My name is Steve, and I was a very good friend of Andy Gard. I wanted to raise some money for CRY, and I got the chance to do so in the Summer. Myself and a colleague, and a number of people I used to work with, set out to complete the 3 Peaks Challenge in memory of Andy. We raised £830 for the Andy Gard Memorial Fund. Here is the story of how we conquered the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland.

There were six of us attempting the 3 Peaks Challenge. Myself (Steve Sparkes), my colleague Simon Clapson, and four people I used to work with – Richard Allen, Geoff Pugh, Ryan Lingley and Nick Wright. There was also a vital seventh member of our team – our driver, Baz Bark.

We travelled the long journey from Ipswich to Snowdonia mid-afternoon on June 2nd, in the biggest Ford Transit van ever! We arrived at the Bunkhouse and found a good pub which served fantastic food and ale. We got in good training for the next day by eating loads and drinking even more!

When we woke the next day, we stepped out of the Bunkhouse and could see the summit of Snowdon in the distance and in the cloud! Someone the night before had cunningly arranged for the landlord at the pub to cook us a fry up, so it was back to the pub again for breakfast.

Before we knew it, the time was 10.30am, and we were heading up the Pyg Track on Snowdon. We made fantastic time to the summit – in only one and a half hours!

We didn’t have long at the top, and luckily there was no fantastic view to keep us there either – just grey murk and cloud.

In seemingly no time at all, we were back in the van, and making our way up to the Lake District.

Snowdon climb time – 2hrs 55mins

We arrived at the Lake District at a few minutes past 6pm, after a minor hold up on the M6. Soon we were out of the van, and making our way up a very hot and humid Scafell Pike.

Due to odd weather conditions, mist was rising in clouds off the lake due to a warm evening, and there was a layer of cloud above us. I liken our progress to trying to walk up a down escalator in a sauna with a rucksack and lead boots on! The going was not very easy…….

We made the summit by 8pm, and were back down again by 9.30pm. Now it was time for the very long drive to Ben Nevis.

Scafell Pike climb time – 3hrs 55mins

By this time, I was starting to feel a little tired, a lot hungry, and – due to Baz’s insanely fast (but safe and legal!) driving along bumpy, twisting roads – very, very ill. Luckily I fell asleep quite quickly. I remember waking up at a petrol station somewhere in Scotland at about 1am. I opened the back doors of the van, and stepped out. Unfortunately, due to hours of overuse followed by hours of stiffening up, my knees were not working and I ended up in a heap on the floor next to the diesel pump!

My next memory was at 3.05am, being shoved from the warm van into the dark, cold foothills of Ben Nevis. Head torches on, we started what seemed like a journey to Middle Earth. It wasn’t too long until we could see, and we seemed to be making good progress. That was, until we started to encounter the white stuff – and I don’t mean milk! The last hour of the climb was going through snow that in some places must have been twelve feet deep. We know this, because Nick decided to fall into a snow hole! A little shaken, but OK, we got him out and carried on. The summit was a very welcome sight, as I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was bloody cold. We were starting to get cold and wet – not a nice situation. At 6.05am I was the highest person in Great Britain – quite a feeling!

We didn’t hang around for long at the top. Nick – obviously bored with walking on snow – decided to liven things up again. This time he got his foot caught between two rocks in another snow hole. Due to the blizzard-like conditions at the time, and with only Simon and myself in sight, Nick experienced a short moment of “OH MY GOD HELP!” He soon managed to free himself though, and we were on our way down again.

The descent was starting to take its toll on Simon’s knees, and the rest of the group went on ahead to get some very impressive 3 Peaks times. With a helping shoulder from myself, Simon managed to hobble the last hour of the mountain – sometimes backwards in parts where this made the descent easier on his knees. It wasn’t too long until we were again in the foothills, and passing day walkers on their way up, which gave us a boost.

We finally completed the 3 Peaks Challenge in 23hrs 23mins!

A few welcome beers were had in Fort William, as due to our very good planning the pubs were just starting to open.

I can recommend the Grog and Gruel for anyone wanting good food and ale – it was a life saver.

I would like to give out an extra special ‘Thank You’ to Baz. At the time I wanted to kill him because of his insane driving, but without his efforts we never would have completed the challenge within 24hrs.

We only had 37 minutes to spare, and Baz certainly made that up somewhere in the drive.

Cheers

Steve Sparkes