We Did It!

As a Newbury Soup Kitchen (NSK) volunteer of about two years I often talk to people about the work of the local charity and a few months ago someone asked “what sort of people” need it. I explained that we do not have a “sort” of person, aside from serving a three course meal three times a week we offer a multitude of outreach services and the support is there for anyone in need of help with no judgement from anyone. I went on to explain the one thing however that is often common across all those people using our services is that they are facing an uphill struggle every day, often facing a mountain of challenges that, alone, can often seem insurmountable. 

As a charity we are always looking for ways to raise funds to cover both our  running costs and our ambitious future plans and this idea of a mountain of challenges got us thinking about the National Three Peaks Challenge. Climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, back to back in 24 hours. 

Leading up to the challenge we got busy talking to local companies who take CSR (corporate social responsibility) seriously and with several on board to support us we got training, developed this website and opened up our JustGiving page.

A team of 5 ‘climbing’ volunteers were joined by two non climbing minibus drivers as well as Meryl, NSK founder and CEO and left Newbury at 4am on 6th July. We headed up to Ben Nevis, the trip took 11 hours, and with a dubious weather forecast, even for July, the rain fell as we got our gear on to commence the climb of the UK’s highest mountain at 3pm, aiming for a 5 hour completion time.

The trail is straightforward, in theory, walk up and down the same track. It’s a route of mixed surface from rough gravel to scrambling on lose rock to walking across mountain waterfalls. The summit is 4,400ft high with amazing views on the way up, but at around 3,500ft we disappeared into cloud, the temperature dropped like a stone and our hands were freezing with some snow still laying on the ground. With lots of team encouragement we eventually made it to the top and with a large banner we’d had made to recognise the support of the local companies sponsoring us we stopped and unravelled it – photo done, we started our descent.

You need to watch literally every step you take, a second of loss concentration is a slip or a tumble. An hour or so from the top I took my phone from my pocket to check signal and in doing so tumbled with a bang to my side and head laceration. Quickly patched up we continued the descent and with about an hour to go we came across a climber, also on his way down, in distress. He was trembling, shaking and sweating, all the signs of hypoglycaemia when your blood sugar drops. He didn’t know where he was and was struggling to  speak. Fortunately we had some energy gels, drinks and chocolate and before long, with a bit of NSK tlc, he snapped out of it and his first words were “am I still on the mountain?”. We helped him down the next stage until he was safe and near his camp and then pressed on, knowing we were now well behind our 24 hour schedule. Those two incidents were a stark reminder that rock is very hard and the mountains are not a playground.

By 9pm we were loaded, soaking wet, back in the minibus with a 5 hour drive to Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain. The minibus had 17 seats and with 8 people on board we had a bit of space for supplies and our ingenious drivers had rigged us up a drying line from front to back.

Getting some sleep where we could we started to get prepared for arrival at Scafell Pike, it was still dark with wet and winding roads. Arriving at 3am we quickly headed out, still on the clock, turned on our head torches and got going. At 3,208ft it’s not as high as Ben Nevis but much steeper in parts and more of a scramble, it was the same path up as down so we knew what we had coming for the descent. With about a third to go we went into the cloud, the sunrise was never visible with dark slowly changing to light. The summit is a vast area of lose rock, easy to slip, twist an ankle, and with poor visibility, easy to take the wrong route back. We got to the top at around 5am, it’s a very lonely and quiet place at the time of day, banner unravelled, photo done and down we go again.

The track down was very slippery and relentless, we had to go as fast as we could to try to make up time whilst also trying to get back in one piece. We walked through the clouds, through waterfalls and eventually back to base where the minibus was waiting for us with bacon rolls and hot tea. With no time to sit around we piled in and refuelled as the drivers pressed on towards Snowdon where our last mountain awaited.

It is fair to say I was the least experienced climber of the group, having never done any of these mountains before (I’m better on a bicycle!), and for the previous two I had been pretty relaxed, it’s just a hike up a big hill isn’t it? By now though I knew the truth! The hike uphill is often a scramble, it’s slippery and it is relentless for hours and with all this in mind I was starting to get a bit nervous about the route we had picked for Snowdon, the Pyg track up and Miners track down which are the shortest routes to the top. There is a reason why they are the shortest – they are steep and challenging.

Snowdon (now called Yr Wyddfa) is 3560ft high and the highest mountain in Wales with several options of routes from long, winding family style tracks to the one we had picked. By now we were sleep deprived, we had tons of food on offer but for some reason weren’t that hungry and only had three and a half hours to get up and down again – we had planned on four hours at least.

We set off at a pace and with the most challenging terrain so far made good progress, the weather wasn’t great so the crowds often seen on Snowdon were much less than normal. There are a few false summits on all the three peaks, where you think you are at the top only to find another 30 minutes or so to go and the Pyg track was the same. We eventually came to the train station, turned left and there she was – the top of the final peak. All we had to do then was take the obligatory photo and get down quick!

The route down was a tough scramble over rocks to eventually find the Miners Track, a two mile route which allowed a fast walking pace back to the car park.

We finished in 24 hours 9 minutes with one of our team challenging himself to return via the Pyg track instead of the Miners (we just weren’t brave enough at that point) and he completing in 23 hours 54 minutes.

So far we have raised over £18,000 for those people in Newbury who face a relentless uphill struggle with a mountain of challenges every day.  

Alone, a mountain may be insurmountable, but as a community we can unite to support and care for those still climbing, helping them reach the top. In a nutshell that is what Newbury Soup Kitchen does.

Thank you for your support

Newbury Soup Kitchen