At 5pm on Monday the 23rd of August a small team of 6 including 4 from Norwich Ice stood at the bottom of a cold, wet and misty mountain. Ben Nevis in Scotland was to be our starting point for the 3 Peaks – a challenge to climb the tallest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales in under 24 hours.
The heavy rain and thick fog on Ben Nevis, coupled with the fading light made conditions on the first mountain challenging. We completed the round trip in 7 hours and once down we jumped in the mini-bus for the long overnight journey down to England’s highest peak – Scafell Pike, trying to grab as much sleep as possible en-route. We arrived at daybreak and set off immediately, the weather was once again appalling with plenty of rain and hail and thick fog once more at the top. After stopping at the top for a quick photo we made our descent and jumped in the van for the shorter journey to the last mountain. The final peak was Wales’ offering of Mount Snowdon. Dosed up on Lucozade tablets, the team headed up the Pyg track with conditions at the top again not looking favourable. We were met with gale force winds and zero visibility at the peak and after a few quick photos we started the trip down. A (very) short jog toward the end stopped the clock at 27 hours and 38 minutes for a journey taking in 25 miles of walking, 10,000 feet of climbing, 450 miles of driving and one big bag of wet walking gear. In total, the team raised £700 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance and £1,200 for St. David’s Children Society, an adoption agency in Wales. Thank you to everyone that kindly donated. Next up for some of Ice is cycling Lands End to John O’ Groats and walking Hadrian’s Wall in 2011. Talk to Neil if you are interested in getting involved in either.
