3 PEAKS CHALLENGE, NUMBER 3

Fine weather on Ben Nevis again

Only small fields of snow left in the usual spots on the plateau

First summit in less than 6 hrs up and down

The scenic delights of Scafell Pike summit in darkness

The even more scenic delights of Snowdon summit in wetness-the summit cafe!

I was guiding on another 3 Peaks Challenge again last weekend, the third of the season-so far! We had fabulous sunny and warm weather on Ben Nevis Saturday morning, hardly a breeze on the tops. My group of 11, assisted by Jess did well and were all up and down the Ben in five and half hours. The Highlands were due to get good sunny weather the rest of the holiday period, so it was with reluctance to be heading south. Scafell Pike late Saturday night was dry and clear with just a bit of cloud coming and going near the summit area, the wind was increasing and we were right on the edge of the low coming in from the south. We were heading down to Snowdon and knew the forecast was for very wet and very windy conditions and that's exactly what we received. Quite a dismal affair and no views. It was quite nice to nip into the cafe on the top to get out of the wet and a coffee before brunting the wind and rain. There was a few folk still heading up who looked like they were trying to find out how close they could get to a hypothermic state before reaching the civilisation of the cafe as we passed them on the way down, there's always the train if you don't fancy buying a waterproof jacket I guess. Well done to the two groups this weekend, with great times on the mountains. I was working for Achieve Mountains on this event.