Yorkshire Three Peaks Conquered!

On 1 July our colleagues set out on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge as part of our ongoing fundraising for Northleigh House School. Taking in Yorkshire’s three highest peaks, the 24-mile round trip includes 1,585m of ascent (and descent) and the aim is to complete the challenge in under 12 hours. It’s is all undertaken on foot, with Yorkshire’s Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough providing vantage points from which to survey the route, both completed and yet to conquer!

The 24-strong team enjoyed an early start on Saturday morning and fuelled by some hearty breakfast sandwiches provided by our hosts at the Helwith Bridge Inn, they set off strong and confident. The weather was fine throughout, which definitely helped everyone along!

The first peak, Pen-y-Ghent was busy, with a long ascent and lots of cloud at the top, obscuring the views somewhat, but the group still managed a decent photo before tackling the descent.  Lunch was eaten in a picturesque spot by the viaduct before the second peak,  Whernside, which was just before half way mark. There were good views from Whernside apart from right at the top where again it was a bit cloudy. With a few aching legs and dodgy knees the group had a brutal scramble on the ascent to Ingleborough where there were reasonable views at the peak. The home stretch from there was uneven and rocky, but thankfully no broken bones were reported!

In total the group completed the challenge in 10.5 hours, and still had just enough energy for a celebratory meal and a few well-earned drinks.

To date, the team has raised over £2,000 for Northleigh House School through this challenge, and there’s still time to donate by visiting https://mydonate.bt.com/teams/etechytp