To raise money for Race Against Blood Cancer, Croud undertook the Three Peaks Challenge, which entails climbing the highest peaks in England, Scotland, and Wales in under 24 hours. Read on to find out how the team fared…
Ben Nevis: 5 hours, 10 minutes
At precisely 09:17 on Saturday morning, the Croud team set off on our epic Three Peaks Challenge. Over the next 24 hours we would scale over 9,800 feet, walk over 27 miles and burn an astonishing 8,000 calories. Each of us had undertaken various levels of training before taking part. Regardless of our training and fitness levels, we all knew the task ahead would be both mentally and physically exhausting. To complete our task we would have to work together as a team. With this knowledge in mind, we set off to conquer the highest of Britain’s mountains, the epic Ben Nevis.
From the base of Ben Nevis we were confronted with over an hour of a steep climb, testing our endurance at the very first hurdle. After this, the path eased off and we took regular water and snack breaks. Although the morning was cool, the notorious Scottish weather was kind to us on our ascent, gifting us beautiful views of the highlands when the clouds cleared. When we pushed on to tackle the ascent, we could only admire the views for an instant, as no sooner had we reached the top than concerns over time meant that we had to clamber back down. Swiftly, we returned to the minibus and on to mountain number two.
At the top of Ben Nevis
Scafell Pike: 4 hours, 15 minutes
En route to Scafell Pike, we devoured our well-earned bacon and egg sandwiches, savouring every last morsel. We welcomed our sleep before the next mountain. By the time we arrived at Scafell Pike it was already dark.
Although the smallest of the three mountains, it was in many ways the most daunting. The rocks were small and much of the mountain was slippery and difficult to grip, making the journey at night a real challenge. The top of the mountain was bitterly cold and the descent was long and arduous. When we finally reached the bottom, a huge sigh of relief and tiredness was exhaled. We all knew that now only Snowden stood between us and completing the Three Peaks Challenge.
Snowden summit
Snowden: 4 hours, 52 minutes
We awoke at dawn tired – but ready – for one final effort to scale the indomitable Mount Snowdon. Our bags were heavy, and the path seemed endless, as we trotted along the rocky mountain path. But inch by inch, step by step, we gradually reached the final ridge. The last test in our journey was a 20-minute ridge ascent to the summit, and the wind seemed determined to stop us. We could barely stand up, but still we pushed on. At last we Croud folk reached the final summit, we hollered with joy and hugged each other, proud of what we had achieved.
We slowly began to make our way down. By this stage, we had split into different groups, so we arrived back at the minibus at different times and waited for our comrades to come back. The final group of Thuong and Olivia made it back exactly 23 hours and 53 minutes after the journey started. We had completed the challenge within 24 hours! Unfazed by the closeness of the timing, Thuong wryly stated “I wish I’d had another break”.
There’s still time to donate!
The challenge was a massive success, and through it we managed to raised over £4,000 for Race Against Blood Cancer who do tremendous work encouraging a greater number and diversity of people to join blood donation programmes.
If you’d like to donate and support Race Against Blood Cancer’s great work, please visit their page here.
The challenge in images
Check out the infographic below for an overview of what the Three Peaks Challenge entailed and how the Croud team got on.
Croud Three Peaks Challenge overview
