Our First Three Peaks Challenge event.

On the 6th - 8th May Darren Ellis Mountaineering ran its first Three Peaks Challenge, and what an eventful course it was!

We ran an open Three Peaks Challenge event, open meaning anyone could book to come on it so we had a mixture of people who didn't all know each other before the event. Dean and I were the instructors and Tony did most of the driving of Excalibur-Molly the VW van. Our trip started in a sleepy village near Sheffield at 8am. We set off north in Excalibur toward Ben Nevis. Members of the party who had never visited Scotland before were astounded at the scenery using up most of their camera memory before we even reached Glen Coe! On arrival at the car park at the foot of The Ben, there was tangible excitement in the group and we set off at a rapid rate (after many group photos). We made good time up The Ben, again many photos at the summit before a race back down, one of our party came into difficulties on the way down causing us to have to stop and then slow our pace for the rest of the descent. Still, we made it back to the bus before dark and only slightly behind schedule. 

Through the night, Tony helmed the ship southwards to Scafell Pike where we arrived almost back on schedule, so we set off up the mountain in the absolute pitch dark. Head torches donned we marched up the lower reaches with difficulty before stopping for first breakfast at sty head tarn tucked beside a wall for shelter from the wind. From here to the summit of Scafell is a difficult trek, by the time we started this section it was light enough for us not to need torches and we picked our way steadily along the wet, treacherous rocks. The final push for the summit took its toll on our team but with perseverance, we made it to summit number 2. We raced back down to the van where our personal chef (Tony again) had bacon and sausage sandwiches ready for our second breakfast! Thus refuelled we had another nap while it was up to 3-time van rally world champion Tony to gain us as much time as he could as we raced for North Wales. 

We arrived at the foot of Snowdon with 3 hours and 15 minutes to get all the way up and all the way back down again, it was going to be nigh on impossible to manage. We opted for the Miners Track with the hope that the long track would enable us to move quickly and cover most of the distance in little time only leaving the steep zig-zagging path at the head of the valley which would slow us down. We made the summit in just under 2 hours, no mean feat! However, even that meant we only had around 80 minutes to make it back to the van. We had the quickest of summit celebrations and just a couple of photos and then we were off, back down the mountain. We made it down the steep section and onto the track in what we thought was good time. Just the march along the track to go. Every bend we rounded we thought would be the last and as we turned the corner we imagined seeing the car park in front of us and each time we just saw another sweeping descending section of track. It seemed to go on and on forever, but as we rounded the last bend and caught a glimpse of Excalibur, we gathered all the team together and trotted down the last stretch to home with 6 minutes to spare. We walked into the car park cool and slow, knowing by this point that we had time to spare, as those waiting at the car park jumped around and shouted to us to hurry up.

The trip was enjoyed by all, not everyone finished but everyone managed to achieve at least one peak. Everyone definitely experienced a great challenge and it took its toll on all involved. A big thanks to Tony for driving us and to Dean for being the other leader, keeping everyone going and keeping them all safe well done you guys. In addition, a huge well done to all those who took part, Each Peak individually is an achievement, all three is a triumph! This is not an undertaking to be underestimated!


See the photos here.


Darren Ellis