Tori James blog

On Friday 12 June Ben and I grabbed our walking kit, flew to Scotland and joined Christ College Brecon (my old school) & Llandovery College for their inaugural joint three peaks challenge. There were head teachers, bursars, teachers, rugby coaches, 3 students, office staff and others - a great group of people all hoping to summit the three peaks and raise money for School Children for Children.

Everyone completed the challenge in under the 24 hours, with the exception of Ben and I, who brought up the rear, landing back at Pen-y-Pass in a handsome 25 hours! I’m going to blame Ben for this, he got travel sick for the first time in his life, turned green on the winding lanes of the Lake District, vomited the contents of his stomach and then having not eaten prior to climbing Snowdon completely ran out of steam near the summit.

Both teams had the raw guts and determination you would expect to see in such a challenge and it was a massive achievement for everyone - I hope your legs manage to get you around school tomorrow!

The great things about the three peaks…..

• The people we climbed with and the fact that some had never been to the top of these mountains before
• Our mini-bus drivers, all four of them, who were on a mission to get us from one mountain to the next.
• The carrot & coriander soup served to us at the foot of Scafell which had been prepared by the Llandovery College chef and carefully transported in the minibus.
• Snow on top of Ben Nevis
• The views (except Scafell Pike which was shrouded in a thick mist - see photo!)
• The money raised for charity - thanks to all our friends who sponsored us, Ben and I are over our £1,000 target and still counting.
• The sense of adventure approaching Wasdale in the dark
• Iestyn and the phrase “Are we all H-A-P-P-Y? Shall I sing that for you?”

And the not so great….

• Hitting a rock on route to Wasdale Head at 3.30am which required a tyre change in the dark!
• Travel sickness & vomit (our drivers certainly had the skill to make even the most hardy travellers reach for a plastic bag).
• A minibus with a speed restrictor for 60mph

Would I do at again? Yes! Who’s game?

I’d like to say a huge thanks to Iestyn Thomas, the man in charge of School Children for Children, for organising such a fantastic trip!