Every sport has a pinacle goal or something that can be seen as the ultimate achievement, to members of the hiking club one of the greatest achievements that can be accomplished in the UK is the challenge of attempting to climb the highest mountain in England, Scotland and Wales in a 24 hour period.
So at the end of term in June, whilst most students were to be found at the bar, an elite(?) group of nine walkkers and their two drivers set of for Scotland to attempt the challenge. However no trip, no matter how well planned runs as expected and this was to be no exception. I lost track of how many hours late we were leaving and Amanda and Adriana started thinking that we were only pretending to be going on a trip. Lets just say after making everyone get up early it was in the afternoon when we finally left and nearly the morning when we finally arrived in Fort William, especially after having to spend nearly ½ an hour in a pub car park searching for the minibus keys. (Richard!)
Having planned to start Ben Nevis late in the afternoon, so that most of the driving would be at night, we spent the next day doing last minute shopping and avoiding the urge to make a start whilst the weather was good. Typically when the time to start finally arrived it p***** it down and combined with the very high winds (and knowledge that there had already been one fatallity) made it very unpleasant walking conditions. The pre-trip Gentlemans Agreement of a naked photo on every peak soon evaporated as the sight of snow and ice put off even the most modest!
The return trip brought better weather and after a few delays, a change of clothes and a takeaway we were on our way to the Lake District for Scafell Pike.
Arriving at 5am it was suprising to see the number of other people and vehicles already there attempting the same challenge. As we later learned, after seeing one of their minibuses upside down, there were numerous groups taking part in an organised charity event.
The walk included a couple of unplanned detours, the slowing of our pace and took longer than we’d expected, but was in much better condtions than Ben Nevis making it more enjoyable. After flying ahead to warn the support team, the minibus was loaded up and a pasta meal was waiting for the group to eat en-route to Wales.
Without wanting to incriminate Ben and John the drive to Mount Snowdon must have broken a few records for the swiftest and safest journey between the two mountains and bought us some much needed time. With it looking like 2 hours remaining to walk the fianl mountain a controversial decision was made to split the group for the final peak. Splitting the group allowed everyone the opportunity to complete the mountain without feeling they were under pressure from other people to walk faster and to move at a pace that their ability would permit. It was still met with mixed feelings.
All 9 hikers reached the top of Mount Snowdon and therefore all 3 peaks within the 24 hours period. 5 members managed to complete the challenge and return to the car park where they were met by other club members (who just happened to be in the area) and champagne. Though even after a sprint finish some had only 2 ½ minutes to spare!!!
Special thanks must really go to John and Ben who volunteered to drive the huge distances involved and make the trip possible. Congratulations to everyone that did take part, I thought it was probably the most enjoyable and envigorating trip that i’d been on with the club and hope that everyone left with a sense of achievement from what they accomplished.