Trip report: Climbing the three highest mountains in the UK in a week
It’s easy to get fed up about life in the UK but there’s plenty to celebrate about its people and places.
The numbers tell the story: a marathon walk, 3,400 metres climbing, almost £8,000 raised for charity, and 1,050 miles on the road, over seven days.
My son Dan and I are back in the North East of England after spending a week on the road in our campervan visiting Scotland, Wales, and England, and climbing the highest mountain in each country.
The typical approach to the so-called Three Peaks Challenge is to complete them all in 24 hours, spending approximately half your time travelling, and half your time climbing.
I’ve twice been part of support teams who have completed this challenge at an agency I founded with Steve Earl called Speed but have never actually climbed all the mountains myself.
This year we set our sights on a slow version of the Three Peaks Challenge.
We started with a drive North from Newcastle to Fort William to climb Ben Nevis in Scotland. It’s a beautiful journey to Edinburgh and then Loch Lomond, the Trossachs National Park, and Glencoe.
We spent a family holiday in Fort William last year during which low cloud constantly obscured the mountain. This trip was no different.
Ben Nevis – 1,345m (6.5 hours, 11 miles)
We camped at the foot of the mountain and set off at 7am. We reached the cloud level at 500m after an hour and spent the next four hours with limited visibility.
Ben Nevis was busy. There was a stream of people on the way up and down. We met a nun, an 80-year-old, and a five-year-old climbing the mountain with his dad.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, was friendly. There’s a recognition and gratitude of the shared experience of climbing the highest mountain in Scotland and the UK.
You couldn’t see more than 10m on the summit. It was also cold, and frost formed on our jackets. But we’d completed the first mountain.
The day on Ben Nevis set the tone for the week. Everyone we met was welcoming and helpful. Fortunately it didn’t define the weather for the week.
The support on each of the mountains was matched by a virtual community of people that cheered us on and donated to our fundraiser via social media.
We raised money during the trip to help an inspiring mental health charity called bigmoose in Cardiff. It’s aiming to raise £1m in 2022 to scale its crisis service created during the pandemic.
I met Jeff Smith, the co-founder of bigmoose with his daughter Chloe, after he was recommended to me as a speaker for an event.
Thank you, Jeff and Chloe, for everything that you have done in creating bigmoose and motivating people such as myself and Dan.
Jeff is an impressive individual. He’s a former professional sportsperson turned entrepreneur, mountain climber, and fundraiser. We were grateful for his support and encouragement each day via WhatsApp. Thank you, Jeff.
Sarah Waddington was my rock during the pandemic. Idleness and overeating was my coping mechanism. She helped me get fit for this trip and was a daily source of motivation. I hope my personal legacy from this trip is that I properly get fit and get back to my optimal weight. Thank you, Sarah.
After completing Ben Nevis, we headed south to Glasgow for the night. The next day took us from Scotland along the west coast of England to Wales.
Snowdon - 1,085m (6 hours, 10.5 miles)
If you ever get the opportunity to visit the Snowdonia National Park, you must camp at the foot of Snowdon at Llyn Gwynant Campsite, situated on the edge of a lake. It’s a stunning location.
We were extremely lucky. The weather turned after we left Scotland, and the UK experienced a heatwave. We swam in the lake before bed rather than having showers. It was almost certainly warmer.
We rose at 6am and walked into Snowdon from Pen-y-Pass. Parking in the area is notoriously difficult.
The walk up the mountain is stunning, passing several small lakes along the Miner’s track, before making a sharp ascent. The view from the summit was incredible.
We made a tactical mistake of walking the Pyg track down the mountain. I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s tough going and relentless.
Snowdon was as busy as Ben Nevis. It was also hot. The temperature on the summit was 20C, and 30C back down in the valley.
We drove from Wales to Chester for the night.
The following day was relatively sedate. No UK road trip would be complete without a visit to Waddington. We visited my Mum nearby and headed for lunch in the village.
Scafell Pike - 964m (4.5 hours, 7 miles)
Millom in West Cumbria was the base camp for our final mountain, Scafell Pike. The central Lakes get all the attention, but the coastline is equally beautiful.
We rose at 4am and headed to Wasdale Head for the final climb before it got too hot. Scafell Pike is a brutal climb but incredibly rewarding. It’s three miles of ascent over a couple of hours.
It was much quieter than the previous two climbs. The view from the summit was breath taking. On a clear day, apparently you’re able to see Snowdon. We were too overwhelmed having completed the challenge and the views over the nearby Cumbrian fells to take notice.
The temperature back in the Wasdale valley was around 30C. We joined day trippers paddleboarding and swimming in the lake.
We stayed our final night in a bed and breakfast in Workington. It’s a small town on the north west Cumbrian coast.
The landlady on hearing about our challenge and fundraiser gave us a tee-shirt to auction signed by local climbing legends Chris Boddington and Doug Scott. It was a beautiful gesture that was typical of the week.
If you’re ever in Workington look up Sue Dahl and her husband Fred at Armidale Cottages. They’re gorgeous people.
It’s easy to feel bewildered and helpless by the climate crisis, cost of living, strikes, drought, the war in Ukraine, and political shenanigans, but the support we’ve experienced this week has been heart warming and life affirming.
We have experienced a welcome everywhere we travelled. 80 people have donated almost £8,000. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored us.
We’re keen to hit £10,000. I appreciate that everyone is facing a squeeze right now, but we’d really appreciate a donation to hit our target and enable bigmoose to provide lifesaving mental health crisis support.
Here’s our donation page and more info about the charity.
Thank you.
