The question came very soon after arriving back at the minivan ‘Ziggy’, parked at the bottom of the Rhyd Ddu path awaiting our return.
It was 6pm on a beautiful sunny April day. A group of people from across North Wales projects had just been successful in summiting Y Wyddfa (Snowdon), everyone exhausted but energized and content. The buzz of success, excitement and the team’s achievement was infectious and before I could ask if everyone had enjoyed it, their focus became set on the next challenge.
“Can we go up Ben Nevis next?”
someone asked, with an obvious thirst for something bigger, and the rest of the group enthusiastically echoed the request.
I loved their spirit and felt that I didn’t want to dash their hopes, but instantly ran through the planning of such an undertaking and responded by suggesting a more achievable alternative. “How about Scafell Pike? …it’s one of the UK 3 Peaks and the highest mountain in England. Let’s see how that works out, and then we could maybe consider Ben Nevis.”
So, fast forward to June and we had a minivan full of people and kit heading up to Borrowdale to start our adventure. Me, Rachael and Jake in the front, and six very excited people in the back, with a boot literally full to the top! Someone shouted out that they had barely slept last night because they were so excited.
We set up camp at Seathwaite Farm campsite, positioned at the top of Borrowdale and shrouded by fells, with water falling from the gills and sheep grazing around the tents. Nervous about the impending wet weather forecast, we got on with lighting the BBQ. We ate our body weight in sausages and burgers (with a little bit of salad!), before making tomorrow’s lunch, a cup of cocoa and then off to bed.
We (mostly) woke around 6am and the rain had still not arrived, so quickly down with the tents and cook up a load of brekky food….more sausages!! We broke camp by 9am, after having a good look at the maps and the route for the day. We were heading up the ‘corridor route’, widely considered to be the most scenic and interesting of the 5 principal routes up Scafell Pike.
A couple of the group members wanted to take on the role of leader and perfectly navigated us up to Sty Head, where we had a bite to eat and checked out the mountain rescue emergency kit locker. We still could not see the summit, and the rain was just holding off.
Getting to the summit took a while and the going was hard. The humidity was high and the ground was steep, rough and uncompromising, but there were no complaints from anyone. I was amazed by the teamwork and support that everyone gave each other, and there was always someone at the back of the pack to support whoever was finding it the most challenging at the time.
We reached the summit just after 2.30pm to a roar of fighter jets circling around us in the valleys below, then found a shelter to have some food and LOTS of sweets. Re-energised, we set off on the descent route, over some technical ground and eventually following the beautiful Grains Gill back down to the campsite we’d set off from 9 hours previously.
It was only in the last half an hour that the rain came in and we had to jacket up …so lucky! Back at Ziggy the minivan once more, we saw Duke of Edinburgh groups setting up camp in the rain. The general consensus was that we were glad to be heading home and not camping another night!
Listening to the chat in the back of the van, we could hear comments about how nice it was to get to know everyone better, how they loved helping each other to put their tents up and loved camping together. There was a mention that it was ‘nicer than Snowdon’ and that the trip will make lasting memories.
The comment that stood out most was when one of the group said that if he hadn’t come on the trip he would just be at home drinking, because his friend had given him £20 he owed him and he had nothing else to do.
It’s a pleasure to be able to support people to achieve these challenges, and I am always blown away by their thirst for adventure and the resilience that they have. I rarely hear complaints about tiredness or discomfort, and the support they give each other is heartwarming.
It wasn’t long until the first request came in…
“When can we go up Ben Nevis?”