by Helen Kewell 

Alright it wasn’t just me (I was with a group of 12) and it wasn’t 24 hours (it was 24 hours and 3 minutes) but there were definitely three very large mountains and I ascended and descended each glorious, magnificent one of them! I was a bit blasé about the National Three Peaks challenge if I am honest. I am above-averagely-but-not-mentally fit – check. I like being outdoors – check. I like and am I used to mountains (I am a snowboarder and I spent 1 and a half ski seasons working in the Alps, mountains are my friends if you like) – check. I am competitive – triple check. Oh, and, Greg (the person responsible for taking me up and down all of these peaks) is a long-time friend who I would trust with my life (which came in handy but more on that later.) OK looking good so far. So up until about 6 weeks before the event the most preparation I did was set up my Just Giving page, organise 48 hours of childcare courtesy of my sister and book the kids one day off school! 

Thankfully 2 things happened to break my complacency! Firstly, thanks to Go Commando, the organisation who were leading the event, I was  whipped into a frenzy by a series of increasingly frequent and scary ‘count down’ emails which slowly revealed to me (reading between their lines) the full enormity of what to expect. Talk of ‘resting’ the week before the event (‘you will need it’) and bringing no fewer than 3 pre-prepared bags of clothes for each peak ‘including underwear and headtorches’. OK they had my attention. I was now all ears – and suddenly my preparations took on a more appropriately serious nature! Secondly I went on a training walk, which all National 3 Peakers are required to do. This is to get used to the pace (!) and to try out kit (which I was now frantically buying and purloining from family members and friends) and to talk more about the day itself. A 600 mile round trip to Snowdonia from Sussex starting at 4.30am leaving the children tucked up in bed under the capable watch of Granny and Grandad and returning at 9pm felt like a pretty realistic training scenario. We had a glorious day, boots and kit worked well and I talked (a little too much!) to people who had done it before and to the group leaders, and my good friends, Greg and Charlotte. The upside of all this was that I now fully appreciated this was going to be what it said on the tin – a challenge. I upped my training, you could catch me most weekends in the hilly woodlands near our house doing hills and intervals training and squatting and lunging as if my life depended on it! 

Fast forward 6 weeks. I am at my sisters (let’s call it Base Camp) checking and double checking mine and my husbands three bags of  kit and cooking, making and bagging our food for the next 24 hours. Now I have never laid out a whole 24 hours food before me on a table before (not sure why I would!) but I am pretty sure if I had ever done that it would take up a lot less of the table top than ours did that evening. Pasta salad, filled bagels, bircher muesli, couscous salad, 18 cereal bars, 6 bananas, 12 grab packs of mixed nuts/sweets/dried fruits, 8 bottles of Powerade, a flask of coffee and 4 litres of water. I felt sick looking at it and it didn’t get any better when I came to force it down my neck in each in-between bus journey as Greg cheerily shouted ‘OK guys you are going to want to start eating now to get ready for the next mountain’ No. What I wanted to do was not eat, give my tummy a rest from the carbs and the sugar and maybe just have a handful of grapes. For someone who has spent the best part of her adult life watching the amount of carbs and sugar and fat I eat, this should have felt like all my Christmases come at once, instead it felt like torture! 

The bus journey up to Ben Nevis was eerily quiet with short snaps of nervous chatter as we got know the other members of the group and people tried to bank some extra sleep for the sleepless night ahead. But thankfully the 7 hours passed quickly and the benefit of being cooped up for that long meant that when we unfolded ourselves out of the mini-bus at Fort William we were gagging for exercise and fresh air. Which was lucky. There was very little but that, mixed with a lot of sweat and rain, for the next 24 hours! Ben Nevis was our first adversary and we spent the first hour acclimatising to the pace, the physical requirements of incline+pace+backpack and to each other. I attacked this ascent with trademark determination and gusto, never forgetting the advice of a 3 Peaks Challenge veteran to “stay welded to the back of the guide” as when stops came (few and far between!) you get the longest rest available! This tip alone probably got me through the challenge. Getting up seemed relatively easy, I felt the familiar but not unwelcome mixture of stiffness and fatigue in my hamstrings and glutes and made a mental note to stretch before getting back in the van! Descending became a race against the gathering dusk (we had ascended quite quickly and were in with a chance to get down before dark). This was more of a scramble and I was glad of my poles, saving my knees some of the impact. Racing down large flat stones sprinkled with drizzle wasn’t much fun but we were happy to be down as dark fell. Expecting to kick back, have a stretch and a drink we were then greeted with short orders from our guide “right, refill your camel packs, change as quickly as possible and get on the bus – leaving in 5 minutes!” 5 minutes wasn’t even enough time to have a pee! With hindsight I realise that this is all part of the strategy of getting it done in the time available, make up time where you can. Chatting and stretching can wait – just get on the b%@*^y bus and get gone! Probably the most difficult thing about the whole challenge is nailing the ability to eat pre-prepared high carb food whilst changing out of wet clothes in a confined space and being hurtled round hair-raising bends through the Scottish highlands/Lake District/Welsh National Park (delete as applicable) without throwing up. I am never likely to use this skill again but I can confirm it is one that I have added to my repertoire!

Changed, fed and bag ready for the next ascent I tried to sleep whilst listening to rain lashing against the dark windows of the van, trying not to focus on the prospect of Sca Fell Pike in the rain and wind and dark at 2am. Thankfully as we gathered at the stile at the foot of SFP it was eerily quiet and dry but dark as a coal hole. Head torches on and after a quick head count we set off. Walking up a mountain in the middle of the night might seem like an odd thing to do but it feels strangely natural whilst you are doing it! It was a game of ‘three thirds’ in the end. The first third was a fairly uneventful and not too challenging ascent of 2/3 of the peak. The second third lasted about 2 hours whilst we lost our way in cloud/fog and hail only moments from the peak itself. Huddled together for warmth and talking inanely whilst Greg valiantly went off with compass and map to re-establish the path. This plumbed the depths of most of our resilience and fortitude (especially when the hail started whipping at us!) but was fast forgotten when at 5.50am we assembled on the peak just as a hazy light was beginning to dawn.

The last third doesn’t really bear mentioning, suffice to say it was very wet and some of us had to wring out even our underwear once we thankfully reached the bus…. Snowdon by comparison was glorious; warmish with a light wind, only a light rain, intermittent sunshine and glorious views. All sense of teamwork disappeared at this point as we had just under 2 and a quarter hours to get up AND down to achieve the challenge! In small groups of equal pace we raced, scrambled, strode and clambered without a stop in order to reach the summit – the most difficult thing being navigating round the many crowds of people who chose to ascend this popular mountain of a Saturday morning. ‘Touch and run’ at the top we were told, so we touched, threw some more trail mix and water down, and ran for most of the descent, clock watching as we went. Gone were the polite ‘excuse me’s’ of the way up. ‘COMING THROUGH!’ we shouted (that was the most polite it got) as we barged the tourists out of the way leaving them tutting in our wake.  We burst into the car park 3 minutes late (who’s counting?). Thereafter I had probably the best cup of tea I have ever tasted, accompanied by a cheese and onion pasty. Job done. Would I do it again? Absolutely (in fact I felt quite bereft when the next challenge started the following week, following their progress on facebook!). It took 3 days and a lot of fluid replacement for my body to feel like my own again and there was the small matter of a trip to hospital for a particularly nasty toe, but in general I escaped unscathed and with a sense of having achieved something special. My husband and I raised £1,940 for the Child Bereavement Charity as the icing on the cake. Naturally my sights are now set on the next challenge, Welsh 14 Peaks here I come….next time perhaps wiser and not so complacent.

Friday was an unbelievable day to be in the mountains. I was lucky enough to spend the day on the Snowdon Horseshoe, having watched the weather forecast all week I knew that I might be in luck (and dry) but did not expect what I saw.

The Horseshoe has two of the best ridge walks in the Uk and on a clear day some of the best views. I had the pleasure of spending the day with the FD of Shop Direct and an old friend of his to help him celebrate his 40th birthday. The day started with the usual amount of hill fog and dampness that you expect early morning at Pen Y Pas but quickly broke allowing a warmer brighter ‘Alpine style’ Day.

The Snow was still patchy and crisp on the ascent but nothing to worry about and to my surprise Crib Goch was clear of any ice or cloud which ment that the two Crib Virgins had plenty of time to enjoy the 3,800 foot drop and contemplate the need for good hand and foot placement. All in all, a great day out.

The tracks on snowdon are still very icy and have deep snow in parts, my advice would be stick to the pyg track, start early and aim to get down to the pass by 4pm.

The weather this week is going to be wet! 95 % chance of rain on Friday. If I was a betting man I would say stay indoors! I am not a betting man and will be heading out to take two guys up and over the Snowdon Horse shoe to celebrate a 40^th birthday (Not mine!) God bless Gortex and all who wear her.

The Snowdon Horse shoe has two exciting ridges to cross and is a great way to spend 8 hours of your life; I will aim to post the photos of the rain and cloud next Monday.

One day challenges are a great way to mark special occasions, you get to share your time with your friend doing something that allows a shared sense of achievement. I love running them because everyone involved wants to be there, you get the walk done and then it’s off to the Pub to share the days war stories! 

Well, back to work, and the cold weather kit has been officially drawn from the stores. With more snow on the way, we are heading out to Snowdonia on Monday to tackle what promises to be an interesting winter.

In the words of Billy Connelly "There is no such thing as bad weather only inappropriate clothing!". That guy should know, he is from Greenock the capital of Rain!

More Prison work on the way, lots of really cool strategic alliances have been formed over the last 12 months that are now opening lots of doors and our reputation for being that little bit different is starting to stretch around the UK… t's all good as I sit in a warm office wanting to be on a cold mountain, yes I do have issues!

Hello troops, just a quick update on out winter planning. We have had an incredibly busy year. This year we again, ran several National 3 Peaks, right upto a snowy November on Ben Nevis on the mountain hardened warriors from Smart Storage!

We have also formed fantastic strategic alliances this year with Business Focus, the North West Development Agency's Lead programme and, of course, of course continued our ongoing work with our corporate clients.

December and January is time for a quick de-service of kit (and instructors, new knees, hips and Gortex) before we launch back into our work with the UK prison service on the 11th January.

2010 will see he start of Go Commando's Island Survival Challenge, this will make 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' look like 'Wish You Were Here'!

Jon Wyles and his team at Smart Storage completed the National 3 Peaks - in November! But that didnt put them off and they're all still here to tell the story... so in the words of Jon:

"Smart Storage did the Three Peaks Challenge over last weekend.

We arrived in Fort William on Friday evening after a delightful seven hour drive in the mini bus! Hopefully you heard us on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 live from a lay-by in the middle of nowhere in Scotland.  

We were up a 3.40am on Saturday and at the foot of Ben Nevis at 4.45am. We walked up in the dark and into the snow on the top and then back down as the dawn broke, spectacular! All done by 10am.

Then off to Scafell in the Lakes another delightful 6 hours in the minibus.  

We started Scafell at 5pm in the wind rain and dark. We walk to about 30 minutes from the top only to be hit by the beginnings of some severe weather and an electrical storm. The decision was taken that it was too dangerous to make the summit with 55mph winds reported as well. So we turned round getting back to the bottom by 9pm.

Then another 5 hours in the minibus to Snowdon. The smell of wet feet and clothes starting to take over! We reached Snowdon at 2am Sunday morning only to be confronted by cloud cover down to the car park. We sat in the minibus until 4.30am before the cloud lifted sufficiently to start the climb.  

Completely exhausted we set out in the dark and rain and went for it, reaching the summit at around 7.30am. After a brief celebration at the top we headed down to the joy of a further 2 hours in the mini bus back to the Wirral.  

Thank you to all who contributed in donations and sponsorship. But also thanks to all who made this possible. Greg and Tim from Go Commando www.go–commando.co.uk who guided us up and down handed out a few motivational chats and encouragement along the way, as well hundreds of jelly babies to keep the sugar levels up! Vicky our wonderful minibus driver. All those who did the walk and those who kept the business open and operating over the weekend, swapped shifts or worked additional hours. All family and friends who helped on the domestic front to enable those who took part to be away from home over the weekend. This was very much a team effort and without all these contributions we would not have been able to make the weekend the success it was.

Although we are still collecting the sponsorship we expect to have raised £5000 for North West Cancer Research Fund. Thanks again for those who have contributed, for those who intended to but haven’t quite got round to it yet here is your opportunity. The link to my Just Giving page is below and all contributions large or small are greatly appreciated.

http://www.justgiving.com/Jon-Wyles-Smart-Storage/

There is a five Peak Challenge including the two highest peaks in Northern and Southern Ireland and that could be the plan for next year!!!

Thanks again

Jon"

Greg and his trusty sidekick Tim led the Smart Storage team up and down the nations three highest peaks last weekend. There is a reason why not many people tend to do this challenge during the winter months, it mainly being something that goes by the name of SNOW! The waist deep snow made sure everyone appreciated the layers of socks they had on. Jon at Smart Storage said:

"Thanks very much for a fantastic weekend!! Everyone who was involved had a great experience. A few battered and bruised people today, but everyone showed up this morning which is result! I think we have raised around £5k for North West Cancer Research this weekend, which is great."

Clocking up hill time in the UK is the best way to train for altitude. People who have strong legs and lungs from previously doing lots of walking are the people who deal with altitude the best during mountain climbing. Some people will always acclimatise and adjust better, but ultimately its the fitter people who find it easier.

As altitude increases, oxygen in the air decreases - this is what causes sickness. In order to help your body cope the efficiency of your aerobic system need to improve, this can be achieved through lots of cardio exercise which increases the number of red blood cells that deliver oxygen to your muscles.

At Go Commando we reccommend that you slowly increase your time in the UK hills and spend at least one weekend a month on long walks. Its also a good idea to gradually increase the weight of your back pack too. If you cant always get to the hills keep up your aerobic exerise by swimming, spinning or even better see a personal trainer to tailor a specific training program for you, see www.body-solutions.co.uk for more information.

Last weekend all the team at Body Solutiosn got together for a weekend of what can only be described as something that should have featured as a 'Carry on Boating' special! We all dug out our thermal vests, waterproofs and slleping bags and made our way donw to Abersoch to set off for St Tud's island for a weekend of team building fun and frolics.

However, not everything went to plan. It took us about 3 hours to actually get onto the island as we could not get the boat into teh water! When we finally ddi manage this, the boat got stuck in the sand and it took all of our combined strength (plus a few very helpful waves!) and lots of shouting of 'to me, to you' to get it facing in the right direction, however, the boat being in the water was not such great news as we were all still on the beach! So, all the lads braved the cold of the british sea and get very wet loading most of the kit onto the boat, the 'kit' consisted of our sleeping bags, the food, the water and of course me and Charlotte (well, we didnt want to get wet did we?!). I did however get the short straw as i was carried in by Tim, Charloote got fireman lifted by the very tall Simon who easily kept her up and above the ever rising sea water. Tim however though he would dip me in the sea, just for fun which resulted in very wet boots and trousers for the entire weekend. Thanks Tim.

As we approached the island me, Charlotte and Dave braced ourselves for the jump, there was no jetty or sandy beach for us to arrive at, instead we got some moss covered, sharp looking rocks and an order of when to jump. Purely by chance we made it onto the other side, along with two extremely heavy boxes filled with food and utensils, great, me and Charlotte thought, time for a brew while Greg does the second run to the beach. How wrong we were. As Dave had been submerged in water loading things onto the boat he had removed his boots - but had left them on the main land. This meant that Dave could not help out in hauling the two huge boxes up the nettle covered steep hill to the brick building we would be calling home for the night. Lets just say after that task was finished we well deserved the cup of tea and flapjack break :)

Most of the night passed with a blur due to the amount of alcohol consumed we think we all had a good time!! The next day we ate our bacon and egg sandwiches and packed up to return to civilisation. This was where the whole saga started again. In fact we thought we had gotton away with it, the packing had gone fine, we didnt leave anything or anyone on the island and we all got onto the beach safely and (almost) dry. Getting the boat out of the water and onto teh trailer again was the tricky part! The wynch to help pully the boat back onto its traler had been stolen overnight meaning that it took a couple of hours of pure man strength (and a jeep) to to get it on.  A few favours were asked of the locals and a couple of bottle of wine dished out afterwards but thankfully we all made it in one piece to the local pub for a home cooked roast dinner.

Thats just an outline of our shananighans... check out our facebook page to see the pics http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2019897&id=1371056530&ref=mf 

Until next time - over and out!

September is shaping up to be a great month. We have been busy climbing mountains and talking to some new exciting people in fantastic companies!

We will be kicking off the North West development agencies Lead Programme at the end of the month. We have now started looking at our first charity 'Cast Away' experience for senior executives; we hope to get a group of top dogs to battle it out in a genuine survival situation for forty eight hours. Who has the mental strength to win? Who will crack and who won't have the guts to try at all?

Finally, we are planning to take everyone's favourite personal training company Body Solutions in to the wilderness once more! 'I'm a celebrity PT, get me out of here!' springs to mind, will we be able to provide enough calorie burning activities to stimulate them? ....I'll keep you posted!