Thank you for voicing dislike of the 3 Peaks chaps, which I'm sure may be well founded, but given that the little chaps are determined to go ahead with this because of timings for all involved, and I suppose because it's a high-profile challenge, has anyone actually done it and able to offer advice?
Cheers m'dears.
I attempted it a few years ago but suffered a major medical malfunction known as Jelly Legs about 3/4 of the way up Ben Nevis.
Timings are tricky - it's the sort of thing where you have to be hugging the speed limits for pretty much the entire time you're driving to have any chance of success. Some would break the speed limit but if you're going to break the speed limits you might as well cheat in other ways as well.
Think about just which challenge you want to do - the version I attemped (and valiantly failed) was to start the clock when we set off from the minibus to scale Ben Nevis and stop the clock when you get back to the minibus having scaled Snowdon. Some start the clock when you leave the summit of Ben Nevis and stop it when you reach the summit of Snowdon (so you've been at all three summits within a 24-hour window). Then of course there are derivatives based on a 48-hour window and tougher versions where you have to touch water before each ascent.
Assuming you're doing Ben Nevis first you need to set off in the evening. The idea is that you ascend in daylight and finish the descent in the dark (so head torches are a must), then drive through the night to Scafell Pike and start the ascent in the dark. Parking at Scafell Pike is likely to be silly, largely because of people doing the 3 Peaks. Take toilet paper with you - the public toilets at Scafell Pike routinely run out because of people doing the 3 Peaks.
I really would urge one or more dedicated drivers. If you've been climbing Ben Nevis and then have to drive through the night (or even random parts of the night) only to tackle Scafell Pike before dawn having not rested very well, it just ramps up the likelihood of a fatigue-related accident.
Aside from that, be aware of navigational issues. People have already mentioned the summit of Ben Nevis (my group abandoned a short distance from the summit because of a total white-out) and there are some serious drops from the top if you get it wrong. My group also took the wrong route on Scafell Pike and lost enough time that we in the minibus (I'd decided not to do Scafell Pike) were seriously considering calling the mountain rescue people. Which could have been a challenge, as there was no mobile signal for some distance around the area. Whatever the weather at the base of Ben Nevis it could be snowing at the top.
