3 Peaks Challenge training day and a Christmas present!

A busy weekend for Climb Scafell on Scafell Pike and pretty good weather too. 

On Saturday we had a group of 20 from the Buckinghamshire Young Farmers club and local guide Richie Torrence worked with me.  This was a training day for a national 3 Peaks Challenge which the group are doing in June.  They’d already been training hard which showed as we were up and down the mountain in 3 hours 40 minutes – a very respectable time, stopping only briefly for photos and adding or removing layers of clothing! It was a tad chilly on the summit and very busy so we didn’t hang around, just a quick team photo.

Sunday morning I met Karen and Patrick at the Wasdale Head Inn.  The sun was shining, the lambs were playing in the fields and Wasdale was looking beautiful!  This was a Christmas present from Karen to Patrick and they were looking forward to a good day out in the mountains and reaching the summit of Scafell Pike.  We headed up the main path, over the river crossing, up the steep steps and through the boulder field of Hollowstones all reasonably sheltered from the strong winds until we got to Lingmell Col.  From here it was very blustery so extra layers went on and we didn’t stop long on the summit – just a quick few photos and then a short descent to a sheltered spot for lunch.  From here we looked across to Lingmell and decided that we would take this route down, away from the crowds.  This is a lovely route following small grassy paths and down a steep, grassy ridge.  All the time Wastwater - the deepest lake in England at 79m - is straight ahead of us.  To our left we could see the busy path which we had ascended and to our right we could see down to the Wasdale Head Inn and the lush green fields where the walk finishes.

Thanks to the Young Farmers group, Karen, Patrick and Richie for a superb weekend on England’s highest mountain!

Kate