The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge Saturday 18th July 2009

Introduction

The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge Walk from Horton in Ribblesdale comprising Pen-y-ghent 694m (2,277ft), Whernside 736m (2,415ft) and Ingleborough 723m (2,372ft) is one of the oldest established walks in the UK. These peaks form part of the Pennine range, and encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Despite its popularity however, The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge Walk remains 'unofficial'. It is not marked on Ordnance Survey maps for the area and it is not marked on the ground.
By tradition the grueling 37.5km (23.5 miles) must be completed within 12 hours though the actual time taken will vary depending on the stamina of the individual and the prevailing weather conditions.
The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge Walk is a rugged, high mountain walk over a variety of terrains and should not be underestimated. It also includes three big climbs totaling 1586m (5,202ft) of ascent with the last climb up onto Ingleborough - when the legs are tired, with perhaps a couple of hurting blisters and the spirit is weak - being particularly steep. As with all mountainous areas, the weather can change frequently and very quickly. Prior to our Group’s challenge on Saturday 18th July 2009 there was continuous heavy rain for the previous two days so we knew we were up against stamina sapping bogs and the difficulties of crossing perhaps a number of beck’s in full flood flow.

The Group

The Group and the event were skillfully organized by Anna Cross (from Edinburgh) and most members were raising monies for various charities. Gareth Williams, owner of Striding Ahead LLP., was the “Leader” for the day and here Anna did chosen wisely as Gareth knows the route “with his eyes closed” and if anyone was to get the Group round within the twelve hour window he would.
At 8.30am on a nice dry morning we set of from the bunkhouse at Horton in Ribblesdale (see Group photograph in slide show) for what we knew would be a hard walk due to under foot conditions and a number had never walked over twenty miles or attempted three mountains in pervious walking activities.
The Group got on well with lots of laughs along the way. Other groups were ahead of us and others behind, as this massive line of people made their way round this famous route. One poor man slipped on an under water boulder as he thought he had made it safely across a fast flowing and flooded stream. The only sympathy he gained from a crowd of onlookers was for all to burst out laughing and think to themselves - “I am only so glad it is not me having an early very cold bath”. Another two people were seen up to their waists in black peat bogs, being hauled out by walking friends.

The End Result

Our Group got round very much unscathed and with only seconds to go the last member crossed the line within the twelve hour dead line. Yes we had done it.
There was a pub by our finishing line and here we all celebrated a wonderful and special day. For me I completed my third challenge in eleven hours nineteen minutes and I had done this with a wonderful Group. Special thanks to Anna for coming up with the suggestion and for making all the arrangements and to Gareth for getting us all round in one piece and within the twelve hour window. Thank you also to all the great people who supported this charity raising event.
A small slide show of pictures taken along the way can be seen.
18-7-09

Remote Emergency Care Course June 2009

Everyone walking or trekking in remote areas should attend this excellent course - "Remote Emergency Care" - which I attended in Manchester over the weekend of 27th and 28th June 2009. The course was taken by Will Skaskiw who is an experienced trainer and all participants very much enjoyed the two days where we did carry out live drama situations as to every possible accident situation. Active participation and discussion is encouraged by Will and he has a wealth of knowledge which he readily imparts. I came away from the course feeling good as I now know a lot more about "First Aid" and how to tackle accidents, that we all know can occur at the most unexpected of times. My view is that we all have a "duty of care" to help people who are in distress and not walk away from the situation not wanting to get involved.

Will's next course is at Hebden Bridge on 8th and 9th August 2009 - see Notice of Course which is included in the slide show. A further course on 17th and 18th October, will be held at The Conference Centre, Chancellor’s Hotel, Manchester - Address: Chancellors Way, Moseley Road, Manchester, M14 6NN. Traing Expertise is the Training Provider, Remote Emergency Care the certification body and Will Skaskiw the trainer, working for Training Expertise.

Please make contact with me should you want further information. There is a small slide show on my blog on the course.

Best wishes, Fraser.
29th June 2009.

The ZUGSPITZ 2,964m

It is Tuesday 7th July 2009 and I am at the top of The Zugspitz at 2,964m the highest mountain in Germany!! It was an early breakfast and the top of the mountain is covered in cloud and there is some rain but not too cold. Alas so far no views but I need to imagine these!! I have visited the highest Beer Garden in Germany - "The Gipelalm"- "Prost" Herr Cunningham!! I have had a warm soup - Festtagssuppe, Maultaschen, GrieBkloBchen, MarkkloBchen- many apologies if I got the spelling wrong!!

This is the second challenge of my Charity Fund Raising activities complete and I want to thank all the people who have supported me and who have already paid over their money in cash, cheques, direct to the bank and over the internet through JustGiving. Just magic by all of you and thanks ever so much. Sheila, thanks for your message and donation. Did not get an opportunity to say thank you before I left 4 Germany but will send an e-mail when I get home.

The 3 Peaks Challenge now to complete with a Charity Raising Group from Edinburgh but Gareth the Leader of the Group says that I will do the walk within 12 hours!!

"Prost "to all, from Germany.

Update to The Parish Walk, Isle of Man

The Parish Walk, Isle of Man
85 miles in 24 hours 20th June 2009


Yes I did it. It was so hard and it took me 23.37.11 hours. 187 people finished the 85 mile race and I was joint 181 with Paul. Some 1,620 began the race at 8am on Saturday morning and it was excellent weather for the 24 hours. This is a big event on this lovely Island where the community is totally involved. I met so many nice people along the route all giving you moral support. At Bride I passed a house where the owners where handing out mugs of green pea soup, it was fantastic as it was a late hour at night. Along the way families were handing out all sorts of food and drinks which was greatly appreciated. The streach of the walk from Maughold to Lonan -11.5 miles - in the darkness was hard but at around 3.15am on a still morning the dawn began to appear and with it the Dawn Chorus, a perfect tonic for me to continue this hard race and to finish it within the 24 hour window. My plan worked and I achieved my goal. Thank you to the Ryder family, my back up team of Michelle and Gerry whose support from Peel was sheer magic.

Thanks also to the organisors of this great walk.

I will be back next year!

My Next 3 Treks

The Parish Walk, Isle of Man
85 miles in 24 hours 20th June 2009
The Zugspitze, Germany
4th July 2009
Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge
18th July 2009


The current economic conditions make it very difficult for charities to raise monies for all the good work they do and I greatly appreciate all the generous support I have received from backers for good causes over the years. 2009 is a special year for me and once again I would like to back a worthy charity in the form of The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust. Here all the money I raise will go to kids and young people who do need help in life.



Can I walk 85 miles in 24 hours? This I do not know but I have done two 40 mile walks and I have trained hard. There are some 1,600 entrants for this walk round the coast of Isle on Man so I will have plenty of company as I try my very best to get round. In July I am endeavouring to get to the top of The Zugspitze with its towering summit at 2,916m (9,720ft) on the frontier between Austria and Germany . It is Germany ’s highest mountain. Later in July I am going to attempt the Yorkshire three Peaks Challenge, walking to the tops of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-Y-Ghent in twelve hours.



The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust is an amazing charity based in Cheshire . They provide holidays and day trips to approximately 3,000 terminally ill, disabled and disadvantaged children each year. The children visiting The Adventure Farm have such difficult lives, facing challenges on a daily basis that most of us couldn’t imagine. The Adventure Farm gives these children the opportunity to be children – to laugh, to play and to have fun. Their aim is to give these children memories of childhood which they can treasure in their darkest times, but they can only do this with our help. The charity must raise £750,000 in 2009 in order to provide these life-changing opportunities to children in desperate need. They receive no government funding and rely entirely on donations from the public. I feel honoured to be working with this wonderful charity, and I hope you can help me to raise vital funds which will change the lives of these children who deserve the very best.

Donations can be made by clicking here


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Welcome to The World of GT!

Buttermere Trip - 14-15th May 2009

I am privileged to be invited to the Grant Thornton (“GT”) activity trip to Buttermere in the Lake District over the two days – 14th and 15th May 2009. Our hosts are entertaining clients in the Bridge Hotel and Sir Chris Bonington, CBE is to address the audience on his climbing experiences before dinner on Thursday 14th and then is to join us on the Via Ferrata up to the top of Honister Crag (2,126ft) on Friday morning.

We have three great guides in Paul, Adam and Chris who will accompany participants on the various hard/easy optional walks on Thursday and Friday. The hard walk on Thursday left the hotel at 10am on a dry but windy morning and we were all immediately into a steep climb up to High Snockrigg (526m) and then on to Robinson (737m). In the col at Littledale Edge (in a sheltered hollow) we enjoyed a brief lunch stop and then it was up to Hindscarth (727m). We traversed along the ridge to Dale Head (753m) and enjoyed the great views all around. It was then down to Honister Slate Mine where Rob kindly arranged teas at the cafe. Here there were options for all, get the bus back, do a lower walk by Warnscale Bottom and Buttermere Lake or ascend Hay Stacks (597m) on the way back to the hotel. This later route was a total of 20kms. All had to be back for 6pm at the latest and this was achieved as the presentation by Sir Chris Bonington CBE was to commence at 6.30pm. This was a wonderful occasion to have such an icon of world mountaineering and expeditions in our midst and sharing with us his experiences on Mt Everest and many of the other great climbs and expeditions he lead. Conversation flowed over a magic dinner and afterwards in the lounge where all continued to enjoy themselves and reminisce on a wonderful day.

Friday was the Via Ferrata, up the precipitous face of Honister Crag (facing north) to its summit at 2,126 feet at Honister Slate Mine, Borrowdale. Breakfast was at 8am and it was a start at the back of 9am after harnessing up, sling over shoulder for the ZIP WIRE and helmet for the great “unknown” that lay ahead! The party was expertly briefed on safety and procedures as how to clip on/clip of the cable that follows the routes to the top.

There is the option of two routes and there are escape routes should you wish to opt out. The time duration to get from the bottom to the top is around three hours.

This is a working slate mine and although frightening to look down the location is very special and is the only such Via Ferrata facility in the UK. It is a very popular venue and another three parties were to use the facilities today in addition to ourselves. The face of Honister Crag was conquered by Sir Chris Bonington CBE (his first visit here and he loved it) and the GT party and we were at the top at around 12 noon. Views from the top are awesome to say the least!

After refreshments at the café guests said their goodbyes and expressed their thanks to our marvelous hosts. The two days were organized by Caryll Rowland and all arrangements were spot on. What a wonderful way to spend two days. Thank you GT ever so much.

The slide show is photographs taken by Adam, Michael and Fraser. On the zip wire it is a blur due to the speed of individuals as they made their decent!

Fraser Mackay
18-5-09

Walk - 9th May 2009

Lancaster to Waterfoot
41 miles in 11.32 hours

With my entry now one of 1,620 entries taking part in this year’s Isle of Man Parish Walk on 20th June 2009 (85 miles in 24 hours) I thought I would get a further practice walk in and with my friend Heather Birch suggesting this “easy” route I leave the famous City of Lancaster at 9.15am on Saturday and walk through the Trough of Bowland, Clitheroe, Accrington with the final destination being Waterfoot.

On leaving Lancaster I see this massive hill looming in the distance, yes you are right we did go over it, and many more followed. There was a slight breeze but it was dry and sunny and the noises from birds and animals were wonderful as you made your way through this stunning scenary.

We had one short coffee break and another short lunch break lasting in total some 28 minutes and all other intake was on the hoof. The weather forecast did state that rain would arrive in the afternoon and at around 2pm the heavens opened and to make matters worse there was a driving wind as we were making the ascent of yet another hill with no shelter what so ever. However at around 4pm it all suddenly stopped with sunshine appearing as we passed through Waddington; what a lovely village.

Light was fading and at 9.15pm we finished in good shape with no pains and no blisters. If this was on the Isle of Man we would now be looking forward to doing a further 44 miles!!

Key Statistics
Walking for 11.32 hours
28 minutes stopping time
41 miles total distance
The ascent was a staggering 6,938 feet and a decent of 6,400ft
Calories lost 3,307
Average speed 3.5mph Max speed 6.1mph (On this performance we would be 28minutes outside the finishing time for The Parish Walk).

Fraser Mackay
12-5-09