Training Weekend

When we signed up for the three peaks challenge back in December, we were told about a training weekend in April, that allowed us to experience Scafell Pike in the dark before the actual event in July. We all agreed this would be a worthwhile exercise.

So on Saturday April 17^th the team met up in the Lake District for a weekend of walking.

The first walk we did was Scafell Pike at night, we met up with a team from Mountain and Glen at 8pm, who would be walking with us and giving us tips for the event. Firstly I should mention that we were staying in Great Langdale and the quickest way to get from there too Wasdale Head where we were walking from is over a pass. This pass can only be described as a roller coaster, so when we arrived at the meeting point safely we were glad to start the walk all in one piece.

The route we took up Scafell Pike, was via Lingmell Glen, Brown Tongue and Hollow Stones. We are sure that it looks lovely in daylight, but when you have only headtorches for light it is very disorientating. We all made it too the top and back down with a slightly different route at the bottom. If you are thinking of doing the 3 peaks challenge, we would all recommend trying a night-time climb first as it really does give you an idea of what you are going to face.

We got back to the hotel at about 4am, grabbed some sleep before a 9.30 Breakfast, a bit more rest and then off to our next walk, this one Nick led as he had done it many times before.

All went well and we all got two thirds of the way on the walk no problem, we then came across a lake. It was then we had a choice to go up a steep ascent to the summit or too go up over the ridge, Susan and Shelly opted for the steep ascent, the boys all decided to go over the ridge. To say the language was choice would be an understatement, the drop on either side of the ridge was steep and by the time the boys reached the top I think they had all stopped shaking from fear. We came back down the easy way.

Monday we decided to do another quick walk ( 2 and Half hours) in the Great Langdale area. Lovely scenary and we made friends with lots of sheep.

So all in all in 48 hours we had done 12 hours walking. A good effort and we were all still speaking.