dinsdag 24 juni 2014

Our story of the National Three Peaks Challenge

Introduction

At 19th of june 2014 we finished in a total time of 17h37min the total National Three Peaks Challenge!

What is the National Three Peaks Challenge? The National Three Peaks Challenge is an event in the UK in which participants attempt to climb the highest mountains of Scotland, England and Wales within 24 hours. Walkers climb each peak in turn, and are driven from the foot of one mountain to the next. The three peaks are:
  • Ben Nevis (1,344 m or 4,409 ft), the highest mountain in Scotland
  • Scafell Pike (978 m or 3,209 ft), the highest mountain in England
  • Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m or 3,560 ft), the highest mountain in Wales
The total distance walked is estimated at 40 km (25 mi) with a total ascent of 3000m (10000 feet). driving route is 750 km (470 mi) long. One can organize his own challenge (e.g. date, logistics). More detailed information about this challenge can be found e.g. at the website of the challenge or the wiki page.

The car route

For me personal, the idea of doing this challenge was more than 12 years old, but it was this year I found my dreamteam ;-). Serge, one of my best friends, and an experienced car driver was willing to taxi me all the way.

Dreamteam ;-)








Last Christmas, we booked our flight to London for June 14th. During the following months, we made a travel plan for the whole week and picked our date for the challenge: June 19, 2014, it would be.


The period between 14th and 17th of June (active prep phase)


Part of our plan was exploring all 3 mountains in detail before the challenge day. Each mountain has many different faces while hiking. The photos below gives a few snapshots of it.


Snowdon @ 4/5 way (June 14). The trail is nice visible

Scafell Pike @ 1/4 way (June 15)

Ben Nevis @ summit (June 17)

Exploring the route turned out to be a good decision for multiple reasons and I can recommend it to anybody who wants to get the most out of their Challenge.
  • Familiarization with driving on the left side of the road is best done in a low-pressure environment. Serge needs to put on some miles before June 19.
  • Navigation on the mountain, especially at Scafell Pike, helps to be prepared for the correct route on June 19.
  •  Roads around Scafell Pike can be intimidating for the first time when driving. On June 19, we know the roads and how to handle them.
  • Road construction zones can be identified.
  • Estimating what schedule is realistic for June 19 becomes much more clear.
  • Last but not least, the legs need this additional training for best results on June 19 (assumed to have already a good basic condition).

Unfortunately during the exploring days, Serge got some real problems with his knees during the descend of Scafell Pike (his second mountain ever, after Snowdon). He needed rest and therefore he could not walk up or down Ben Nevis. This was the only bad part of our holiday, especially for Serge. But health is always most important. Fortunately, his knees recovered well after some rest but too late for the Challenge.

18th of june (passive prep phase)


This day was for buying food, packing, and going through every detail for the day after. But after a few hours, all these things were arranged. Time to get nervous now? No, we decided to do a mini-hike together. The pace had to be leisurely (remember Serge’s knees?), something with less of a climb but a marvelous scenery nonetheless. Our B&B host suggested us to walk to the Steall Waterfall nearby Fort William. That turned out to be the best suggestion one could get in our situation – highly recommended!

Warning at start Hike Steall Waterfall

Steall Waterfall














19th of june (Three peaks challenge)


phase 0 (wake up): We slept at the Youth Hostel in Fort William. Primary reason: it is located at the start of Ben Nevis. But after having been there my advice would be, don’t go there unless you don’t have any other option. It is noisy, warm, small, and not as cheap as it seems to be (e.g. you have to pay for WiFi). Both Serge and I had a very bad night before our start. An alarm to wake up was even not required, I was already awake to start. Finally after a shower, some breakfast and packaging at 4.45am Ben Nevis was attacked.

Front of Youth Hostel at feet of Ben Nevis (Bridge is starting point of the Three Peaks Challenge)

Strava statistics of Ben Nevis
phase 1 (Ben Nevis hiking): Adrenaline gets me going right away; in no-time I had a strong pace. I decided to keep that pace and see what would happen? I had much luck with the weather. The sky was bright, not too warm/cold, except the last 200 elevation meters near the top. When arriving in this zone, the wind picked up significantly and it started to get really cold (due to the height & chill factor). 
Strava Route and elevation profile of Ben Nevis
I promised Serge to text him from the top, so he would know when to expect me back. That was the hardest thing to do for me at Ben Nevis. It was so cold, my fingers were almost frozen. Texting is real punishment under those circumstances, but breaking my promise was really not desired as we had to stick to our plan (it took me 3 minutes to text only a few words). During the following descent, after 200 vertical meters, the temperature had greatly increased and my cold fingers disappeared within a few minutes. At the foot of the mountain Serge was waiting, ready to drive me to Scafell Pike. Result: I did Ben Nevis up & down in less than 3 hours!

phase 2 (driving to Scafell Pike): The drive to Scafell Pike went well, especially since we managed to avoid the road construction site at the A82 near Pulpit Rock. Instead, we took a detour along A85/A84 starting at Crianlarich. Even without road construction, this alternative route is much prefered since the wider roads are faster and easier to drive (in Google maps this route can be found by inserting the town of Cumbernauld as an extra waypoint between Ben Nevis and Scaffel Pike). Result: we driving from Ben Nevis to Scafell Pike in 5hours and 44minutes.




Mickledore passage at Scafell Pike
Strava statistics of Scafell Pike
Strava Route and elevation profile of Scafell Pike
phase 3 (Scafell Pike hiking): The Second mountain: Scafell Pike (England’s highest). With enough energy left, I started again at a fast pace to see what happened? It might be too warm for me by now. I drank a lot (almost 2 liters at the mountain). I chose to take the Mickledore passage during the ascent.  A little bit dangerous, but definitely the fastest route up. During the descent, I chose a less dangerous route called Ligmell Gill Crossing. Almost back, I made a navigation mistake. On my GPS, I had another, older track starting 1 km to the North of my planned route. I had forgotten that potentially confusing fact during the descent. Suddenly I discovered I was not on track with my GPS. Without thinking I went up again to get back on the track, only to find out it was the wrong track. Then I remembered the second-track-issue. Damn, I had to return to the route I had already traveled. On Strava, I learned I lost about 10 minutes of time here (detail of this issue also in the figure right with Strava data). Anyway, I was satisfied with the way I handled this mountain overall, but I was definitely more tired after this mountain than after Ben Nevis. Result: I did Scafell Pike up & down in about 2 hours and 15 minutes (including 10minutes of error)!


phase 4 (driving to Snowdon): The drive to Snowdon also went well. Important to mention is the fact that we did not hit any serious traffic even though we drove during evening rush hour. Result: we driving from Scafell Pike to Snowdon in 4hours and 14minutes.

Strava statistics of Snowdon

Strava Route and elevation profile of Snowdon
phase 5 (Snowdon hiking): At the foot of Snowdon, I had "suddenly" a dream to do the Three Peaks Challenge in less than 17hours. This meant I had 1h54minutes left to do Snowdon, up and down. This required me to run where possible. But after the first meters of running I immediately got a runner’s stitch (cramp) in my abdomen. Running was physically thus not possible. Anyway, I gave the best I had (left), but that was by far not enough to get below the 17hr target. Result: I did Snowdon up & down in about 2 hours 30minutes!


Resume


My final time of this Challenge was 17h37min. Snowdon was a real battle with myself. My body was empty in every sense. Nevertheless, I’m 100% satisfied with the overall result. I would have never dreamt of this time. Any finish below 24hrs was enough for me. Besides the result, the challenge and it's preparation was a fantastic experience. It was one big adventure. The landscape was so beautiful. Great Britain is more beautiful I ever expected before. The people we met were also very friendly (most recognizable in a good sense of humor, I like that). Hopefully we once return to Great Britain for any good reason!

Detailed timing table of the whole day of our national three peaks challenge
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External Links


URL description
URL
Facebook group Three Peaks Challenge https://www.facebook.com/groups/threepeakschallengeUK/
Our recorded time https://www.threepeakschallenge.net/43922/serge-wetzels-and-marc-breukers
Recent recorded times https://www.threepeakschallenge.net/recent
Records https://www.threepeakschallenge.net/three-peaks-challenge-records
Ben Nevis ascend, Strava Ranking  http://app.strava.com/segments/7336253?filter=overall
Scafell pike ascend, Strava Ranking  http://www.strava.com/segments/7484061?filter=overall
Snowdon ascend, Strava Ranking  http://www.strava.com/segments/1951099?filter=overall
Ben Nevis up & down, personal achievement http://www.strava.com/activities/156547625
Scafell Pike up & down, personal achievement http://www.strava.com/activities/156547614
Snowdon up & down, personal achievement http://www.strava.com/activities/156547620

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