National Three Peaks Challenge (Gone Wrong) Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon
Have you ever heard of a challenge so extreme that it made you wonder what it would be like to give it a go? For me, one of these challenges is the National Three Peaks Challenge.
This is a British hiking challenge which requires participants to hike the three tallest mountains in all three British countries in under 24 hours. The mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England, and Mount Snowdon in Wales.
With over 23 miles to walk, over 3,064 metres of elevation to climb, and over 462 miles to drive in under 24 hours, could it be done? I decided to find out.
One August morning, we bundled into my brother’s Vauxhall Corsa and headed up to Scotland to get started.
Joining me, my brother Jack who was also taking on the challenge, and my Dad who kindly volunteered to be the designated driver.
Equipment I should have had with me during the National Three Peaks Challenge
As you’ve seen from the title of this blog post, things didn’t go 100% to plan. I found myself in a hairy situation during one of the mountains on the summit. Looking back, this dangerous situation could easily have been prevented by having had the right equipment and a bit more basic knowledge in navigation.
Here's a full list of equipment I would take with me, if I were to take the challenge on again. Just to note, I did have some of these items on me but not all of them.
GPS Sports watch with a GPS navigational feature. For recording my location, navigation, and easy backtracking. I use the Garmin Forerunner 945.
Powerful headtorch with at least one spare battery or back up head torch. If you are taking on this challenge, it’s not worth saving a little bit of cash by getting a cheap low quality headtorch. It really is worth investing in a quality, powerful headtorch. If you get into a hairy situation, like I did, you won’t regret it. I use the Fenix HM65R-T.
Fully charged mobile phone with the routes loaded into it. This is to be used in case of emergencies (assuming you can get signal), and also as a means of navigation should you get lost. If you can get signal, I’d highly recommend downloading and using the OS maps application.
Physical maps of all three mountains including Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon. Having a baseline of map reading knowledge and experience is also highly recommended.
A compass. To be used in tandem with your physical maps of the mountains (if required) and with the basic knowledge of map reading.
Emergency locator beacon. To be used in an absolute emergency. These can accurately track your location, even in rural areas with low mobile phone connectivity, and send a distress signal for help to rescue services.
Backpack with hydration flasks and enough room to store gear, nutrition, and spare clothes.
Waterproof jacket with a minimum of 10,000mm hydrostatic head. Absolutely essential on mountain hikes, whatever the weather. Things can change at a moments notice, and it’s better to be prepared. I use the OMM Halo.
Spare clothes. For changing in between mountains. Very useful, especially if it has been raining.
A pair of decent hiking boots or trail shoes. Must have good grip in the form of lugs and tread, and be stable to withstand the rocky trails of the mountain paths.
Don’t try this at home (without proper planning and preparation)
Before I kick off, I want to state that you will find a few mistakes in how I handled the National Three Peaks Challenge. I am not a professional mountain guide, athlete, or navigator. I’m just an ordinary guy with a passion for adventure, discovery, and challenge.
I made some mistakes, and I’d encourage you to please learn from them and don’t repeat them. Taking on the National Three Peaks challenge is a massive undertaking. Physically and mentally. Being equipped, prepared and planning properly are essentials. I’ll share my knowledge, experience, and lessons, but please do your own research and planning before trying it.
With that out of the way, let’s kick off!
The logistics of the National Three Peaks Challenge
The three mountains can be completed in any order. The most popular route I saw in my research was starting at Ben Nevis, at Fort William, Scotland, and ending at Snowdon in Snowdonia National Park, Wales. This means you start at the top of Britain, and gradually work your way down and across to the midwest. You can start at Snowdon, if you like, but I opted to start at Ben Nevis.
Being based in Maidstone, Kent, Southeast England, I had a monumental drive up to Fort William in Scotland. I woke up early one Saturday morning, at 2am, and we set off. It took 10 hours of solid driving, kindly done by my dad, with several stops along the way at service stations. 550 miles later, we rolled into the Ben Nevis carpark at approximately 1.45pm, ready to start.
Here's a summary of the three peaks challenge, as I took it on.
Mountain | Route | Distance (up and down) | Elevation gain | Distance to drive from last location | Parking location |
Ben Nevis | Glen Nevis, starting from the visitor centre | 8 miles | 1,300m or 4,275ft | 552 miles from Maidstone, Kent | Visitor Centre, Glen Nevis, Fort William PH33 6ST |
Scafell Pike | Wasdale Head | 6 miles | 900m or 2,953ft | 260 miles from Ben Nevis | Wasdale Head Car park, Seascale CA20 1EX |
Snowdon | Llanberis Path
| 9 | 975m or 3,199 ft | 204 miles from Scafell Pike | Parking For Snowdon, Llanberis, Caernarfon LL55 4TY |
Climbing and descending Ben Nevis
I headed off for Ben Nevis at 2.30pm, with my brother Jack. Already, starting the challenge at 2.30pm was not a good thing. We should have started later at 6pm, to make sure that we’d be descending Ben Nevis in fading light and climbing Scafell Pike as it started to get light. This would later prove to be one of our big errors. A great way to kick the challenge off.
I made my way up the main hiking trail, over a big stye, and onto the mountain path. Green vegetation lined the sides of the beautifully maintained stone path, and we climbed higher and higher.
Before I knew it, we were on the side of the mountain with views of the below campsites and villages in view. It was stunning. The path is very well looked after, with a medium sized footbridge connecting a gap in the mountain path.
As we made our way up a big ascent, carved into the side of the slope, the rain started hammering us. Hard. I put my hood up and marched on through the Scottish highlands weather.
Suddenly, a swarm of gnat bugs started to engulf us and I had to close my mouth to stop me from accidentally swallowing some. Many tourists were ascending and descending too, and there was a sense of accomplishment and adventure in the air.
I sipped from my bottles, held by my Salomon running pack, on the way up to stay hydrated. About half way up, the path became less sturdy and huge rocks the size of fists lined the path. Without concentration, it’d have been easy to twist an ankle or slip so I was mentally focused on each step. I didn’t want to forfeit just after setting off from the starting gate due to rolling an ankle.
A stream is situated on this section, at a turn in the path, which is a great opportunity to take your hat off and soak it for some cool relief. My brother couldn’t resist, and plunged his hat into the icy water before chucking it back on to cool off. It was certainly needed. It was so hot during the ascent, being the middle of August in the UK. That being said, it was forecast to rain the entire weekend on every mountain. And rain it did.
We passed two lads on the way up who were descending with bathtubs strapped to their backs. Presumably for charity. I remember thinking it was pretty tough going to be climbing Ben Nevis, but when I saw them effortlessly pass us it was a reality check.
We eventually came to more steps and were treated to glorious views of the lakes and barren Scottish landscapes below.
Suddenly, you arrive at what I like to call the ‘zig zag’ section. The path is etched into the side of the mountain, and continually goes left to right like you're a pinball on the ascent. It seems to last forever, and you need to constantly pay attention to where each foot lands.
Eventually, I made my way onto a misty rocky plain and I couldn’t see 100 metres in front of me clearly. It looked desolate and like there was nothing for miles in all directions, like being on the lunar surface of the moon. I knew, however, that concealed in those mists were massive drops. So, I stuck to the trail as best I could.
We made it to the summit, and after a quick humorous stop in a shelter based at the top of the mountain we touched the top. The first mountain summitted.
After a quick pitstop at the summit for some sandwiches and drink, we headed back down the mountain. Both being trail runners, we decided to run a few sections of the descent to make good time.
The rocks on the way down felt particularly tricky to navigate, and I paid special attention to where my feet were going.
Past a load of hikers, mountain sheep, and with another light splash of rain, we made it back down.
Link to the Strava activity is here: https://www.strava.com/activities/5749434886
Climbing and descending, and almost dying, on Scafell Pike
This is where the adventure got really scary. As I mentioned at the start of this post, the dire situation we found ourselves in on the top of Scafell Pike could have easily been prevented had we been properly prepared.
I cringe writing this article, at how underprepared I was. But as Oscar Wilde once said, ‘experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson afterward.’
We arrived at the Wasdale car park at 1am, and we started the ascent 10 minutes later. After finding the sign to mark the start of the trail, we headed off on our way.
Being equipped with terrible, cheap and low quality headtorches (another error), I couldn’t see very well. It was literally my brother and I, stumbling our way up England’s tallest mountain in the pitch black darkness. A recipe for disaster.
I was surprised at how we made our way up Scafell Pike pretty smoothly. Despite a light rain blanketing us, and the stones below being wet and slippery, we progressed along the path nicely. Across a field, up a few slopes, and onto a tight narrow trail. We passed a few others, who were presumably doing the three peaks challenge two, and wished each other good luck.
We passed a heavily flowing stream of water, which engulfed the path in an icy liquid. There were a few stepping stones, but it was necessary to take the plunge (literally) and submerge my boots into the cold depths to get across.
Ascending the mountain was pretty tricky with the poor headtorches, as the path isn’t too clearly cut into the mountain. At least not at night. Whilst we felt like we were guessing at times, we knew we were on the right track as the section near the top is fairly wide and laden with big stone cairns on either side.
Eventually, we made our way to a wide rocky plain with large rocks underfoot. In the distance, there was a raised rocky mound and we’d made it. The summit of Scafell Pike. Mountain number two summited.
What happened next was probably one of the most scariest experiences of my life.
Due to sleep deprivation, fog, most, pitch black darkness, wind and the rain, we were already pretty disoriented. As soon as we arrived at the peak, the wind and the rain picked up massively and we found ourselves in terrible weather.
We were standing at the top of England’s tallest mountain, in the middle of the night, in the eye of the storm. What a situation to be in.
During this time, the storm gradually increased in intensity and we were being battered by the wind and rain on top of the summit. You can see this at 11 minutes in my YouTube video (at the start of this blog post), and I remarked that it was one of the most ridiculous things we’d done in our entire lives. I wasn’t wrong.
With these treacherous conditions, and our lack of mountain climbing experience, we soon realised we were in trouble. We turned back to head the way we thought we’d came, but to our dismal surprise we ran into a dead end. We tried retracing our steps as the storm raged on, battering and soaking us from all angles. But, due to the complete darkness, rain, and mist, we kept circling around the summit unable to find the exit.
At this point, our clothes were already wet and soaked through to the skin. We were absolutely exhausted, and panic started to settle in. We spent the next two hours scrambling around the summit, desperate to find our way off the mountain.
Suddenly, by a stroke of luck, I spotted a trio of climbers who were also lost. Unlike us, they’d spotted the exit and were disappearing off into the mist. Not wanting to spend another second in that predicament, we bolted our way after them to secure our exit off of the mountain.
I headed down the path, with my brother, as daylight broke out. We took a gentle stroll down, feeling pretty shaken up and lucky to have made it out in one piece.
I trundled back down the path, and (although a thick mist was in the air), for the first time I could see the terrain and views in full detail. There were large drops to the side of the path, and many thick large rocks which could have each been an ankle breaker. With our cheap value headtorches, we were lucky enough to have gotten to the summit in one piece. Now, I have a quality headtorch and I love it.
Eventually, we made our way back to the Wasdale Head car park and got back into the car. We had made it, back to a dry and warm space. Safe and alive. Challenge aside, that was the most important thing.
Link to the Strava activity is here.
Climbing and descending Snowdon
On the way to Snowdon, we were really deliberating whether we wanted to continue. We had just had a run in with potentially perishing on top of England’s tallest mountain. Our clothes were soaked through to the skin, we weren’t in the best spirits, and we were physically exhausted.
But some encouragement from our Dad to carry on convinced us that we might as well climb Snowdon. With the time consuming ascent, summit blitz, and descent of Scafell Pike, the odds of us completing the challenge were next to zero. But, we wanted to see it through and get the final mountain done.
We parked up to the visitor carpark in the Welsh village of Llanberis, and made our way up to the start of the Llanberis trail.
I made my way up the paved and maintained path, with the summit of Mount Snowdon just over the hills on the horizon. Views of the Welsh country stretched for miles to my right, and I could see grassy plains with sheep dotted all about.
The first half of the journey to the summit via the Llanberis Path is fairly steady and doesn’t feature much climbing. It’s also nice underfoot, and its easy to get a strong grip. Suddenly, the path changes its tone and opens up to jagged rocks which need to be navigated with car.
I made my way up a steep set of stone steps, under a bridge, and I made my way along the ridge line towards the summit. A thick mist engulfed us, and I couldn’t see 50 metres in front of me. No exceptional views from the summit of Snowdon today.
We carried on up the path, along the train track, and we found a group of hikers standing in line for the summit. At 2.30pm, exactly 24 hours after set off from Ben Nevis, we had made it to the top of Snowdon. The challenge states that you need to descend the final mountain for the time to stop, so we had officially failed. But we weren’t bothered. We’d made it to the top of Snowdon and headed back down the way we’d come. In one piece. That was all that mattered.
On the way down from Snowdon, we broke out into a gentle jog and the rain came down again. Pummelling us with another soaking for good measure.
We made it back to the car park, got into the car, and started the journey home for Maidstone.
We hadn’t completed the National Three Peaks challenge, but we were grateful to have experienced it.
Link to the Strava activity is here.
Final thoughts and lessons
The National Three Peaks challenge is a massive undertaking and adventure. It was a crash course in British mountain hiking, and I learnt a lot from it.
Despite the scary and dangerous situation I found myself in on the summit of Scafell Pike, I genuinely really enjoyed it. Having a goal to strive for, being in nature, meeting other hikers out on the trail. It was all excellent and I loved it.
The lessons I’ve taken from attempting the challenge are as follows. I’d be looking to apply these when I inevitably take it on again one day.
Research all 3 mountains thoroughly.
Try and do the challenge on a weekend with good weather (seriously)
Equip yourself with all the correct mountain climbing gear and equipment including waterproofs, dry clothes, an emergency blanket, 2 light sources, a map, compass and changes of dry clothes for each stage.
Be sure to get a full night’s sleep ahead of the first mountain. I drove up from Maidstone in Kent (550 miles) and started the challenge without any sleep. Big mistake.
Secure a designated driver or drivers. Don’t try to climb and drive yourself.
Try and sleep between climbs (if possible)
If climbing in the dark, have a quality headtorch and a spare battery or back up headtorch.
Thanks very much for reading. I wish you the best of luck in your future adventures.
Craig Running Cafe
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