3 Peaks Challenge

kelack

kelack

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I'm due to be going with a team that are doing the 3 peaks challenge in September. I won't be walking it (I can't as I have a damaged hip) but can do some light walking (probably an hour at max), I'm the designated driver and photographer.

The times are planned as follows:

Ben Nevis starting at 6am
Scaffell Pike starting at 6am
Snowdon starting at 4pm

How much can I be expected to see?
What can I do in the way of photography?
The kit I'm planning to take will be my 12-24 and 18-200. Should this be sufficient enough?
I was also hoping to paraglide from one of the sites as well, will I have time?
 
If you can't do much walking then you will be restricted to photography in and around the car park. All three ascents are relatively strenuous from the start, although you haven't said where the ascents of Scafell Pike and Snowdon are starting from. On the assumption that you will be parking near the campsite at Wasdale Head the route is uphill and rough immediately you go through the gate by the FRCC hut. In Llanbeiris you could start at Pen y Pass and cheat with height gain, but again the path soon becomes rough, unless you use the Miner's track, which is execrable in it's later stages. If you start at Llanberis you could always drive to the road head and drop off your men but there is little parking so you are then stuck with the very restricted and somewhat pricey official car parks in Llanberis itself. This then gives you a walk of approx 1.5 miles before hitting the fellside which might be too much for you.

Don't know how you will paraglide without a walk onto the tops carrying your gear, which will probably take you more than an hour. Don't underestimate the terrain - especially if the weather is bad.

What can you see? General low level landscape stuff. Valleys and lakes. Parking in all the places is PIA and will be full of grockles at the times you mention. You won't really have much time to drive off anywhere and get back. From the times given you will probably get your best shots in and around Wasdale and if lucky you will get sunset/blue hour with the screes as a backdrop.

If the weather is good it will be glorious. If the weather is bad it will be awful!
 
For Ben Nevis, theres a pub at the bottom of the mountain, park there.. saves an extra 5 min walk and you can spend the 90 mins or so you'll be waiting there
For Scafel theres a pub past the campsite, spend your time in there
For Snowdon, I dunno.. find a pub?

Will you have time to Paraglide?? It depends, you;re there as support for the team, that means they'll be expecting you ready in th evan to go when they get down, not faffing about with photography etc. I did it a few years ago (21hrs), we took about 90 mins to do Ben Nevis, the same for scafell and Snowdon in about an hour. You'll spend most of the time travelling so I'd use that time to relax as you're going to be doing a lot of driving, most people that fail to do it in 24 hours fail because of the travelling time, not the actual walking. Once big hold up on the M6 and its over.
 
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I should add that I've been doing car support for this type of event for many years now. The support job is as hard as doing the actual route. If you are conscientious then you will be waiting well in advance of the scheduled times for your guys to appear. You will have food, drink and spare gear all ready for them. It will be hot and fresh and varied, and you will get them to eat it whatever they say. You will have to be always optimistic whatever is happening. Towards the end when they are getting tired you will have to be full of life and optimism however bad you personally feel. You will get only little snatches of sleep but they will snore you crazy all the way down the M6.

If it's p***ing down you will have to stand in the rain for as long as they need you to, and no complaints.

Once it's over they will go crazy for an hour or so then fall asleep and only wake up when you drop them off. They will thank you - eventually. They might go to the pub, but you are driving so "just a coke" is all you'll get.

If you are doing the job properly you will have little time for yourself, and as for paragliding....what happens if something goes wrong and you spoil their attempt?

Doing car support is damned hard work and good fun only in retrospect. Enjoy it but don't forget it's not your weekend away but theirs.
 
Apologies for the delay in replying to you both, it went a bit manic at work.

Thank you both for your detailed replies. The reason for asking the questions was that I wasn't sure how much time I would have while they are all walking. But you have explained all that perfectly for me. The paragliding, I wasn't sure how it would work over here. In Switzerland, you meet at a cable car and it takes you to the top so there is no walking up a mountain. Having never been to any of the UK mountains, I wasn't sure if you could get to the top without walking which I why I asked. And I am there to be faffing about with photography. I have said I will help with the driving also.

And 90minutes?! We've got 5 hours set aside for the walking. Maybe I should have made our plan a bit clearer rather than putting the start times. My fault!

Here it is:
Day 1 - Weds 9th September
Fly to Glasgow
Collect Hire Vehicles & Drive to Fort William
Overnight Stay
Day 2 - Thurs 10th September
Climb Ben Nevis @ 06:00 (6 hours)
Drive to Scafell Pike @ 12:00 (6 hours)
Overnight Stay
Day 3 - Fri 11th September
Climb Scafell Pike @ 06:00 (5 hours)
Drive to Snowdonia @ 11:00 (5 hours)
Climb Snowdon @ 16:00 (5 hours)
Overnight Stay
Day 4 - Sat 12th September Return back to London

And definitely had no plans to slope off to the pub! It's a corporate thing :LOL:

They're not planning to do it in 24 hours, as you can see. I put my name down as a volunteer to go up with them all in a photography capacity. They asked if I would also be able to help with the driving. I think there's 4 of us driving. Again, something I should have put in the OP. Apologies again.
 
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6 hours to Climb Ben Nevis???? Are you crawling up on your stomachs??

Your best bet for photography will be around Scafel really...there isn't much else to do there... you can take shots of the lake or walk part way up to the gate past the wooded area... turn round and you can get some nice views... you get pretty high pretty quicky...Ben Nevis is right next to Fort William, there are some nice pontoons out onto the sea/lake thingy... Snowdon it all depends on where you park really.... you could always take the train up, although I've always managed to get to the top faster, walking than my wife sitting in the train...


And cable cars up British mountains :LOL: !!! I think you're in for a bit of a shock... especially at Scafel......
 
Haha no idea. That's why I thought I'd have a bit of time to myself as they'd given those timings. They're all doing the Swiss 3 Peaks the following week as well so maybe they're taking it easy :D

Thanks, that's given me some things to put on my list though from both of you. I'm looking forward to having a play with the 12-24 though. Will have to remember to take my tripod. It's a nice lightweight one so should be ok for a little wander.

I think I might be a little spoilt with my Swiss mountain trips with the funiculars then by the sounds of it
 
You can ride a bike up Snowdon - after 1st October - and that is usually faster than the train. Coming down definitely is; the record is something like 7 minutes from the summit to the road!

If you think you've been spoilt with your Swiss funiculars then just look at the price (and rules) of the Snowdon rail trips.

I can't remember ever walking up the Ben so have no idea of times. The race record - up and down - is less than 90 mins, and a car has been driven to the summit up the main route.

SWMBO has walked up Scafell Pike in under 2 hours from Wasdale - and that's the rough route. Experienced mountain guys will take less than 90 mins unless they get lost which is easy to do in bad weather. Less than an hour to get back down.

The route up Snowdon from Llanberis is called the tourist route for good reason. A couple of years ago a guy drove a 4WD to the summit. Abandoned it and when they got it back to the valley refused to return it to him. So he got another 4WD and did the same thing. He got a ban, but it shows how easy the route up is.
 
Oops. Sorry I didn't reply to this, my notification must have got lost amongst others in the app. I don't think I'll be biking it either :lol:

Revisiting the thread as we leave tomorrow. The times for the climbs are still:

Ben Nevis - 6am Thursday morning

Scaffel Pike - 6am Friday morning

Snowdon - 4pm Friday afternoon

I won't be going up to any peaks now (if that was possible) due to the times. They are still aiming for 5-6 total for each one
 
Ah well if you see a big group of people who look like they should be sitting in an office and hear a mixture of English and German then that's us :D

Good luck to you guys as well
 
I've done the 3 Peaks in 24 three times, once for real and two as organiser/driver/support.
It's all about logistics; get it right and it is an easy challenge.
The last group of five, only one of them had ever been up a mountain before and we very nearly got the whole group finished in 20 hours.
That included a break for hot food after the first two peaks before piling back in the van and hitting the road. Great for morale and kept their energy levels up.
The key is timing to avoid traffic; empty roads save many hours on the journey without needing to drive fast.
I'll happily offer my 2p to anyone who is interested, just ask :)

You aren't attempting the 24, so have fun and enjoy yourselves!
 
So what do you do while they are all up a mountain? I obviously can't stray too far away from the cars as I am "ground support" but I don't want to sit in the car for 4/5 hours :lol:
 
With the exception of Ben Nevis it won't be as long as that...
Easy answer is to lie down and relax, read a book, whatever, as you will be doing most of the driving and a rest will be welcome.
I cooked hot food ready for the team when they got back; a bit of a challenge as everything needs to be in a state than can be thrown in the back of the van and set off as soon as they are done. I left washing-up to do while they were up the next mountain.
While the stove is on, make yourself a nice cup of tea :)
Also worth using the time sort out some music to keep the driver awake and do bit of a tidy up. I left packets of mints and things on the seats for the journey which they felt was a nice touch.
As posted at the start of the thread, the support role is important to the success of the team and does take quite a lot of thought and time.
I recall only a brief moment of boredom while the team was on Scafell; time seems to fly by.
 
Remember, these are all office based City types so won't be zooming up and they really are planning on 5-6 hours for each, I know you keep saying are they crawling up but yes, they are not doing it in record time or aiming to, plus they are all doing 3 Peaks in Switzerland next week. But yes, I was thinking a rest would probably be good, especially with the early morning starts but 4+ hours is a long time for me to sit on my backside. I get restless, I could probably sit for an hour with a book but any more than that might be a push.

We're not planning on cooking as we have lunches planned back at the hostel at Ben Nevis then Burton in Kendal services between Scafell and Snowdon. And I don't drink tea :D I suppose I could have fun by sorting out music in all four of the cars, but I doubt they'd appreciate my taste hehehehe
 
kelack said:
Remember, these are all office based City types so won't be zooming up and they really are planning on 5-6 hours for each, I know you keep saying are they crawling up but yes, they are not doing it in record time or aiming to, plus they are all doing 3 Peaks in Switzerland next week. But yes, I was thinking a rest would probably be good, especially with the early morning starts but 4+ hours is a long time for me to sit on my backside. I get restless, I could probably sit for an hour with a book but any more than that might be a push.

We're not planning on cooking as we have lunches planned back at the hostel at Ben Nevis then Burton in Kendal services between Scafell and Snowdon. And I don't drink tea :D I suppose I could have fun by sorting out music in all four of the cars, but I doubt they'd appreciate my taste hehehehe
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The times are on the slow side but I think there may be a little exaggeration going on further up the thread. Anybody getting up and down Ben Nevis is 90 minutes is some athlete. If there are ladies in the group they'll be smashing the women's record! 4-5 hours is probably more realistic but scafell is half that. Snowdon somewhere in the middle.

As above, scafell might be your best bet for photos. You're likely to be on wast water which is lively in the right conditions. The other 2, not so much unless you're prepared to drive away for a short while.
 
gad-westy said:
but I think there may be a little exaggeration going on further up the thread
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My thoughts as well, it really, really does depend on the fitness and experience of your team. For normal, averagely fit people, i.e. not a fell runners I think your timings are perhaps an hour over for people on an enjoyable day out rather than in a race including stops for food, etc.
 
A Group of people at work did this about a month ago. They were trying to do in 24 hours but went over by about 30 minutes. Traffic was the key reason. I don't think the climbs will take as long as you think though
 
The first group got back after 6.5 hours. Just waiting for the last group. They're about 20 minutes away.
 
kelack said:
So what do you do while they are all up a mountain? I obviously can't stray too far away from the cars as I am "ground support" but I don't want to sit in the car for 4/5 hours :LOL:
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I would volunteer to do the driving TO the pick up point rather than back from there to the hotel - allows a few floz should the mood take you... ;)

Hope you had a good time, Kelly and got some decent pictures.
 
Absolutely amazing time. Last night was very scary though. The storm cane in while 3 out of my 4 teams were up Snowdon. Finally got the last team back to the hostel at midnight. So pleased that all 21 did it though. They're now off to Switzerland to do 3 Peaks out there. I hopefully got some decent photos. I had about 3 hours to myself for Ben Nevis and Scaffel Pike but Snowdon I was too worried after the weather changed so had a very short wander
 
I'll be sorting them out tomorrow. Absolutely exhausted after the 7 hour drive home. Although if I'm feeling like the walking dead, I dread to think how the team feels! And bless them, they're all of to Switzerland. Nutters :lol:
 
Just had the approximate timings through from the organiser, there will probably be more accurate ones come through from people's individual fitbits etc. Not too bad considering only 4 out of the 22 had climbed just one mountain before.

3Peaks.JPG
 
I think I drove the wrong way round the base of Ben Nevis to get my photos :( the same with Snowdon :(

Oh well
 
keety said:
For Ben Nevis, theres a pub at the bottom of the mountain, park there.. saves an extra 5 min walk and you can spend the 90 mins or so you'll be waiting there
For Scafel theres a pub past the campsite, spend your time in there
For Snowdon, I dunno.. find a pub?

Will you have time to Paraglide?? It depends, you;re there as support for the team, that means they'll be expecting you ready in th evan to go when they get down, not faffing about with photography etc. I did it a few years ago (21hrs), we took about 90 mins to do Ben Nevis, the same for scafell and Snowdon in about an hour. You'll spend most of the time travelling so I'd use that time to relax as you're going to be doing a lot of driving, most people that fail to do it in 24 hours fail because of the travelling time, not the actual walking. Once big hold up on the M6 and its over.
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Oh and the pub.....yep, we were staying in the bunkhouse underneath it :lol:
 
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