Opus Three Peaks

So Cardiff’s efforts on the Three Peaks Challenge has been and gone and what a challenge it was. Leaving the office around 3:15pm on 6th September we travelled 500+ miles up to the Scottish Highlands, after sinking at least a bottle of gin each, some cans and several stops to relegate certain people (Shaine) to the back for distracting our driver. At 4am we finally made it to bunk up for the night in Fort William ready for a planned 8am start to climb Ben Nevis. After getting ready, a big breakfast to lighten up the hangover we began at 10:43am on the 7th September. Each mountain presented it’s own challenges and it was a huge effort from all. All but one completed the three mountains and we made a great total climbing time of 14 hours 1 minute and 36 seconds. We were slower on the driving in between than we needed to be to complete in the 24 hours however our driver was absolutely fantastic for agreeing to taxi us around and none of us would have wanted to push her any further than we did. Our official finishing time is… 28 hours 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Great effort by all on the climbing and fundraising which is currently at ￡878 on the page with more to come. We are keeping the page open for a little while yet so if you haven’t already please donate and share with your friends and family to help us smash our goal of ￡1000 to give to Latch which as we all know is a fantastic charity. You can find our page here: https://www.gofundme.com/opus-cardiff-three-peaks-2018

We ran a Guess the Finish time to raise some extra funds for latch. So far we raised a ￡90 pot with ￡45 going to the Winner Abdi with a guess just under 2mins away from our actual finish time and then ￡45 going onto the page. Any further donations or payments for the incentive will be paid onto the page.

Ben Nevis – 5:45:00

With a total distance of 9.5 miles and an elevation gain of 4406ft this was the highest and longest route and we decided to tackle it first with a hangover. Nothing like breaking a gin sweat and breathing in the fresh mountain air to get rid of a hangover and start what was arguable the hardest physical challenge that most of us have experienced, minus Shaine of course who does this sort of thing for fun!

The route up Ben Nevis was a seemingly never ending gradient with a different beautiful view at every turn, the weather was fine and clear at the lower parts of the mountain but soon enough we were ascending into the clouds. At 2 hours and 55 minutes we had all made it to the highest point in great Britain.

After some quick photos we were off on our way back down the mountain racing against time. Unfortunately James Messengers long standing knee injury came to haunt him on the descent, however he put in a valiant effort to get down the mountain and our ending time for Ben Nevis was around 5:45:00. After a quick break and a large meal we were back in the minibus racing down to Cumbria in the Lake District National Park.

Scafell Pike – 3:58:38

Arriving at Wasdale Head to start our second mountain just before midnight was a surreal experience. We had an ascent of 2989ft and a distance of 5.4 miles to walk in total darkness. The sleep deprivation had kicked in and the injuries and soreness was high. Unfortunately this was a mountain to much for James Messenger and he had to sit this one out. The rest of us got out gear and our head torches on and began our climb in darkness.

We set off with the intention of getting straight up, but around 2 minutes in Tom decided he needed to do a nature poo before we could continue and took a number 2 while staring a woolly cow right in the eyes. Scafell Pike is a very strange mountain, it is not as high as the others however the terrain is comparable to the moon and it is difficult enough to find the path climbing in full light, thanks to Owain temporarily guiding us and missing the crossing over the river to follow the path. We ended up scaling the side of the mountain taking the route 1 path straight up to the top where we managed to find the path again and some tired looking walkers on their way back down the mountain. At the top the darkness was joined by freezing temperatures and the mist had descended visibility was down to 0 and we were wandering in and out of the path luckily managing to follow the Cairns to the summit. Back down we managed to find and stick to the path with no issue (for the most part). We were suffering with some little niggles Jon J and Levi both struggling with their knees on the steep slope down. Scrambling down boulders amplified every pain and seemed never ending compared to the direct route we took to the top. When we finally made it back down it was still pitch black but we had made it in a rapid 3:58:38 seconds shaving an hour off the target time for this peak.

Next stop was Snowdonia to take on our final mountain, as we drove away through the winding B Roads of the Lake District we were held up by a badger casually walking down the road in front of our minibus.

Snowdon – 4:17:58

Our final mountain was met with a buzz of excitement and energy, from Lisa who was finally glad to get rid of us. We had 2995ft to climb up and down and our final 7.75 miles. Despite Josh trying to throw his toys out of the pram and stay in the van to sleep we convinced him to get his gear on and off we went up the Pyg Track to the summit of Snowdon.

You’ll have to ask Shaine why we took the Pyg Track as it is one of the most difficult routes and most of us were already completely exhausted from the previous 2 mountains. Nevertheless we trekked on through the torrential rain typical of our homeland (up to this point the weather had been fine on all the climbs). We scrambled up waterfalls climbed sheer rock faces and the weather was getting worse and worse to the point there was not a dry sock in our group. Again the scenery was stunning which just about kept the spark alive and we finally made it to the top for a welcome cider/coffee in the Café. Despite Jon J begging to get the train down we decided to get on our way to the finish line, neglecting to take a summit photo unfortunately as the weather was awful. Jon J and Josh ran off, Josh went a little faster which led to Jon J taking the Ranger Path rather than the Llanberis Path we were meant to be on for around a mile before realising his mistake and turning back after a few moments of panic that he would never find his way back and would have to live in a cave on Snowdon.

Luckily after racing down the right way he re-joined the group at the halfway house down the Llanberis Path, we were all off on our way the weather finally broke and we enjoyed a nice warm afternoon walking down to complete the final mountain in 4:17:58. At this point everyone one was ready for a tasty Indian and a few well deserved beers.