Dave Bushell completes the Three Peaks Challenge

Earlier this month I was gently persuaded to go for my first hike since my move to the U.K. in March this year, this first hike just happened to be the ambitious Three Peaks Challenge. I was fortunate enough to undertake this challenge with an absolutely amazing team of thirty motivated gym-goers organised by UN1T gym and the ever-resourceful Hayley Woodruff.

The challenge itself consists of hiking the three highest peaks of England, Wales and Scotland in under 24 hours. The three peaks themselves are Snowden in Wales, Scafell Pike in the lake district and Ben Nevis in Scotland.

We set off on a sweltering Thursday, meeting in Warrington where we were to be picked up by our coach and taken to the hostel at the bottom of Snowden to ascend the first peak at first light. To make things more interesting our poor coach driver Paul was delayed on the M6 by a lengthy six hours. This was the first of many logistical obstacles our group organiser Hayley had to swiftly deal with over the next few days. Hayley managed to arrange alternative transport to the hostel at Snowden and arrived there just before midnight.

With six hours sleep under our belts, and a few protein pancakes we set off on our first hike up Snowden. Snowden was a great first peak to start on as is a gentle incline with easily manoeuvrable tracks. One of our climbers suffered a minor lower back strain during the climb to the summit and my role as team chiropractor was starting to prove very useful ! After I performed some (patented) mountain chiro work, the injured climber was back on their feet and feeling able to carry on.

Despite this first injury, our group made light work at getting to the top and back down in a respectable time. I should also mention that since this was technically a gym challenge, we also had to do five burpees at the top of each summit!

As soon as we reached the carpark at Snowden we only had time to refill our camelbacks and then it was straight onto the coach and off to the next peak. The next climb was Scafell pike in the lake district, this was my favourite peak out of the three, we had great weather arriving in the lakes district around 2pm, Scafell pike is the smallest peak of the three but it makes up for it in its steep incline. This made for a fast and fun ascent and a quick jog back down in what must have been close to a thirty degree sunny day.

During the travel time between each peak we did our best to get as much shut-eye as possible on a moving coach and despite the lack of sleep, the group was nothing but positive and jovial throughout the entire challenge. This really was a testament to the people that train at UN1T gym. I was also fulfilling my duties as the team chiro on the coach working with a lot of sore knees and spines!

Next up was Ben Nevis, I think I can safely speak for the group by saying that this was by far the most unpleasant and difficult of the three peaks. It seems we left the best for last, arriving at the base of a rainy Ben Nevis at 2am. It was extremely hot and muggy conditions and due to the rain we had to wear our waterproofs for the first time and head torches, we set a very fast pace up Ben Nevis.

All I remember from that first section of the climb was the sweat and heat under the waterproofs and the endless numbers of stairs. Ben Nevis is known for ‘false’ summits, each time you thought you had reached the summit you would reach that point and see another peak further ahead, this happened about four times! Finally reaching the summit of Ben Nevis really was a relief, we completed our five burpees at the top and made our swift descent down the mountain.

It was straight onto the coach again to the airport in Glasgow where we enjoyed a few celebratory drinks as we waited for our flight which happened to be delayed by five hours! Due to the transport woes, we completed the challenge in 24 hours and 30 mins, however we completed the hiking in a respectable 11 hours 28 minutes.

Here is a list of a few tips for completing the three peaks challenge:

• Enlist the services of one of the Three Peaks challenge companies, the guides at each peak were all extremely helpful, especially up Ben Nevis where a wrong turn could make for a very lengthy detour.

• Stretching those leg muscles between each peak and during the climbs was invaluable, preventing cramping and injury

• Train for the event with plenty of Cardio and endurance exercise

• Get plenty of sleep leading up to the event

• Bring a lot of high energy foods for the trip, it’s surprising how much food you need when you’re sleep deprived and climbing three peaks in one day

• Be prepared for all conditions, under layer thermals, waterproofs, several pairs of socks, extra layers and walking poles

• The order in which you complete the Peaks can make it more challenging, we completed Ben Nevis last which is known as being a more challenging way of doing the challenge, to make it a bit easier it’s advised that you get Ben Nevis out of the way first and finish with Snowden

• Keep it light-hearted and fun! One of the main highlights of the trip for me was all the joking and friendly atmosphere that was rife throughout the challenge.

- By Dave Bushell DC