3 very brave men decided to test the pace that is required to complete the 3 peaks challenge. Paul Tomlinson, Paul Thorpe and Adam Kirby set out at 5am on Saturday morning for North Wales.
They arrived at 9.30am at the foot of Snowdon ready to face the challenge ahead. The weather wasn’t great with high winds and rain but that didn’t stop the team heading up the Pig Track at a very fast pace. About an hour into the climb the team were feeling the burn as the steep incline and high steps really takes it tolls on your legs. However they powered on up the mountain through streams, slippery slate surfaces and eventually reaching snow.
At approximately 40 minutes from the summit, the team encountered thick, icy and extremely slippery snow. With many other climbers turning around and aborting their climbs, the Mirus team decided to carry on and reach the top. Conditions got much worse with visibility down to 20m and high winds trying to remove you from the mountainside, but the team kept on pushing.
Eventually they reached a marker near the rail track which meant they were only minutes from the top. Feeling very tired and drained, the team followed the line of the top of the mountain and headed towards the highest point. after 2 hours of climbing, the team had made it to the top. After taking some pictures and taking in the view, they began their descent back down the mountain.
In order for the team to check out the other track that can be chosen as a route, the guys headed back down the Miners Track. This is not as steep as the Pig Track but it’s longer and has more winding turns. The track follows the small lakes on the mountain side and twists and turns back down the mountain. To make sure the team made it back in the target time, they ran for most of the way down keeping up a good pace.
Finally the last corner was turned and they could see the final gate taking them back to the start point, they reached the end and the clock read 3.5 hours. To complete the 3 peaks challenge, the pace needs to be very fast and Snowden should be completed in 4 hours or less, so the team did extremely well to do it in 3.5 hours, taking on deep snow and gale force winds!
And one last plus point, Adam had a separate challenge to complete the climb in a £12.00 pair of climbing shoes, they said it couldn’t be done but Adam completed the task with no injuries or blisters but only some tired legs.
So a big well done to the guys and look forward to big day on May 15th 2010 when the entire team will be doing the very difficult 3 peaks challenge.
Dont forget, Mirus are doing the climb for charity (Willen Hospice) so please visit our site to donate: http://www.justgiving.com/mirus3peaks
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