It all started as a charity idea. The company I work for has an obligation to raise money for a different charity every year, through a variety of different means. Over the past couple of years this has been through sponsored swims, sponsored rows etc. This time I wanted to do something outside of a gym setting, yet still requiring a decent amount of physical exertion! I wanted to take part in a challenge, not perform an effortless row for a few minutes and throw a couple of quid in a bucket afterwards.

The point of the walk was to raise money for a children’s orphanage, and we did – £2000 in total.

After a few minutes of brain-wracking, the idea of doing the three peaks surfaced. I had always wanted to do it, and if a charity was going to benefit from my endeavours, all the better. To make it a worthwhile project for the charity we would need to do it as a team – the more people we had involved, the more money we could make. A quick phone call to my girlfriend Rachel managed to secure the first team member, and a quick group email across the company did the rest.

With the team settled, the logistics had to be planned. I won’t go into the details of how I arranged transport etc, but I want to share the preparation and experiences of the challenge, hopefully providing an insight into what to expect and the general experiences of the group.

Preparation

Admittedly, our preparation at first wasn’t up to scratch

Admittedly, our preparation at first wasn’t up to scratch – I was guilty of not respecting the challenge ahead enough. Of course I was in regular training, but I wasn’t doing anything specific to mountain climbing – I was going through my usual varied, non-specialised routine. I knew I would be fit enough, but I didn’t have any first-hand experience of the mountains. As far as I knew, Snowdon was a big hill that weekend walkers climbed up for a stroll, and I had climbed Scafell Pike as a 13 year old on a school holiday to the lakes. In my naïve mind only Ben Nevis would have been a challenge, and we were doing that first so would have been full of energy!

The first and only preparation walk was up Snowdon in pouring rain – the wettest in over 12 months according to the officials in the information office at the bottom. Rachel and I bought boots the evening before – we only bought those when Andy Murray was handed a spanking by Andy Roddick at Wimbledon. We didn’t know what we were looking for; we didn’t know much about the variety. We just went along and picked up a cheap pair that fitted well enough to satisfy us we wouldn’t be in pain afterwards!

The practice walk was a real eye opener. It gave us an idea of the time it would take, the terrain, the area and most importantly, the need for a good map! Our first walk saw us take a wrong turn and we walked half way up the wrong path and onto the kind of track that a beginner wouldn’t be comfortable on. Terrain started to become more rocky than path-like, and the gradient became more of climbing surface than a walking one. The conditions were generally awful – the rain was torrential and the fog reached half way down the mountain. Visibility was limited to perhaps 100 metres, even less at the top.

The sheer amount of rain meant there was a constant waterfall down the mountain track. The underfoot conditions were soaking, and the constant running water disturbed stones in the track that would probably usually have been relatively stable. This meant there were times when footing gave way, but never enough to cause a fall. It was still enough for us to make a mental note of the potential hazard that water could provide however. Walking on the uneven ground also helped me to re-discover an old problem that has affected me running in the past – a tight ITB causing pain in both knees. This was potentially disastrous, so I would have to manage the problem ahead of the challenge – more on how I did this later.

I personally found the fog harder to deal with than the rain, as it gave us no idea how far we had to go. It is demoralising enough walking uphill in a strong wind whilst you are soaking wet, but at least if you can see the summit (or even near it) you have a target to hit. In the conditions we had, visibility reduced as we climbed higher and higher, and given it was our first time up the mountain we had no landmarks to judge how far we still had to go. It meant you couldn’t even give yourself a decent target in the distance as we could only see 20 metres ahead. It was simply a case of head down, keep going.

After climbing for about 2 hours, I noticed I started to become really irritable – I was in a bad mood with the weather, the never ending climb, the fellow climbers, and the lack of phone signal to keep us in touch with the other couple who were walking with us. When we returned to the base, I discussed this with Rach and she said she had the same thing – we put it down to low blood sugar as we hadn’t been eating on the climb and chalked up another experience point!

Towards the summit the temperature dropped. It was a significant drop too – probably about 10-12° colder at the summit than the base. The drop in temperature, the increase in wind speed and the general soaking we had from walking for hours in torrential rain meant by the time we reached the top we were freezing. It was an odd sensation – we were hot from the exertion but cold at the same time, unlike anything I had felt before. The café at the top was a welcome sign, and it was full to bursting with freezing climbers all fighting for places in the queue. At the top we had some pastry-encrusted thing (I forget exactly what) that was the most welcome meal of my life. We were cold, wet and starving!

The descent was naturally easier; however it certainly comes with its own problems. At times on Snowdon you have to scramble using both hands and feet. This was made more difficult as the rain made the rock surfaces really slippery. Being careful meant we didn’t fall, but it is a very real possibility. The temperature becomes much more comfortable quite quickly on the descent, as you drop down the mountain quicker than you climb it. On our way down we met a couple of guys who were doing the Three Peaks on the same day, at the same time as us. We shared our thoughts – they were doing their first proper practice walk too, and walked with them down to the café at the base. We didn’t actually see them during the challenge – perhaps they had a shock on Snowdon and decided not to do it!

Training

Rachel and I are fit. We train 4 times per week, have competed at sport since children and eat well – very few processed foods. I was confident we would have the necessary fitness to complete the challenge as we were, however a few very minor tweaks would be beneficial. In the lead up to the challenge, I didn’t actually change the training much at all, but I utilised various exercises and the vibrogym for personalised exercises for my injuries. We did the walk at the back end of the football season, meaning from a CV point of view I wasn’t bad. I was certainly no endurance athlete, but the low-intensity nature of walking meant I knew I would be OK – we weren’t looking for speed endurance here, simply the ability to trudge on and on. This was more of a mental ability than a physical one.

Rachel was performing her weight training as per normal, and at this point in her training was running regular 5, 7 and 10km distances. Her CV fitness was more than adequate for the task, and she was performing regular weight training 3-4 times per week. Rach had some experience of mountain walking from her time living in New Zealand, so to a point was already aware of the demands we would have placed upon us.

Injury Management

As I mentioned earlier, I suffer from tight Ilitiobial bands on both legs. This causes friction on the outside of my knees, and after repetitive movements such as running or walking, my knees become very painful. I had first noticed the problem in January 2009 whilst in training for the Wilmslow half marathon. It was progressively worse throughout the training, meaning I had to take long periods off. On the race itself, the pain was so bad I almost dropped out after 1 mile. I doctored my running style severely (in layman’s terms, I ran like a drunk person with a limp) and managed to make it through the race. I then decided I wasn’t built to run, and vowed never to do so again. Somehow, I managed to find myself volunteering to do the race again next year….

Anyway, back to the point – my injuries. Luckily, my girlfriend is a physiotherapist, so she looked at the problem and diagnosed the tight ITB’s. She gave me a series of stretches, I used a foam roller and I also underwent regular massage treatment on the vibrogym. I did this in the 4 weeks leading up the challenge almost every day after training, when the muscles were full of blood and more responsive to treatment. The foam roller was agony – the idea is you find the trigger point (where the muscle is particularly tight or painful) and press down with your body weight on the area, allowing the roller to dissipate the knot. It was really painful at times, but worth it.

The challenge would be the ultimate test for the knee – on the practice walk I could feel the injury surface after about 30 minutes. By 2 hours it was constant pain, and on the descent it was affecting me with every single step. Rachel told me to walk with my feet pointing outwards (like a penguin) as this would activate my glutes (arse muscles) and take pressure of the knees. It worked, but I wouldn’t have been able to walk up and down 3 mountains in 24 hours with that technique – I had to sort the problem.

The preparations I had done for the knees worked perfectly

The preparations I had done for the knees worked perfectly – I suffered no pain. Any time I felt a slight twinge, I used the penguin walk technique for 10 minutes, and the problem went away. Thanks to the right treatment, I was able to manage the longest walk of my life without a problem in my knees!

Nutrition

I had calculated a calorie burn of around 6000 from the activity, not including my daily BMR of around 3000. This meant I had to consume 9000 calories in order to fuel myself for the duration of the challenge. Rachel and I spent the night prior to the challenge putting together various sandwiches, a friend baked various cakes (for instant energy), we took a deluxe trail mix consisting of all kinds of bits and bobs and we also armed ourselves with plenty of fresh fruit. My instructions to the group were to take around 5 litres of water each, and we took along a large stock of sweet drinks in case of a dramatic drop in blood sugar. Red Bull completed the fluid supplies. I am not a big fan of Red Bull at all, but there were times (most notably at 5am after having not slept) when it was a useful boost!

We ate large meals on the bus, in between mountains. I was keen for us to consume the bulk of our food before each climb, rather than refuel afterwards – prepare for what lies ahead, don’t wait to refuel. One of the problems with eating after the climb is that you need the energy to actually get up and down the mountain – if you are in a fasted (or even semi-fasted) state you are making this harder from the off. The way I saw this, there was no point trying to make it even more difficult than it already is – set yourself up to win!

It is important to consider everything you are carrying up the mountain – you don’t want to take any extra weight, and a load of food is unnecessary weight. We took our trail mix with us as we had taken on the vast majority of our food on the bus. The trail mix was merely a top up and to prevent drops in blood sugar – something we discovered was a real problem during the practice walk.

The Challenge Itself…

From the off I lay one ground rule – we were going to do this properly and in a good time, so only those who were physically fit would be allowed to take part. If anyone wasn’t in regular training they wouldn’t have been accepted into the team of people. From my point of view as the leader, I didn’t want a situation where the group split into packs that were miles apart. Of course there are always going to be varying degrees of fitness, leading to a scatter effect, but by only selecting physically fit individuals I aimed to control that variable to some extent. This is an important piece of advice – only attempt the challenge if you are fit.

The challenge itself consists of climbing around 11,300ft in 24 hours, including travelling between the mountains (however, on occasion traffic or speed-restricted vehicles can slow progress, so 10 hours is given as travelling time). The mountains challengers have to climb are Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Mount Snowdon in Wales. These three are the highest peak in their respective countries. They are as high as you can legally get with your feet still touching the floor! There are various different sets of rules surrounding the challenge, but we stuck with the simple ‘ascend and descend all three peaks’. This meant our time would start the second we set foot on the mountain track, and only stop when we reached the same point on the return. This made it clear and simple, allowing no confusion over what would be considered a completion of the walk.

Start Times

My research had revealed various schools of thought regarding the challenge start and end times, some of which made no sense to me as they had people walking up the mountains in the dark! Given we were a group of inexperienced walkers and I was ultimately responsible for their safety, I opted for a 5pm start time. I will explain this with a chronological list:

• 5pm – Start climbing Ben Nevis (6 hours estimated ascent and descent time)
• 11pm – Drive through the night to Scafell Pike (6 hour estimated travel time)
• 5am – Start climbing Scafell Pike (4 hour estimated ascent and descent time)
• 9am – Drive to Snowdon (3 hour estimated travel time)
• 12pm – Start climbing Snowdon (5 hours ascent and descent time)
• 5pm – finish the challenge, stop the watch!

I opted for this to make the most of the light. We did the challenge in July, so light was around for a long time. That said, English weather is notoriously changeable, especially in geographically unique regions such as mountain ranges. The planned timings ensured however we could be giving ourselves the best possible chance of light throughout our walk.

The other reason for selecting this timing was body clock. It reflected (relatively) natural sleep patterns – we would be on the road by 11pm, allowing walkers to sleep through the night. We would have an early start for the next mountain, but day break meant we would walk in the light. The final reason for the timings was meal breaks – in order to complete the challenge, it is important you are adequately fuelled. Our walk start times were relatively ‘normal’ meal times, conditioned into us over the years. This would have meant we were eating when hungry. This may seem a minor issue, but given our lack of experience I wanted to ensure we took care of every possible concern.

The Mountains

Ben Nevis

We started with Ben Nevis – the highest peak in the UK at 4408ft. The track we used was the Pony track – the most common route, and 16km long. It is well constructed and generally safe, with repair works ongoing. The mountain itself is a pretty hardcore introduction to the challenge. I had various maps, and found an interesting 3D map of each mountain we were set to climb – this had led me into a false sense of security! The map represented the climb up and across the mountain, and showed a gentle start which gently increased in gradient until around 10km, where it really began to climb. This continues until around the last 1.5 – 2km, where it almost flattened out until the summit. In truth, the path starts off nicely ambling along the foothills. Within 10 minutes though, you have turned a corner, the path starts to turn from a nicely cobbled one into a track hacked out of the mountainside, and the gradient slaps you around the face as it becomes steeper by the step.

The weather was hot, the sun was shining and the challenge ahead was still a mystery (you have to part circumnavigate the mountain on the track, meaning for the first section the summit is obscured from view). The track carries on climbing, and you make a left into the valley, where the track continues to get worse. The plan for us was to stick to a steady pace – I knew getting over excited and rushing off would be a silly tactic. We were set to be on the go for 24 hours! As we turned left into the valley, the track was still merely hacked out of the rock face, only becoming cobbled in places (I know the purists reading are probably calling me a wuss – I am not complaining, merely explaining the walk for those who haven’t done it). As we walked a few climbers were taking rests – my instructions were to try and eat and drink whilst walking – this was a timed challenge after all.

About half way up the mountain (or so it seemed), we reached a valley and crossed a stream onto the way to the summit. Here the track was distinctly more man-made and zigzagged its way up the mountainside. There were repair works on the way, making me feel sorry for the poor buggers who had to walk up there to do a day’s work every day – we had been walking for about 90 minutes to reach this point, and we were doing a great time, overtaking lots of people on the way. The track didn’t allow for a car or motorbike, so I can only assume they walked (helicopter seemed a tad excessive!)

At this point the meandering track starts to turn into rock, the temperature drops and the walk becomes much steeper. We stopped occasionally – once to help a fellow climber with some of the worst blisters we had ever seen. Generally though, it was head down and trudge on – these mountains weren’t going to climb themselves! By this point we had reached pretty thick fog – visibility was worse than Snowdon, meaning we had no idea how far we had to go using visibility alone. Luckily however, one of our team members was wearing a watch with an altimeter, which although was not 100% accurate, it certainly gave us a rough idea. There is a certain comfort hearing you are only 300 metres from the summit after a few hours walking!

My 3D map of Ben Nevis actually came in quite handy when I noticed the gradient was reducing and the path was deteriorating – this was a signal we were reaching the top. The mountain itself is quite a distinctive shape – it has a large, relatively flat summit, scattered with loose rocks. With the thick fog, the snow and ice it looks like an alien landscape in a seventies film. The temperature up there on our day was apparently – 4°, which is pretty nippy for a sunny July evening! The summit itself is actually rather nondescript – a small stack of rocks marking the summit, and the wreck of an old observatory. After the work reaching the summit, you have to accept the summit itself isn’t what you climb the peak for – what the summit represents is the achievement! We stuck around for a few photographs, and to allow the team to congregate before we set off on our way back down.

The descent was amazing. The scenery was incredible – the kind of views you witness in photographs or on the internet. The cloud cover at the summit meant that we actually passed through the cloud ceiling, meaning we went from mist to clear views in the space of about 20 metres. I didn’t realise we had views like it in this country. The landscape alone was worth the climb.

Descending a mountain is harder than climbing it in some ways – the steeper parts of the path are certainly more difficult to walk down than up, where you scramble using both your hands and feet. There are sections where the path is steep and you almost end up jogging – we made the most of this and actually jogged down large sections of the mountain – I would estimate that we were actually running for about 40% of the descent of Ben Nevis. Descending a mountain puts much more pressure on your feet, ankles and knees than climbing. Those with strong joints will be fine – the main problem amongst our group was in the feet. No matter how good your boots are, walk for long enough and something will give! Luckily enough, the majority of us managed to escape Ben Nevis blister and injury free! We had sore, throbbing, feet, but nothing that could stop us on our way!

Ben Nevis is actually quite a forgiving mountain to climb, as there are plenty of natural rest stops, and for long periods the path zigzags its way up the mountain, affording you a few sections of lower intensity walking. Of the three mountains, I am glad it came first, as psychologically the biggest and longest mountain was out of the way.

Our total time for Ben Nevis (up and down) was 4 hours, 30 minutes and 18 seconds.

Scafell Pike

We arrived at Scafell not long after 5 in the morning. It was here that I realised the toughest part of this challenge was going to be mentally preparing for another climb – we were speeding up mountains that most people spend a whole day on. It was just gone 5am, my feet were still sore and I hadn’t slept a wink since waking up at 6am the previous morning. In that time I had climbed the highest mountain in the country – and I had to do it again!

5am is a time I would usually be warmly wrapped up in bed – it would be a whole hour before Rachel’s alarm would wake us up. Instead of sleeping soundly I was cursing ever deciding to do this challenge! The good thing was that the sun was shining brightly, and the scenery once again was amazing. I had actually been to Scafell Pike years before on a school holiday, but we climbed from a different start point and didn’t reach the summit thanks to a massive hailstorm that had us crouched behind a stone wall. In my mind’s eye it was a fairly steep but short climb, and if we could almost finish it as 13 year olds then this shouldn’t have been a big deal. I had this one down as quite an easy challenge – the sun was shining, it was early enough not to be hot and it was the smallest of the three at only 3208 feet.

On our way towards the start point of the climb, we consulted the information I had collated on the climbs beforehand. Reading through, we came across a passage describing the climb up Scafell from Wasdale as ’steep and relentless’. That was an early cause for concern! As the bus pulled up in the car park, I started to look for my boots. I had a sudden realisation that my feet were actually quite sore, and pulling on walking boots wouldn’t help them. I put my boots on, despite the pain. We set off on our way, through the little farm gate and up the path.

The description we read was painfully accurate. The path up from Wasdale started steeply. Compared to the other, more touristy mountains the path up Wasdale is nothing more than a farm track. The underfoot conditions are rocky, uneven and loose. The stream that runs down the mountainside bleeds onto the track in parts, leaving patches muddy and slippery. Not far up the mountain track you have to actually cross the stream, which comes with its own inherent dangers as the rocks are very slippery, and really loose. We caught the stream in the summer – I imagine after heavy rainfall it is much worse.

When I looked around at our group, it was all heads down, walking in relative silence. Whether or not we were all knackered (physically or mentally, it doesn’t matter), not enjoying it, had nothing to say or were just taking the scenery in remains to be seen. As far as I was concerned, it was a combination of the gradient and the stark realisation that we had around 2 more hours of walking to go!

After not sleeping for what feels like an eternity, energy levels are already low, and the mud exaggerates this feeling to the nth degree.

The early sections of the path are probably the easiest to walk on. After around 30 minutes (if memory serves me correctly) the path graduates to more of a stony track up the grassy sections. Along the way there are small bogs and puddles (again, we walked at the height of summer – the rest of the year is probably worse). The problem with walking through the wet, boggy areas is that it is really draining, both physically and mentally. After not sleeping for what feels like an eternity, energy levels are already low, and the mud exaggerates this feeling to the nth degree. My walking boots managed to stand up to the moisture though, not letting any water in. Unfortunately the sweat ensured the inside of my boots were kept wet enough!

The upper reaches of the mountain can be identified even in the fog, as the grass thins out and rocks take over. Given the fog at the summit, it was impossible to tell how much further we had to go, but I knew were well over half way when the grass turned into rocks and the visibility was reduced. At this point we started to see a few of the night climbers on their way down, telling us how far we had to go – it ranged between 20 minutes and an hour, depending on who told you! I tried not to listen as it could be psychologically lifting or draining depending on who you spoke to!

The last few hundred metres to the summit aren’t very nice at all – the track is non-existent and the rocks are all loose. They are too big to be scree, but they are not forgiving to walking on, and those walkers without their wits about them could turn an ankle or worse. The cold, the fog and the fatigue from walking up a rally tough mountain could all combine to cause serious injury. There is a very rough path directing you towards the summit, but to be honest the best way to find it is follow the crowds.

We reached the summit having been split as a group – this was a much different challenge to Ben Nevis – it was shorter, but much steeper. The terrain was much more unforgiving and the climb was relentless. On Ben Nevis there are natural rest points at the path chicanes. On the way up Scafell Rachel and I didn’t stop once, not for even a short rest. Not everyone managed to do that, so we ended up with a wide spread of team members. This wasn’t ideal, but nobody was ever left alone.

At the summit we did the usual – photos to prove we made it, complain about the cold, put our trousers and gloves on, wait for a few minutes to see who else was coming up behind us, then headed back down.

I mentioned previously that I found descending the mountain as hard as coming up – this was especially true on the descent of Scafell. The loose nature of the rocks at the summit meant I almost introduced my arse to the floor a few times, which did my mood no good at all! I was physically drained and the thought of injuring myself at the top of the second mountain was enough to make me angry with any rock that caused me to trip – to the point where a few of them were thrown some distance!

After exiting the battlefield of loose rocks, we were onto the track. The track was generally OK, but the loose stones and the constant downhill puts a lot of pressure on your feet – over the course of a few thousand steps this really begins to hurt. It was on the descent of Scafell that my blisters first appeared, and they weren’t going to get any better with yet another, bigger mountain to climb. When your feet are sore, you are reminded of it with every step you take. On the way down Rachel and I were walking with another of our teammates, and all of us agreed our feet were really quite painful.

Despite the pain, our progress down the mountain was rapid. For long periods, we were using a run-skip hybrid, which although looked quite girly was actually really effective at covering long distances downhill – it didn’t help our feet any though. The nature of the beast with sore feet is that they aren’t going to go away, and you can’t take any fewer steps to get down the mountain. My feeling was the quicker we reached the base, the quicker we could get our boots off, so we soldiered on. I knew we must have been making great time – on our way down we passed climbers starting Scafell who were descending Ben Nevis as we were climbing it – we had beaten them up and down a mountain, and were now a whole mountain ahead of them!

When we reached the lower third of the mountain, we were back to the original track – if it was difficult going up, it was a nightmare going down with sore feet. By this point my feet were burning, every step caused me pain right across the sole, and I knew I was making my blisters bigger. There was a stream running parallel to us on sections of the downhill, and I was beginning to fantasise about putting my burning feet in there once I had reached the bottom! Quite soon, the desire to look after my feet took over and I walked/skipped/ran to the bottom of the mountain, and more importantly, the bus! Upon reaching the bus I tore off my boots and socks and walked over to the stream.

I am not sure what I was expecting exactly, but as I plunged my feet directly into the stream my lower limbs suffered an instant aching – the water was FREEZING! I am relatively used to cold water – every summer I swim in the sea in Cornwall, and on and off over years have surfed in the depths of winter, but this was agony! Proper mountain stream water, direct from the source! It was lovely to get my feet in there, but I could only keep them submerged for less than 10 seconds per time. Nonetheless, it was bliss to get them out of the boots that has contributed so much to my pain! The refreshing water was used to brush my teeth, cool our drinks as we waited for the others and provided me with a nice wake-up drink.

Our total time for Scafell Pike (up and down) was 2 hours and 30 minutes exactly.

Mount Snowdon

Snowdon was the final leg of the challenge. As we drove up there I recognised the familiar shops and pubs from our practice walk a few weeks before. Strangely, I was full of energy for this one and knew we would put in a good time. Theoretically we had 7 hours to do the climb as we had only taken a combined 7 hours to do the others. I didn’t want to take it easy though – I wanted to do a good time. Friends and acquaintances who had done the challenge before me spoke of times between 21-24 hours, but I wanted to go sub 20 hours! Not that I am competitive….

I had decided to put my boots on whilst we were still in the Lake District – I didn’t want the hassle of scrambling around in the minibus for my boots whilst everyone else was looking for theirs. To be honest a large part of me didn’t fancy going through the pain of putting them back on so close to climbing – by this point even putting the boots on was painful! My plan was to put the boots on much earlier than necessary – that way I would have forgotten about any pain I had felt by the time I had to start walking again!

We arrived at Snowdon in generally good spirits. Rachel and I had climbed it once before, so knew what to expect. We were walking the Miners path – this path has a really good quality track (pretty much a road) until you actually reach the steep climbing sections. The track itself is actually relatively flat for perhaps the first 2 miles, which gives you a chance to warm up and get used to walking again. The downside of walking on the flat for so long is that the climb is shorter but steeper, making it harder!

Since finishing the challenge and speaking to others, they have asked did I pick the Miners track for the flat rest sections, as the Pyg track is shorter. The answer is no – we picked it because we knew it! We had never walked the Pyg track, so I would rather we had stuck to what we knew. I suppose the return journey of the Miners is nicer as the track is flatter generally, but the intense climb means any benefit is negligible overall. For my money, Snowdon is the hardest of the three to climb.

We set off as a group, and the differing fitness levels soon told here – a few of us wanted to get on our way, whilst others walked at a much more leisurely pace. Rachel was the early pacemaker, with me occasionally having to break into a trot trying to keep up with her! From a distance she must have looked like a mother rushing to get her children to school – myself and the guy who walked with us were struggling to keep up at first!

We soon settled into a good pace – much faster than the previous time. The practice walk took us 4 hours up and down, but that was with no experience and in awful conditions. With this one we were better prepared, but would the lack of sleep (almost 2 days by now) and the affects of two other mountains eventually take their toll? Time would tell….

The Miners track is flat for perhaps 60% of its duration – it only climbs towards the end, but it climbs very steeply and doesn’t seem to stop. The track is generally well-maintained, but there are lots of scrambling sections, where you have to use both your arms and legs to climb – on the three peaks it is the closest you come to actually rock climbing (a very tame version however, I might add!) It is here where you are likely to encounter hold ups – Snowdon is a very touristy mountain (so are the others, but we reached them outside of peak times), and the scrambling sections take some time to navigate, causing queues. If you are confident at climbing over rocks, you can by-pass much of it, and we did.

Despite the sunshine, the summit was obscured from view again. The preparation we had done however ensured that we had a decent idea of timings and landmarks. I knew that the steep, horrible scrambling sections lasted for about 45 minutes, and there were sections with steps that afforded us slight rest breaks. As with the other mountains though, we didn’t stop, we just carried on. We could rest at the top.

Once again, the climb was completed in relative silence at our end, each of us just getting through it. I kept checking the clock to see our progress, and we were making great time, which spurred us on even more. We reached the distinctive tall rock (I remembered it from the practice walk as I had thought ‘how much f*****g further can this go on for?!) that told us we were on the final 15 minutes or so. As the gradient flattened, Rachel and I were able to talk again, and I informed her of our time. We had done really well reaching the summit, doing a much quicker time than our practice.

The summit of Snowdon is busy – probably because the train allows so many to take the easy way up, and the café up there supplies plenty of refreshments. We did our usual routine – have the photos taken, wait around for a while, then begin the descent. At the summit we met with one of our team who had run up the mountain (yes, run) and were joined after about 10 minutes by the guy who at first struggled with me to keep pace with Rachel. After deciding again we were too cold to wait around, we began the descent.

Descending Snowdon is harder than the others – scrambling is tough going on the way up, but it is harder on the way down, especially when you leave the track slightly to overtake slower walkers! We ended up having to take a rather large detour, which had me down towards the lake edge! I had to run to catch up with the others when I reached the track again, but the running certainly helped loosen my stiff and tired legs!

After the difficult part of the descent, we reached the relative flat of the track. It was here we realised we were capable of the sub 20 hours, so picked up into a jog. This was fine at first, but my old painful feet came back to haunt me. I managed to run about a mile, and my feet were really burning, every step the pain was getting worse. I knew the blisters had really grown now – the pain I felt was in a different league to earlier.

We ran towards the lakes by the ruined miners cottages (those of you who have been there will know where I am talking about), and I mentioned to Rachel a few times the pain I was going through – she said the quicker we reached the bus the quicker we could sort my feet. All well and good, but her feet weren’t going through this much pain! I tried to keep running, but it reached a point where I was getting angry with myself – I had the stamina, and my legs were tired but functioning – it was my feet that were the problem, so I stopped running and let Rachel carry on. I was happy that I was still within touching distance of the sub 20 hours, and thought if I reached 19 hours 45 I would run to the end regardless of foot pain.

I walked as Rachel ran around the lake – there is a pass between two lakes where there is a small green hut – from that point on you are well and truly homeward bound. I toyed with the idea of running to there – it was the only real landmark to aim for. Whilst still making my decision, Rachel stopped running half way along the pass, perhaps half a mile in front of me – I thought if I could catch up with her, we could walk the rest of the way together, so I started to run, regretting it instantly! I had made the decision though, so I carried on, mentally reeling her in! I reached her, complained about my feet again and walked on. She then suggested we ran back to the bus – it was quickly agreed that it was a silly idea, and walking was by far the better option (phew!)

We walked along the path, talking about the challenge, how we had found the walk, the conditions, the group in general and what we would eat when we arrived home! After becoming an afterthought for much of the last two days (food on an endurance challenge is fuel, not a luxury you can experiment with), it took centre stage in our minds. It was decided we had earned a meal from the chippy, so we got our heads down and carried on.

I checked the watch on the home straight, and we were well within our target – 19 hours 40 minutes. We had by my estimation another 10 minutes of walking, so didn’t bother to rush – we had done what we wanted to! I can’t say I felt any great sense of relief – I never do. Even after finishing my university exams, I have never felt the sudden weight lifted off my shoulders feeling, more of a “oh, I have finished” feeling and a slow realisation I don’t have to do any more for a while! It was a great feeling to have finished, but there wasn’t an instant comedown – I knew we had just done a great time on a world famous challenge – something that had only been decided on a few weeks before!

We reached the gate and I stopped the watch – we had climbed and descended Snowdon in a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 6 seconds – over an hour quicker than our practice time!

When we reached the bus, we took our boots off – the joy at finishing the challenge meant the pain we were suffering in our feet had been put to the back of our minds – there was no ignoring it now though! I slowly pulled off my boots and saw blood on my socks – it had soaked through two layers! My outer sock on my right foot had a large hole in it over the blister. After stripping my socks off, the source of the pain was revealed – a blister on the arch of both feet. Each blister was about 2 inches long and had a collection of tiny bits of fluff from my socks in. Those were the main players, but all over my feet were a strong supporting cast. In total I counted 14 blisters – 8 on my right foot, 6 on my left. Only the two biggest were bleeding, but the rest contributed plenty of pain!

My feet were dressed, and slowly the rest of the team arrived back at the bus, all of us sharing different stories of the challenge, comparing blisters and looking forward to getting home!

Equipment

Poles

Since we finished, a number of people have asked me about poles – did we use them etc. The answer is an emphatic NO! I can’t honestly see the point of using poles on the mountains. Before you listen to my advice, remember I am no walking expert, I am speaking only from opinion, not research and what I say may be way off, but it was observed on three separate mountains on 4 separate occasions, and after watching hundreds (perhaps thousands of different people).

When walking along the grassy sections, I can see the use of poles as a benefit – you can penetrate the ground, giving you something to balance with, provides you with support and even a bit of traction to propel you forward. That is great, and probably exactly what you are looking for.

HOWEVER! When you reach the upper, more important sections of the mountains where the tracks are all rock and the conditions underfoot are a boulder field, why would you use poles? You have to concentrate to ensure you place them in the middle of a rock (on the edges would slip off, making you fall on your face), you have to avoid the huge risk of placing them down a gap between boulders, and you also have something else to carry. If the point of a pole is to push it into the floor to help you walk, unless you have diamond-tipped walking poles and the arm strength of a pneumatic drill then they are largely a pointless tool – you aren’t going to penetrate the rock, you are merely balancing on a wet, slippery surface. To me that seems like an accident waiting to happen.

I saw plenty of people using them – they were the slow ones, staring at the floor looking for a place to put them. I politely sidestepped them and passed them on my way. On the descent they were usually around the same spot, still looking at the floor for the next pole placement area!

I drew the conclusion that walking attracts quite a few of the weekend brigade – ‘all the gear and no idea’ types. The sort of people who spend a few hundred quid on equipment they will never use again. Maybe having a couple of poles makes you look like you mean business. How embarrassing that must be when you are overtaken by a scruffy-looking couple in £29.99 Hi-Tec walking boots!

Clothing

On our practice walk, I wore heavy cotton shorts, an under armour top, a couple of t-shirts and a waterproof, windproof jacket, thinking layers are the way forward. I was only half wrong.

Cotton is generally not a good material to wear – when it rains the material holds on to water, making you cold and heavy. The under armour was a good choice. You have to also bear in mind that despite the fact the top of mountains are cold, you have to bust a gut getting up there, so you are actually quite hot. The mistake we made the first time was that we didn’t wear waterproof clothing, so the water made our clothes stick to us, making us cold.

On the three peaks, I wore the under armour top again (Adidas ClimaCool, Nike DriFit etc will do the same job), a light t-shirt (as I knew the forecast was sunny) and shorts. I would always recommend wearing shorts – they are lighter, and even if it rains your skin can be dried quickly – trousers will absorb water, and are heavier anyway.

In my bag I carried a hat, gloves, lightweight trousers and a lightweight, waterproof coat. I had no intention of wearing any of it until the summit – they are really cold. I was glad I took them – on the summit of Ben Nevis I had to give some of my clothes out to team mates who were cold despite their layers!

It is important to remember two things -

1. Anything you add to your bag is extra weight, so keep extras to a minimum.
2. You aren’t at the summit for long, and the descent quickly gets warm so only take enough to keep you going for the short term.

Footwear

Rachel and I wore cheap Hi-Tec boots that we bought minutes before the store closed on the eve of our practice walk. Personally, I don’t know much about walking boots. I knew I wasn’t likely to wear them often, so I didn’t want to spend big money, and that was about it. We spoke to the man in the store, who half laughed when we told him why we wanted them, and our lack of experience. Even so, after a quick chat and a few try-ons later, we left with cheap walking boots!

Our walking boots may have been cheap, but they worked perfectly well for us. I know my feet were ravaged with blisters, but so where other peoples who had spent much more on their boots – perhaps I was just unlucky! Our boots didn’t let any water in, despite the conditions were we walking in. They are still in great condition; you wouldn’t obviously know the miles they have put in, or the terrain they have walked on. Overall, I am happy with the purchase, and would recommend them to anyone!

I have spoken to people about the walk, one of whom is a colleague who used to be in the Marines. I asked him about blisters and footwear, combinations of socks (I have heard about thin base layers, thick outer layers etc) after all in the Marines they are known for having to march long distances. He said the socks rarely make a difference, and often it is just the unlucky ones who get the blisters. He said in the armed forces they are often seen as a rite of passage – something you have to suffer until your feet toughen up enough to cope with the demands of long distance walking.

First Aid Kit

Obviously we took a first aid kit. Mindful of the safety of the group being largely my responsibility, we took a very well stocked kit, full to bursting with plasters, bandages, heat and ice packs etc. Everyone who was on the walk was first aid qualified, so between us we would have been OK if required! Luckily, the worst of the injuries were minor cuts, bruises and blisters. I carried this up the mountain with me in my bag, and we had a kit in the bus as a reserve.

Torch

We took torches, despite never needing them. My torch was a small Maglite – more than powerful enough should we have needed it, but luckily we never did. We did all of our walking in broad daylight, and the sunny conditions helped us no end with that. I also took along spare batteries just in case. It goes without saying those doing the climbs at night would need to be better equipped when it comes to lighting!

Pillow

This may sound like a strange one, but a pillow is vital for the journey between mountains. You are likely to be on the roads for around 10 hours, so best make it as comfortable as possible! I personally didn’t sleep a wink from 7am Friday morning until 2am Sunday morning, but that is more to do with my inability to sleep unless in a specific position than anything else.

Food and Drink

I mentioned this earlier, so I will keep it brief here. I instructed everyone to take enough food to last 3 days – a normal packed lunch would not suffice. I also told the team to take 5 litres of water each. Rachel and I made trail mix containing all kinds of weird and wonderful things, including chocolate raisins, sultanas, dried fruit, nuts, cereals etc.

On top of the food and water, we also took lots of high-sugar drinks and stimulants such as red bull.

Maps

I took maps of every mountain, including an excellent 3D map. Alongside this I took written descriptions of each trail, so I knew where we were heading. On Snowdon I gave the maps to other group members as I knew the route we would be taking.

Mobile Phone

Depending on the provider, mobile phones are relatively useless. I certainly didn’t get much, if any, signal, making it a pretty useless tool. Of course take one, just in case.

Driver

Have a designated driver that won’t be walking. It is vital – driving whilst tired is both dangerous and stupid. We took a driver along with us, and it made all the difference in the world. Also, take a sat nav with you – mountains are easy to spot (of course), but they all look the same and the start points can be difficult to find! You won’t have time to waste looking for the beginnings of your routes.

Conclusion

The Three Peaks is hailed as one of the toughest and varied challenges there are. In real terms, it is nothing like the ultra endurance events you hear of – perhaps that is one of the things that make it so successful and popular – it is open to so many people. Of course you need to be physically fit to do it in a good time, but if you are more interested in the walking than the timing then go ahead, just make sure you prepare properly. As I mentioned before, everyone in our group was a health and/or fitness professional in some capacity, and all of us were involved in some sort of regular exercise, so we already had a head start in terms of our preparation.

The social aspect of the challenge was great – you see the same faces as the previous mountains, all checking on how you are doing. It even turns out one of Rachel’s work colleagues was doing the challenge on the same day, and we saw him on both Ben Nevis and Snowdon – in fact, we stopped to help his friend patch up his horrible blisters on Ben Nevis (if you remember that far back in the article!) There is a great sense of camaraderie on the routes, and as there is no competition against each other, it is a really friendly, sociable atmosphere.

Psychologically, the challenge was really interesting to me. Each mountain represented at least 2.5 hours worth of activity. Prior to this, the longest I had been active for was my half marathon, and the training sessions and running of the race were significantly less in terms of time, but felt like so much longer. After walking up and down Ben Nevis for 4.5 hours, 2.5 hours up and down Scafell seems like a breeze, but before that just less than two hours seemed like a really, really long time to be training for! Perhaps our brain and psychology adapts to the challenges ahead, and allows us to accept certain things – time being one of them!

I personally found that the sleep deprivation didn’t really bother me, and that was a surprise. I can honestly say I didn’t feel sleepy at all – whether or not that was adrenaline I don’t know, but there wasn’t even a jetlag-like comedown afterwards. One decent night’s sleep and we were back to normal again! In fact, we couldn’t have been tired – after reaching the car park we set off from to collect our cars, Rachel and I went to McDonalds, picked up a meal each and sat and watched an episode of supersize versus superskinny (ironic, isn’t it?!) In our defence, it was early hours of Sunday morning (2am) and nowhere else was open, unless we fancied a kebab. We just went to bed, awaiting the DOMS (that incidentally, would last about 4-5 days!)

A few people have since asked ‘was it hard? Meaning is it physically tiring? The answer is a rather lame ‘kind of!’ It isn’t physically hard in the sense that a really tough workout is, and there isn’t a localised sense of fatigue – you can’t say your legs are tired in the way you can with a set of squats, or your chest is after a set on the bench. The only way you can describe the fatigue from mountain walking is a general feeling of weariness. There were times when my legs were tired, but never to the point where I had to stop – the stops we took were usually to allow others to catch up. Of course it is tiring, but if I compare it to a good training session, a half marathon, a fast-paced football match etc, then it isn’t as tough. However, it is much, much longer!

The difference is that it is mentally in a different league to them all. After climbing the highest mountain in the country, you have to get in the van, drive 7 hours and then climb a really nasty, steep hill at 5am. Once you have completed that, you have to drive another 3 hours to climb an even bigger mountain – all the time your feet are sore. Each mountain is a few hours’ worth of effort on their own, so the cumulative effect of them all is where the challenge really comes in. The challenge lasts for 24 hours – you can’t just stop for a while and have a sit down meal and a break – you are either walking up a mountain, or travelling to the next one. There is no ‘let’s wrap it up for tonight and start again tomorrow’.

Having discussed it since, Rachel and I are so glad we did it. We are proud of the time we completed the challenge in, and we have some great memories. We have seen some amazing parts of the country, from the best possible viewpoints. We know what is at the top of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon, and can speak from experience about scrambling up a mountainside! It has been a while since we completed the challenge, so my blisters have healed and I can look back fondly on the day!

Out total time for the three peaks challenge was 19 hours, 48 minutes and 24 seconds. If we hadn’t sat around at the top of mountains we would have done it much quicker, but we did it as a group, and the time was almost a secondary concern. The point of the walk was to raise money for a children’s orphanage, and we did – £2000 in total.

So what is next? Rachel has her mind set on Kilimanjaro – I want to do it too, but for now my walking days are on hold. For me I want to cycle John ‘O’ Groats to Lands End in 5 days or less, I want to do Tough Guy and I also want to complete the London Rat Race. Maybe Kili in 2011?!

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