6 or so of us to do it one weekend.

Cheers for the thoughts and ideas guys :)
 
I would be temped to do it myself if i was going to do it (provided you're fit enough and your navigation skills are up to scratch).

It wont be an easy thing to do, and i would be pretty disappointed if i trained hard for it then didnt get it done in the time because some of the group didnt take it as seriously.

(i dont actually know how the group thing would work. would they make the whole group wait for the slower ones? or split up into smaller groups?)
 
Best of luck, it's a good challenge and well worth it.

2 lads I know did the 3 peaks challenge but with a twist; they cycled between each mountain/hill!!! They planned to do this in 4 days but managed it in 5. They said the worst bit was the numb bums from endless cycling, the "easy part" was running up the mountains and back! :o
 
Not a good idea to drive yourself, unless you want to be knackered.

Did it last year, raising £1.1k for charity. 23 hours 40 minutes.

Timings were something like:

Friday night - fly up to Glasgow, stay overnight in a hotel

Sat morning - meet everyone (we had 10 or so of us doing it)

Sat afternoon - drive to Ben Nevis from Glasgow

515pm Saturday - start Ben Nevis in glorious weather. Still snow at summit though. Did the tourist trail from the youth hostel.

Just shy of 10pm - get off Ben Nevis

Waste an hour getting food in Fort William (don't do this, seriously)

Drive to Scafell Pike - this took a fair few hours (6 or so) with a stop at Gretna services. Roads are **** coming down through rural Cumbria - watch out for sheep!

Scafell Pike - start at 4am, finish by 745am. Did the trail from Wasdale Head. Weather was atrocious at the summit.

Drive to Snowdon (stopping in Chester services). Get to Snowdon for 115pm. Climb Snowdon - up / down Pyg trail. Really, really poor weather. Cold, wet, windy, bad visibility. Witnessed a helicopter rescue on my descent.

Advice I've got:

* Get a dedicated driver. Our driver was able to chill out between driving. It's not fun to drive/walk.
* Get a largeish vehicle for this. Although be aware - the roads around Wasdale are narrow.
* Get maps / compass and learn how to use them (and GPS is also good). Sure, the trails are well defined (with the possible exception of Scafell) but you'll thank that you've got these when visibility decreases.
* Get decent kit - jacket / fleece / trousers / shorts / under layers / boots / socks. Change of under layers / socks between each mountain is a good idea. Especially if the weather is ****.
* Get a camel bak for water / other gear (survival bag, maps, compass, snacks, fleece, jacket) you need to pack.
* Don't overdo it on caffeine / sugar when doing it. Last thing you want to do is have a sugar crash on a mountain.
* Break your boots in well before the event. And get some time training in - I did Pen Y Fan a few times and Snowdon twice in one day before I did the 3 peaks. If possible, walk up 2+ of the mountains - I wish I'd done Scafell before the event as this is the most difficult to navigate).
* Plan your driving routes - there's a few really good sites online. Work out food requirements (any veggies in the group? This cost me an hour!) and fuel (both food/water for walkers and petrol/diesel)
* Get a good head torch, torch and red LED (2 quid in tesco)/glowsticks to attach to your pack for when you're in the dark.
* Summer brings busiest times on the mountain (you'll see several groups doing it on the weekend you're doing it), but the longest daylight hours. Only the very start of Scafell was in 'proper' darkness when I did it. Also best chance of good weather. I'd recommend the 5pm -> 5pm plan we did over an earlier start.
* Don't be an idiot. The mountain rescue teams in these areas have enough to deal with as it is! Pack proper kit and know how to use it. If you're not feeling up to it, stop. If the weather is really bad (unlikely in summer but who knows?), don't attempt it.
* If possible, don't use a minibus. There's a fair few miles of driving involved and being at 62mph will cost a fair bit of time.
 
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I appreciate the challenge aspect of this but even if you do it you should definitely do the peaks at leisure and up better routes. For example on the 3 peaks challenge you will go up/down ben nevis via the tourist track, one of the most uninspiring and bland pieces of earth I ever laid my feet on. (the bit just before the 'zig zags' and onwards).

I came down this way when I did ben nevis and it made me so glad that we went up via the carn mor dearg arete rather than the tourist track. Very nice round that way. :)
 
Never done it, although did climb up Ben Nevis when i was 7, or possibly 8 I'm not too sure now. If I ever go again it'll be like my first time, although i'll be sad because i know it won't be :(
 
I'm planning on taking me myself and I, my car and my mountain bike up in to the welsh moutains thus summer, need to find a sleep solution though without spending money, getting too cold or wet.


If I could secure my bike I'd love to have a crack at snowdon
 
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