Scafell Pike - 2nd peak of the 365challenge: done!

The actual 3 Peaks challenge phase of the 365challenge - as opposed to the virtual version, which I completed on the first day of my 365challenge year - was an add-on element, because I felt that I really needed to do even more to earn my sponsors support. I figured I'd do a peak a month from May to July, in the hope that by timing my climbs to occur at this time of year, conditions would be relatively good and my rusty navigation skills wouldn't need to be tested too far.

If you've read my Snowdon report, then you'll know that things didn't quite go that way for the first climb, with dreadful conditions throughout the day.

So, in the weeks running up to the Scafell Pike climb, with temperatures hitting records for the year, it's fair to say that I was hoping for a better day, one where we - myself and my 365er colleagues and other supporters - might actually enjoy the views from the top of one of the most spectacular mountains in the UK. How could we not?

Well it seems that it was not to be ... and given that Ben Nevis has only 1 day in 10 clear, it's not looking good for the final leg either!

Seriously though, the rest of the group may never trust me again to arrange a hike because yesterday (June 6th) the conditions on Scafell Pike were truly awful: sleet and horizontal rain on top, with snow on the ground. What's going on?

We gathered at Seathwaite at around 9.00 am, with drizzle. Liz came along with her daughter Esme and her friend Cara, but sadly, they found the going quite hard and we agreed after 1 Km of climbing that they would take a shorter route while the other eight of us - Al, Karen, Dave, Lesley, Oli, Fred, Pete and myself - moved on. A

s it turned out, however, Liz proved to have wonderful leadership and motivation skills and she's just emailed me to tell me that all three of them completed the FULL WALK, making it to the top of Scafell Pike, singing songs and counting steps to keep going ... though, as the conditions worsened towards the top, I think Liz did wonder what on earth she had gotten in to!

But hats off to you Liz, Esme and Cara, for completing a really tough walk in truly horrible conditions. I really hope we can walk a mountain together another time.

Our route headed up the Corridor Route from Styhead Tarn. The path is well-marked so even as the weather turned, my map-reading wasn't tested too heavily, but I was really pleased to have Al along too when I learned that he examines mountain leadership candidates. We stopped for lunch on the col below Scafell Pike, all climbing into Al's survival tent, which for some proved almost too comfortable, as the climb immediately afterwards up onto the summit of Scafell Pike felt a little tougher.

The top was, in a word, miserable. Horizontal rain and sleet, with snow on the ground in places, and as for the view ... well, there was a brief moment when the cloud cleared enough to allow us to see down to Wast Water, which was spectacular. But it wasn't a place to loiter, so off we headed down to the col below Broad Crag. The plan had been to head over that, but as conditions were poor, and Fred was suffering with hip pain, I decided to cut down to the Corridor Route again. The inital descent here was a little steep, but we managed it quite well, and from there really the rest of the walk was fairly straightforward ... long and cold and wet, but just a case of putting one foot in front of another until we finally came through the welcoming gates at Seathwaite Farm.

It's always good to get down from a mountain after you've been wet, cold and tired, but the sense of achievement on this walk was great for everyone, as we'd all had to cope with tough conditions. We all faced a long drive home, but we headed off, knowing that whatever Ben Nevis chooses to throw at us on July 4th, we're up for it and will conquer our third and highest of the British 3 peaks on the day. And of course, despite its reputation, there is always an outside chance that we could get some nice weather for a change - surely we deserve it by now!

See more photos of the walk by clicking on the photo, below, of me holding my 365challenge t-shirt up to the elements at the summit:

Scafell Pike

Thanks everyone who's been along for this 365challenge with me, it's been great so far, and I'm looking forward to the next one ... see you in Fort William.

Lands End to John O'Groats ... DONE!

Hooray!! This morning, a beautiful, sunny, UK Bank Holiday morning, after taking Susie, our Golden Labrador, out for her early morning walk, I decided that it was time to wrap up another part of my 365challenge for Cancer research UK ... the Lands End to John O'Groats bit ... a distance of 1600 Km that I have been steadily chipping away over the past months.

So, rather than go to the gym and rattle away on one of the stationary bikes in there, I climbed on my mountain bike and took to the cycleways and backroads around Chester. It was a really great ride: warm sunshine, even at that early hour of the morning, and lovely countryside, friendly greetings from fellow cyclists and dog walkers, and overall, a sense that all is good with the world. And with judicious management of my route, taking my lead from my on-board tracker/computer-thingy, I comfortably completed the final 25 Km required to be able to tick off the LEJOG part of my 365challenge with still 3 months and 1 week to go of my 365challenge year! What a great feeling as I came along the final kilometre, knowing that I'd achieved another of my 365challenge goals.

What's left to do?

Oh yeah, 150 Km Thames rowing still to go and 2 of the 3 Peaks (one each in June and July), but you know what, I think I may still have to add a further element to my 365challenge as, at this rate, I'll have this wrapped up well ahead of my target closing date of August 31st 2009 ... or will I? The rowing is going to be hard because of my arm, so maybe that'll mean I take it down to the wire, but I guess that's what keeps this interesting for me - setting and hitting goals as I go along. Let's see how things pan out over the next month or so - that'll give me a clear idea of just what is achieveable ... watch this space!

75 Km to go to complete my LEJOG

I had intended posting after my last visit to the gym, cos that's when I got to the 100 Km left on the cycling leg of my 365challenge - when I'd covered 1500 Km of the 1600 km that makes up the Lands End to John O'Groats route - but I forgot!

So ... only 75 Km left after todays effort! And I think, after all this time, I can claim that I'm getting fitter! I felt really good on the bike in the gym today, so "went for it", and managed to complete the 25 Km (that's my visit tartget each time) in a personal best time of 41 minutes 56 seconds! Now I know it's on a bike in a gym and I'd never achieve that kind of speed on a road bike, but hey, I reckon that was pretty good. I think I knocked about three minutes off my usual average time. Got my heart rate up to 175, so I promise you, I was pedalling hard!

Now three more visits to the gym should mean that I've completed another part of my challenge, leaving "just" 150 Km on the rowing machine and the two mountains - Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis - to be climbed, and still 3 months of my 365challenge year to go.

What do you reckon, should I stick a marathon on at the end, just to make sure I have something to do?!!!

No honestly, this is the top of Snowdon ...

After 8 months of gym-based endeavours with my 365challenge, I decided it was time to take the show on the road, and tackle a couple of challenges in the flesh, so to speak. I've already "climbed" the height of the 3 peaks on the Stairmaster in the gym, but that felt like a bit of a cheat, so I decided to climb the 3 peaks for real, one a month, starting yesterday, with Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, at 1085m/3560 ft.

Once I announced that, several people got in touch, saying they'd like to climb some hills too, so the plan started coming together, and yesterday, there were 8 of us, including 3 other 365ers - Fred, Peter and Karen, along with Dave, Lesley, Lewis, Oliver, and of course, ME!

I know Snowdon quite well, so I knew that the car park at Pen-y-Pass, where we were starting from, got full very early, so I made myself extremely popular by telling everyone they had to be there for 7.30 am - as several of us had a 1.45 hour drive to the start, that went down well ... but seeing as we got a couple of the last parking places there, I think I was vindicated! Anyway, the forecast for better(!) weather in the morning, and it's always good to get an early start on the hills.

We headed up the Pyg Track and made really good time as we climbed above Lyn Llydaw, making sure not to turn up onto the Crib Goch - a challenging route at the best of times, but in yesterday's low cloud and high winds, it would have been suicidal (though some folk were heading up that way!). The rain was intermittent, but okay, but as we climbed higher, the wind got a lot stronger and the going got a little toughter! We climbed into cloud as we got to the junction of the Pyg and Miner's tracks, and then the real climbing started as we hit the Zig Zags that lead up to the ridge that takes you to the summit.

The group worked well together, supporting each other over the harder parts and spirits were good as we crested the final ridge, where we got hit by really powerful gusts of wind that left some of us reeling! The rain was still on and off, but it seemed to be horizontal in that wind, as we were hit by sharp pinpoints of rain that meant much of the walking was done with heads down, watching feet and leaning into the wind just so we could stay on our feet. Not that there was much of a view up there ... visibility was around 20 - 30 metres at times.

Once we made it to the top and touched that marker that proved we'd made it, it was down to the relative shelter of the station wall for some provisions. But people were getting cold, so we didn't really hang around too long, and soon we were heading back down ... and it as a relief to head back down the Zig Zags out of the worst of the wind ... though it was still heavy going, and we frequently had to brace ourselves against the rocks to let the gust die away.

We headed down the Miner's Track (after a brief diversion down a stream!), and left the cloud behind as we got down to Glaslyn. From there it's a long, relatively easy, trail back to the car park, which we reached after about 5 hours walking in total, a pretty good time for that route in those terrible conditions, I reckon!

There was a steady stream of people on the mountain despite the conditions, but I have to say, some people do not dress for the conditions. We saw some people in trainers and jeans, and even, as we got back to the car park we met two girls who asked us to point them towards the Pyg Track ... one was dressed in tracksuit bottoms and light trainers, while the other, though she had boots on, was in jeans ... and full make-up! Now, there's nothing wrong with wearing makeup on the hills, but jeans and trainers in those conditions is asking for trouble: once you're wet, you stay wet, and cold, and miserable! I hope they got sense and made their way home to try another day!

As for us ... well, you can't climb Snowdon without winding down at Pete's Eats cafe in Llanberis, over a pint of tea and a humongous plate of chips ... and so that's what we did too ... a great way to finish off what had been a challenging day on the mountain. You can see more photos of the trip by clicking through on the photo link here:

Snowdon

Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a great day. It's Scafell Pike next - on June 6th - and we're looking forward to that, but let's hope for slightly better conditions next time!

How did it get to the end of Month 8?

April 30th 2009 ... today marks the last day of Month 8 of my 365challenge year ... hasn't that flown by?

I've been plugging away, knocking off the miles quietly and continuing to promote the 365challenge where I can, whilst also planning my mountaineering adventures ... oh, and fitting in a day job that's been getting busier of late ... damn it, don't they realise I've got a 365challenge to be getting on with!

Fund-raising has slowed down admittedly, but hey, I can't complain too much, as I'm just £131.50 short of achieving £7300, which would mark twice my original target! Not too shabby, eh? Though I guess I'd have to admit that I'm secretly harbouring a hope that I might get close to the £10000 mark by the end of my personal 365challenge year ... oops, I've gone and let the cat out of the bag on that one ... keep it to yourselves, okay, but ... feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might be interested in sponsoring me a bit!! They can go to my Justgiving Page to add their support.

And speaking of Justgiving, they have been part of my promotional efforts this past month and I'm really pleased to announce that they have taken up the 365challenge cause. They've just featured me on their very own blog, which you can read here: 365challenge on Justgiving - it's a really good piece and hopefully will help draw in some more people who might like to take on the 365challenge for themselves.

As for where I'm up to with my 365challenge ... I've got just 250 Km left on the bike and 150 Km left on the rowing machine, so it is all very doable now. My plan is to finish the cycling by the end of May, and then concentrate on clearing the rowing in the final 3 months. And of course, we hit the mountains soon ... Snowdon on May 9th, if anyone would like to join us ... email me on colin@365challenge.co.uk if you fancy it.

365 x 365ers ... have you got what it takes?

Hi Everyone
I've been wondering ... are there some of my readers out there thinking about taking on the 365challenge for yourselves, but maybe haven't felt that you wanted to commit to it just yet? If so, that's fine, but I wonder if maybe you could just give me a heads up as to what you might be planning or what obstacles you feel you're facing, so that together we might be able to move it on for you - if that's what you want!

I'm asking because I really feel that I need to develop the 365challenge more than I have already, because this cause is just too important not to. I've mentioned this goal previously, but now want to work more focused with it - I now want to help 365 people develop their very own 365challenge to raise money for Cancer Research UK - or if you're based outside the UK, for your local Cancer Research charity.

If every one of the 365 365ers I'm looking for set a goal of raising £3650 across their 365challenge year, that adds up to £1.3 Million for Cancer Research! How amazing would it be to be a part of that sort of a success? And what if all 365 365ers only raised £1000 each, what a shame, that would ONLY add up to £365000 for Cancer Research.

Whatever the final amount, it all adds up to a WIN-WIN situation for Cancer Research UK and the 365challenge ... so what do you reckon ... does that help you in your thinking about whether or not you might take this on? Have you got what it takes ...? I know that many of you have ...

Please post your comments and lets see how far we can drive the 365challenge forward ... together, we can beat cancer!

All the best
Colin

getting back on track ... tweet, tweet

Another lengthy gap between posts ... it's not that I haven't wanted to write, but work kept getting in the way (apparently, it's good to be busy at work when you have your own business ... but I have my doubts sometimes ...!) ... but that meant that I wasn't getting to the gym, and wasn't moving things forward as intended with the old 365challenge.

Work continues to be busy, but I've gotten myself a bit better organised now and have managed to knock off a few more Kms over the weekend. I've now got just 400 KM left on the bike ... (could I finish that by the end of May? Am I setting myself a goal there that is achievable? Don't know, but I'll have a shot at it!) ... and 160 Km left on the rowing machine ... that will definitely NOT be completed by the end of May, but, hey, I've got another 3 months after that in my 365challenge year to crack the Thames, so I am confident all will be well by the end of August ... and of course I'll have bagged Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis by then too, so ... GO ME!! And the growing band of wonderful folk who are planning on coming along with me for one, some or all of the mountains!

Funds keep coming in, and it will be great to reach the 200% mark of £7300 (that's 200% of original target goal of £3650) - still £223 to go, but I'll get there, I'm sure.

What I have been doing however (admittedly, sometimes at some cost to my work focus ... you see, it can get a bit addictive ...), is Tweeting on Twitter - you can find me there as 365er.

And it's been a great opportunity to connect with like-minded folk, some doing amazing things of charity ... as well as some complete numpties (though good for a laugh) and some truly lovely folk who are just being themselves ... and when they are celebrities, who just come across as soooo nice and normal, that's a bonus!

But also through Twitter, I have connected with some people who I believe will help me move the 365challenge forward, so on that level, it's been very much worth it. I hope soon to be able to announce details of one of these collaborations, which I'm really happy about ... it should give the 365challenge a profile boost, and maybe draw in some more participants (and even some money).

The other connection may take a little more time to come to fruition, but again, if it does work out ... well, I think it will be a VERY GOOD THING for the 365challenge ... watch this space ... or follow me on twitter to be right in the loop, and maybe even a little ahead of the game!