Okay I know this is an MTB forum and I may have a few berating me!!! But has anyone done the 3 peaks. … walking! Some friends are doing it on 13th June and I’ve been invited along. I quite fancy it although realistically how hard is it? I’ve done some reasonable amount of walking before, I can handle long days without sleep (working shifts as old bill that’s the norm). Someone suggested that you have to be “marathon” fitness, I’m not so sure though.

There are designated drivers arranged, and I presume some of the walking ends up being in teh dark so you need PEtzels or similar? What food do you eat in between?

any advice or experiences? Oh and I haven’t said yes or no yet .. what do you reckon!!??

Please read this and think about the bigger picture.

My mates done it twice, completed well under 24 hours – not to hard to someone of reasonable fitness, you can eat & sleep while being driven – he said the worst thing was smell in the vehicle between the peaks!
I’d rather do the 3 peaks in 3 days & enjoy the views in daylight.

Unless you’re fat and lazy, it’s primarily a driving challenge rather than a walking challenge.

It’s also a bit environmentally unfriendly both in terms of spending so long driving, plus also the routes most people take are a bit antisocial / environmentally damaging, as described by the link above.

Joe

I did the 3 peaks in June 2007 with a group from work, it’s a great challenge. I had done a fair bit of walking in the past and am quite fit but a number of my colleagues were not and managed it quite well. I could not believe hom many people were doing the challenge over the same weekend – there were hundreds.
You will definately need good torches. We climbed Sca Fell Pike in the dark but it was light by the time we were descending.
Our driver had warm food waiting for us at the bottom of each mountain and we ate snacks in our van.
go for it, it is a great challenge.
Good luck.

If I was going to drive all the way to Ben Nevis (or whichever is furthest from you) I’d want to make the most of the trip, and spend as much time there enjoying it as possible rather than tramping up and down as quickly as possible then sitting in a minibus for hours. Seems like it’s one of those things you do just to say you did it, rather than for enjoyment’s sake.

Read Stus link and please think twice about doing the challenge

Why don’t you do the yorkshire 3 peaks challenge instead (pen y gent/ whernside + ingleborough). Saves dodging tourists and driving stupid distances.
Still quite hard at just over 24.5 miles and the scenery is great up there.

If you’re desperate to do somethimng for charideeeee then just get your cheque book out, and don’t be so anti social as to do this poseurs plod.

I’ve heard various Mtn Rescue groups being less than polite about the people that do that challenge…
I thought, reading the thread title, that you meant the Three Peaks of Yorkshire (Ingleborough/Whernside/PyG), which is a worthwhile thing to do as you’re staying in one area and directly benefit the tourist trade there. Far less driving as well.

spacecadett – Member

I did the 3 peaks in June 2007 with a group from work, it’s a great challenge. I had done a fair bit of walking in the past and am quite fit but a number of my colleagues were not and managed it quite well. I could not believe how many people were doing the challenge over the same weekend – there were hundreds.

Says it all really…

Thanks to Stu for posting up that link (saved me looking for another informative one). I did this a few years ago and had I known about the effects upon the local community and trails, I would not have done so.

There were 4 of us, regular walkers and not doing it for charity. I was absolutely horrified at the sheer numbers on the trails, many of whom should not have been there in the first place due to lack of fitness, wrong clothing/equipment.

We stood at Glencoe and walkers looked like ants zigzaging upwards to Ben Nevis. This was our first mountain and say it looked busy was an understatement. I feel that the charities were too being irresponsible.

I must confess that standing on the top of Ben Nevis on a warm evening savouring the fantastic view is one of the defining moments of my life.

As suggested, the Yorkshire 3 Peaks is a great walk with less impact. A bonus is if you get to see the steam train at Ribbleshead Viaduct.

I know ppl in Mountain Rescue and its a massive drain on their resources, as well being a nightmare situation in Wasdale which really doesn’t have the facilities to handle it. Its also a rather contrived ‘challenge’ which seems designed to sound impressive to people who don’t really do much outdoors stuff.

Go do the Yorkshire 3 peaks instead.

OP must be a fireman (sorry fireperson) or a solicitor. There are hundreds of them doing it, and they all know that no-one can stop them. “Good larf this innit?”

I did it a couple of years in a row back in the late 90’s. I’d just developed Type 1 diabetes and I saw it as a more of a personal challenge to me and my fitness and health. I think that after I did it the last time I was able to reflect that it is purely a physical (and driving, as pointed out) challenge that has little respect for the mountains, the local communities in the Lake District (Scotland and Wales ends do well from the food and accomodation) and the environment as a whole.

Pretty much agree with the general opinion here.

Definitely suggest doing the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, although if you want more of a challange then how about the Lyke Wake walk? You need to do about 40 miles in less than 24 hours…

Will agree with the folks above and politely ask you not to do the other 3 peaks.

We stood at Glencoe and walkers looked like ants zigzaging upwards to Ben Nevis.

You claim to be a regular walker, yet you appear to have got horribly lost!

Don’t just not do the 3 Peaks yourself, encourage your friends not to either!

From what i’ve been told elsewhere, you can use an alloted driving time rather than what it actually takes to do the driving, so that it doesn’t matter what road & traffic conditions are like. Seemed more sensible to me.

I’ve declined to do it a couple of times, as others have said, i’d rather take my time to scope out the views, having gone to the trouble of getting there in the first place!

IMO, you shouldn’t denounce people for doing it, just the hoards that don’t take care of the environment they’re in & using…
There are more interesting challenges i could think of doing instead though…

I did it when I was 18. No training but was fit*. To be honest give your time and petrol money to something more worthwhile. It is not an enjoyable way to climb mountains as you are pressured by time and unable to stop to appreciate your surroundings.

I did do an overnight off road marathon the weekend before but that probably hindered more than anything.

aracer – silly me, sounds like one of my bike rides! Of course Glencoe is nowhere near Ben Nevis 😳

I can’t see the point of it myself the walking isn’t that difficult. Its more of drive IMO… and a dull one at that!

Why not just go up to Glen Nevis and walk up and down a few of the munroes. A few years back I did a walk with a group of friends, we did the summits of 5 munroes, which was a dam sight harder than the 3 peaks, much more enjoyable, and we didnt see any other people until we got to the summit of Ben Nevis and decended down the tourist path.

As to the environment bit, I don’t get peoples arguments really. Most people drive their cars for weekens away in Wales, Yorkshire, Scotland, whats the difference combining it in one???

As to the environment bit, I don’t get peoples arguments really. Most people drive their cars for weekens away in Wales, Yorkshire, Scotland, whats the difference combining it in one???

Hundreds of Transit and Sherpa vans thundering along narrow roads and through small villages in the Lake District late at night and early in the morning on their way to and from Wast Water?

In my opinion the yorkshire 3 peaks was far more of a challenge. I did the 4 peaks which involved the 3 peaks in England, Ireland and Wales plus one in Southern ireland. The toughest thing on that like everyone says was the driving especially getting down the southern ireland! I did the yorkshire 3 peaks in 2007 and found much more of a physical challenge and was really proud to complete it in just under 8 hours (easy fro some fell runners but no so easy for a 17 and a half stone rugby prop!) Fitness for the 3 or 4 peaks isnt so important as the walks are all relativley easy tourist routes. Thats my opinion anyway!

4 mates down our pub did it last year, talked of nothing else before and after, only one of them habitually rambles/walks whom I respect. One guy was a banker who failed to even get up Ben Nevis FFS. Anyone would think they had crossed Antartica from the way they talked…………………why dont they walk the 3 peaks of London “one canada square” in canary warf, centre point and the nat west tower……using the staircase.
These people only did the 3 peaks to say they did it not the good motivation to be “out there” for the love of the landscape …….yeah?

+1 to pretty much everyone else above- I’d politely decline and explain why.

I did it when I was 16ish, (1990) it was great throughly enjoyed it, didnt do as part of an organised event but did raise money for MacMillan following the death of my mates uncle. We were driven by my old man and another dad and did the walking on our own, we’d done trips to the 3 to practice them before hand too. It was quite a defining moment in our lives as it was the first experiences we’d had of making descisions in such places without adult back up. I can safely say we had Scafel to ourselves in the rain and coming down off snowdon as dawn was breaking was magical.

Wouldnt do it now though even if I could physically as I’m far too environmentally aware!!

anyway would love to stop and argue about how great it was but its beer o’clock!!

Mmmm interesting! not sure about the arguments for environment quite so much, how many of you have driven to a trail centre or caught a flight to Morzine!?

But I will certainly read the link posted above.

the walk is quite easy but you will be knackered by the end of the day.

im 13 and ive managed to do it so i guess that you should manage just fine

Munqe-chick – it was certainly an experience but some time later when I read a similar article, I felt uncomfortable and uneasy with myself.

Team work – is always an eye-opener but there was only 4 in each group (and only two groups). We had known each other for years from a running club.

The real test was after having completed the second mountain (Scafell), a certain girlie felt nauseous in the back of the car. She very quickly took the lid off the electric coolbox that had food supplies in, deposited her vomit and promptly put the lid back on 😳 😳 😳

MM guess I’ll have to think! I know people are saying it’s easy etc and normally I probably wouldn’t have bothered but a good friend of mine is doing it and everything is already planned it’s just a case of me saying “yah” or “nay”. I just want another challenge.

Through the winter we did 2 helly hansen adventure races (MTB, run, kayak) awesome fun. I fancied a triathlon but I haven’t been able to find one relatively locally that I can do in a pool (not confident to do open water swim and too cheap skate to want to buy a wet suit). Don’t fancy a marathon (too boring to train for). Oh done SiTS and others before. So 3 peaks sounded like fun .. unless someone can suggest something else to do!!????

Mmmm interesting! not sure about the arguments for environment quite so much, how many of you have driven to a trail centre or caught a flight to Morzine!?

Trail centres are generally in the middle of a forest and have a dedicated car park, toilets etc – Wasdale Head is a different matter!!! It’s a beautiful place and horrible to see it spoiled.

Disagree with your comment that a marathon is too boring to train for! You just need to make the training interesting with different sessions.

Yorkshire 3 Peaks is more of a physical challenge than the National 3 Peaks particularly if you aim for under 12 hours. You don’t need to be completely self-sufficient but I was really glad to get my rucksack and boots off at the end. However, the next day guess what we did? Went for a walk!!

Munge-chick… it’s not so much the environmental aspects with regards to driving, although they aren’t great considering the mileage that you’d be doing, but more the the damage to the paths, the disturbance in Wasdale and things like that. Overall, it’s not people going out to enjoy the outdoors…

Have a read here for a locals view on the subject.

As for other things to do… Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Lyke Wake, or if you really must do the 3 peaks, how about doing it by bike? Or for more of a challange, by kayak?

unless someone can suggest something else to do!!????

Rat Race, ACE 1 day, or some other sort of adventure race. Any of the adventure races I can think of are more fun and sociable than the 3 peaks challenge (some I’ve done were also rather more of a challenge if you want something difficult!)

Agreed, any of the Adventure Races (Open 5, Rat Race, there’s loads). Or how about something like the Fred Whitton Challenge Sportive (sold out for this year but can do it by yourself/with a team anytime). Any number of challenging Sportives out there and it’s something a bit different to MTBing. Have a look at http://www.cyclosport.org for more details and an event calendar.

Marathon? Triathlon? Or something self-organised, Lands End – John O’Groats or Coast to Coast or N->S through Wales (all of these have official on or off-road routes) or make up your own variation on a theme.

For a hard one, how about the Bob Graham round? 😀

If you want a real challenge..do the welsh fifteen peaks in under 24 hours. Doable if you are fit (we took 16) then you can gaze in awe at the record which is 4 hours something.

My wife has done it and said roughly the same things.
We organise 24hr adventure races here (i race semi-pro) and have started to do cloverleaf events so that there is no need for crew and/or driving. We also operate them on an expenses + donation format so if we have expenses to cover we recoup them and then if people want to donate we specify a charity and give them it. Its normally the local hospice as our mate Tom died in there age 33 from melanoma. Anyway, something like that will be more enjoyable or a Rat Race or an Ace Race or antying other than driving for hours to walk up a mountain.