The 6 Peak Challenge - 50 miles and 18,000 feet in 36 hours

Well, the time has come. Time to stand up and be counted. The day of the 6 peak Challenge has come around all too fast. After countless challenge walks done in preparation and 100's of blisters and aching limbs, this is it.

I caught the train at 08.30 from Euston and met the 3rd member of our party, now dubbed the "Mighty 6 Peakers". he was called Rob Mulvany (without the "e" he is keen to let you know), and he is a paralegal in a London firm. He did the national 3 peaks last year, just inside the 24 hours (slowed down by other party injuries), and was looking to see if a better time could be achieved and then to attempt the Yorkshire 3 Peaks (Y3P).

Karen said I would be yakking all the way about my exploits, boring the arse off the poor lad, and I did not disappoint. I think Rob was glad to see Karl get on the train at Preston so I could divert my attention away for the next 2 hours to Glasgow.

We arrived at 1pm and met Martyn Paul, the trek lead and Terry Thomas (ding dong and all that!) our Mountain Lead for the National 3 peaks. Karl and I were disappointed none of the Advocate Events members were attempting the 6 Peaks themselves, as it made us think even more what an impossible task we had set ourselves. I assume it was just logistics, but it filled us with yet more trepidation.

 Ben Nevis - 4,409 feet 10 miles completed in 5 hours 45 minutes

We set off for Fort William to start the challenge on Ben Nevis, and were advised we would arrive around 4.30pm. In the end, we got there at 5pm and literally 5 minutes later we were off. No discussion, no safety talk, no warm up, just off! I hope this was simply because we presented a reasonably well prepared group of seasoned pros, with the right gear (see Karl and injuries later) and relatively fit.

Here we are at the beginning.

The Motley Crew

You can see the BBC Weather forecast of very heavy downpour for the entire route up Ben Nevis was accurate as usual!! - Not! it was glorious sunshine, and this far north, was due to be light until about 10.30pm. Terry asked why I had my waterproof trousers on at the start, and I explained this saved the bother of struggling to get them on later when it got cold above the snowline.

The aim was to get up in 3 hours and hopefully down in 2.30. Therefore, I set off at break-neck pace and found Karl had one pace - his pace! He kept saying after I had waited 15 minutes for him to catch up, "it's a marathon, not a sprint". And I kept thinking, you haven't got £1,500 of sponsorship riding on completing this within the prescribed times.

Here we are on the initial climb, which I have to stress, started the minute we left the van, so there was no gentle warm up to get used to conditions.

Terry, our Mountain Lead (ML) was fantastic. He was ex-Welsh Fusiliers and smoked like a trooper (suppose that comes from being a trooper!). However, he had the worst smokers cough you have ever heard, and once he had finished a coughing spasm, would then light up another roll-up to commence coughing all over again. As long as you were up wind of him, you were not bothered by the smoke. This was why, where ever possible, I liked to lead off so I had my own clean air to walk in. Anyway, Terry was constantly having to look back to check Karl was OK, as you can see from the picture below. However, he simply could not get Rob and Karl's names right, mainly because he did so many 3 UK Peak trips. He would shout down to Karl and say, "DAVE, DAVE, DAVE, DAVE, DAVE!" and Karl would say, "are you talking to me?". Or he would be shouting after Rob, "WILL, WILL, WILL, WILL, WILL!" and inevitably getting no reply! It was just like that Gofer advert on telly - "Alan, Alan....."

You OK Dave?

We asked Terry how many trips he did, and this was his 7th 3 UK Peaks of the season, but he had actually done 3 in one week only 2 weeks before! No wonder he couldn't get all the names right.

Karl checking if we were all on his schedule!

Once we reached the infamous zig-zag path, we could see a wonderful view open up through the clouds that had descended.

This was at about half way and it was now you could see how many 3 Peakers were on the mountain. there were 100's, and they would keep saying, "are you doing the 3 peaks", all out of breath with looks of fear on their faces. We would respond, "no, we're doing 6 peaks", which led to looks of utter derision and disbelief from those who bothered to ask.

The 3 Peakers Caravan!

At about 3,500 feet, we met the snowline which remains pretty much all year despite this being the middle of June. I can also assure you, it is bloody cold as well, so I had to break out the Gortex coat to keep out the chill.

Unfortunately, by now it was becoming clear Karl was struggling badly. We had set the pace to summit in 3 hours and Karl kept saying he had to go at his own pace. Unfortunately, this meant Karl got cramp half-way up, and this meant we had to wait for ages at each stop point. This also meant Karl didn't get much rest either because as soon as he struggled to meet us, Terry set off again, to ensure we maintained some pace. We all felt the dread at this stage we would not be able to do it in 24 hours if Karl could not keep up, but carried on regardless.

Terry leads off on summit push

Me at the start of the snowline - feeling good!

We could have made the summit in about 2.45 but Terry, Rob and I got there about 3.15 in the end and waited for Karl for the Summit photos. We didn't realise we would have to wait a further 30 minutes and it was absolutely freezing.

Ben Nevis Summit

Whilst waiting, I took a shot of myself on my own to record my first summit of the 48 hours period ahead. As you can see, I have not got any gloves on at this stage, and it was below zero!

Number one

Eventually Karl got to the summit in 3 hours and 45 minutes - on his schedule! but 1 hour behind ours!

Here we are at the summit, with me looking a little pissed-off and Karl checking his time schedule.

Come on, lets go, my hands are freezing!

Still here? Smile at the camera Karl!

Here's a much better picture taken on Karl's camera

As soon as photos were taken, Karl sprinted off and left us at the top, struggling to get our gloves on to prevent further frost bite!

Here you see him sprinting off down the mountain!

Karl - I'm off now, I don't care that you waited at the top for me!

This was fine actually, as Karl knew we would catch up, and we had plenty of time to see the spectacular views on the way down.

Sun setting on way down Ben Nevis

Eventually I overtook and sped off to try and keep the pace up. To be fair, we had caught up some of the lost time now, and Karl's cramp was gone which was a blessing. We eventually stumbled back into the car park after 5 hours and 45 minutes, but reckoned we could have done it in 5 hours.

We jumped into the van and started to devour the burgers Martyn has cooked. I was not that hungry at this time of night, it being about 11pm, but we were constantly reminded we had to eat to keep our strength up.

Off we set for Scafell, our next summit.

Scafell Pike - 3,209 feet and 7 miles Completed in 3 hours and 30 minutes

As we get down off each mountain, we are encouraged to remove our boots to let your feet breath, all except Karl, who kept his boots firmly laced up, allowing all that damp sweat to accumulate (more on blisters later!)

I also had to take my trousers off to get my 2 knee braces off, so I sat in my seat, with pillow against window with a blanket over my lap to maintain my dignity. Unfortunately, I forgot Martyn would pull into a service station halfway to The lakes to allow us to have a toilet break. "Right gents, 5 minutes toilet break. All out"! So the door of the van slid open and I fell out and stood there, half asleep in my under crackers with no shoes on! Thank God there was no one around at that time to see me.

We eventually rolled into the Wasdale car park at about 4.45 am and got ready to start the climb of Scafell Pike.

The Wasdale Head car park at dawn

View of Wast Water at dawn

The aim here was to get up in 2 hours and down as quick as possible, but definitely in no more than 2 hours.

The climb was relentless on this route as we had parked in the base of the mountain where the climb starts as soon as you kick off.. This is a longer drive, but a quicker summit route, and since we were on schedule was the best route to choose. The path was paved steps for the initial 1,500 feet. Whilst this is monotonous and easy to gain footing, it is hard on the feet, and very, very, very steep! I kept my head down and went for a single push to the boulder field, the moonscape just below the summit.

The views were spectacular very quickly

Here we are at one of the very brief stops on the initial part of the climb. Thankfully Karl's cramp had gone and he was keeping good time on Scafell.

Once we got to the boulder field, the landscape changed dramatically. We had to climb over massive boulders with absolutely no clear path. You had to keep your eyes focused and ensure you got a proper footing as we hopped from one boulder to the other. Terry kept shouting to us that the summit push was only around the corner to keep our spirits up. We kept really good time and felt we could make it up in 2 hours as planned. Not long after, we met the path up to the summit and climbed the steep ascent to the summit cairn. We made it to the top in a blistering 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was some going.

At the top of number 2!

With cool hands of hips pose this time!

You will notice on the above that my grey fleece top is wrapped around my waist. This is not the best place to put an essential item of clothing, as it was just getting damp from the rain and mist. It is just that you simply have no time to adjust if you get your layers wrong. I started out from the bottom at dawn and it was cold, so I had my fleece top on. Then started climbing, and it quickly became too hot, so I stopped to take it off and pack away. However, terry does not stop for anything, so I realised I only had time to wrap it around my waist and run off to catch up. Funnily enough, I never wore that top on the entire challenge I was generally so hot!

Here we are on the way down Scafell

I took the picture above of Karl descending Scafell Pike and felt it would be nice to get one of me as well. As I took it, this face below is the one that appeared on the camera! This was absolutely unintentional, and I am still mystified where it came from and why!

Go on, smile you bugger!

 We really went for it on the way down. So fast in fact, whilst I was dreading the prospect of going back over the boulder field, I actually missed it in terms of experiencing the anxiety of twisting an ankle.

I felt bad as we were coming down, when we saw 2 middle-age women lying on the ground. One was beyond exhaustion, and the other was on her knees with forehead on the ground being sick. Their partners were just looking on helpless. The poor people had obviously bitten off more than they could chew. I said to Karl, no matter how bad you feel, there is always someone worse off than you. Rob was too focused on getting down and didn't see the women but beamed at the fellas and said a haughty "hello!" only to get stony stares back.  had to tell him at the bottom why!

When we eventually came jogging into the car park at the bottom, the picture on Martyn's face was brilliant. He was still cooking our sausages and was not expecting us back for another 60 minutes. We pitched in at 3 hours and 30 minutes, beating the record time set the week before by a group whose mission was to break all records, and we were doing 6 peaks, not 3. Well done to everyone on this one. Excellent time.

Overall, this put us ahead of schedule after the slower Ben Nevis and we were back on to achieve a good time. 

We set off at around 08.30 am with 8½ hours to spare and a 4 hour journey ahead.

Still on boys!

Snowdon - 3,560 feet & 8 miles Completed in 2 hours and 40 minutes

We were making good time until we got into Snowdonia, and unfortunately realised it was a formal cycle event running all the way to the Snowdonia national park car park where we were headed. This meant we had to pass cyclists in agonisingly slow sections of narrow steep Welsh mountain roads. This delayed our arrival by 30 minutes, so we were against it to get up in good time but were in no doubt we would make it.

Views on way up Snowdon

I was in such a hurry on Snowdon, I was not really interested in the views to be honest. We have elected to use the PYG route rather than the Miner's track. As usual for our trip, we therefore had to start climbing right from the car park and then could look down at the masses trudging around the lake on the Miner's track, knowing they would have an impossibly steep, and endless climb at the end right to the top.

I hate ever going down hill when I am supposed to be climbing, as it just adds to your climbing. This route was awful! You had a long 3 miles stretch where it undulated up and down over uneven ground. Once we met the Miner's track just below the summit the climbing proper kicked in.

Karl met a chatty girl halfway along this track. he used to be dubbed "sniffer" when we were kids, for his habit of hunting eligible females. Well, all those instincts came out when he started chatting to this girl. All of a sudden, he was off like a whippet, and none of us could keep up. I laughed and said he had no idea he had sped up, just to keep up with this incredibly fit girl who hadn't climbed the other 2 mountains. What was hilarious was when Karl realised he had been jogging and found he could no longer breath and had to collapse in a heap, saying he would see the girl at the top!

We all marched on past and made our own way to the top as quick as we could. Once I got over the summit ridge, I was greeted by the familiar sight of the train to the top with lazy tourists out for a day trip, then having a drink in the highest pub in the UK at the summit.

Here is a video of the train on top of Snowdon.

I have to confess at this point, I underestimated the distance to the summit cairn, and just rang Karen to have a nice chat and let her know I had completed the first day's climbing. Then I realise I had a way to go so rang off and started jogging. I got there to see the hoards of lazy tourists hogging the summit cairn for photos. I am a purist and have to say there is no place for tourists who get the train up to the top to visit the summit cairn. That should be reserved for those who have climbed the mountain and earned the view.

I had made it to the top in good time despite the delays on the road and the slower Ben Nevis time.

I waited for Karl so we could have the summit photo's and had to bags a corner of the trig point to get a picture of us both. They simply would not move the other people - very ignorant!

Karl was still delirious after the climb, and only held up 2 fingers at the top!

How many fingers Karl? Duh! Number 3 completed

We even had time for a swift Shandy in the highest pub in the UK before running down.

I made it to the summit of the 3 highest peaks in UK in 22 hours and 38 minutes.

Now we make the short journey to Mold for our overnight stop before driving to Horton in Ribblesdale for our Yorkshire 3 peaks Challenge in 12 hours.

Day 2 - Yorkshire 3 Peaks - 24 miles 7,500 feet completed in 11 hours

I happen to think it was a mistake staying in Mold the night before this challenge. This meant we had a 2 hours car journey to the start of what is always a very long day. We got up at 5am and had an amazingly early buffet style breakfast at 5.30 am and were leaving the hotel and setting off by 6.15am. However, we hit problems once we came off the M6 motorway as the road into Horton was closed and we had to take a long detour. We eventually pitched up in Horton at 08.35 and set off 3 minutes later at 08.38.

As usual, I set off at blistering pace to ensure Karl knew this one really did require a hell of an effort to ensure you get within the 12 hours. Karl had literally only just managed to get within 12 hours with fresh legs 3 weeks ago, and I was terrified we would not make it, and I would fail in my commitment to sponsors, so off I went at break-neck pace.

Our ML for the day was Darren, a fell runner, but he remained with Karl bringing up the rear. I knew this route very well, and had hoped we could do in our own times, but hadn't really discussed this with Darren. On reflection, I should have done this, as team work is really important on these types of treks. In reality, I became the ML for Rob, and Darren for Karl, but I hadn't thought about the logistics for the group photos on each summit, and that in the end was a problem and it added an hour to the times for the day. Thank God I could still do it well within the 12 hour limit.

For those who have not read my blog before, I did actually complete this very same challenge walk 3 weeks previously and managed a good time of 9 hours and 53 minutes. I wanted to be sure the sponsors could see they were getting VFM whatever happened today.

As with my last effort at the 3YP I got to the top of Pen-Y-Ghent in just over 1 hour.

Pen-Y-Ghent without the cloud cover this time!

Arrived at top in just over an hour

Hello!

Number 4! or is it,"put a ring on it?"

Rob and I waited for Karl to make it up to the top so we could have a group photo. As usual, Karl was keen to carry straight on without a rest so off we went.

I knew I should have worn white!

The route from Pen-Y-Ghent to Whernside is over 10 miles and can be quite punishing on the feet, as half of it is on tarmac or metalled farm tracks. This amazing view below shows the extent of the path back to the top of Pen-Y-Ghent where we had just been.

The path back up to Pen-Y-Ghent

The path you see above is mostly a new path only opened last autumn to allow the dreaded Black Dub Moss route to regenerate. The old route had become so worn, there was absolutely no structure to the soil and people literally sink up to their waists in thick gloopy mud. It can be hugely demoralising, so best avoided.

Eventually you come back down to the Pennine Way, a little longer in terms of miles walked, but much quicker in the grand scheme of things.

New sign greeting 3YPers to the Pennine Way

You only stay on this section of the PW for ½ mile before diverting off towards Ribblesdale Viaduct, some 5 miles away. I was looking forward to getting to the viaduct, as I knew there was a mobile cafe, and since I was not aiming for the record times I set last time, was keen to get some more water and if possible, an ice cream!

Darren thought it was hilarious and took this photo.

No one said I couldn't enjoy myself en-route!

I also managed to buy 1½ litres of water which was a welcome addition as I ran out of water on my last trek.

I was keen to get going, but Karl had major problems with his feet. He had already stopped earlier to have some running repairs but said he would not be able to go on if his feet were not looked at and repaired. To be fair, I had stopped briefly because I found wearing 2 pairs of socks had bunched my toes up, and both my little toes were bleeding, but this just needed a little zinc oxide tape to offer a little protection.

Karl took his sock off on his first foot, and we all looked on in horror. We said where is the blister Karl? he sweeped his hand across his entire sole and said, "sort of in that general area". He basically had a blister encompassing his entire sole on both feet. If you pressed his heel, it sank in and slowly came back as the fluid in his heel resettled. Karl had no blister plasters, and nothing to hold it there, and oddly enough, neither did Darren, our ML. Darren asked Rob for his blister plasters and then complained they were the cheap variety! Rob said he didn't get blisters so did not need to spend lots on them, and furthermore, did not have enough to cover Karl's entire sole on both feet! Then Darren asked for my Zinc Oxide tape to hold several plasters in place on each of Karl's feet.

As soon as we got the remnants of our repair kits back from Darren, Rob and I were off. I was keen to get going because my brother had offered to meet me on top of Whernside and I promised him I would be there about 3pm and it was 2pm now and I wanted to crack on. As usual, I became ML for Rob as he was keen to get going as well.

Ribblehead Viaduct with Whernside in background

We came to this waterfall again, which as last time signals the start of the ascent up Whernside. I pointed out the direction to Rob, and let him run on ahead, being much fitter than me.

Halfway up the mountain, you gt an amazing view back to Pen-Y-Ghent where we had come from, some 10 miles into the distance.

View back to Pen-Y-Ghent 10 miles away now

It was at this point my phone started peeping with messages, and I thought this would be a good idea to tell my brother Peter I may miss him and that I would arrive about 2.45pm and would not wait longer than 3.10 pm before setting off. I got a curt message back saying,"I'm already here and waiting!". Bloody hell I thought. OK, I said, I'll be there in 15 minutes. I knew Rob was already going to be there, so hoped they had introduced themselves. I now started to push on and got there on time at 2.45. Karl was miles behind, so we had some quality time for a chat and a laugh before Karl arrived and we would have to set off.

Number 5 - Still feeling good!

It was surreal seeing my brother on top of a remote mountain in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales, but we are the Ramage's and we do surreal pretty well in my book!

Fancy meeting you here!

Who would have thought it?!

High five!

The first thing I asked my brother after a hug was, "have you brought me any treats from Mum?". He did not disappoint, but this came from him, not Mum. He had bought me ½lb of Lions Midget Gems - my absolute favourite sweets in the whole wide world. When I was at school, I was in the Dock Boot Gang, also dubbed the Midget Gem Gang! I used to buy ¼lb of midget gems every day at Boarding School, and ½lb on Sundays. They were laid out ready for me on the counter of Suggitt's and I just handed over the money. On my wedding day, Pete, my Best Man, bought me an entire box weighing about 10lbs!!  

Me and Rob first to the top. I swear than belly is the rucksack buckle, not me - honest!

Group shot at last - 5-up!

Here with Darren our ML - 5 for us, 2 for him!

We decided to get on as soon as we could after Karl arrived and he again elected to come with us and not to stop, for fear of cramp setting in. 

Peter agreed to come back down via our route which was great as we could carry on catching up on things. Peter had parked near the viaduct and walked around Whernside, so this was his route back in any case.

At the bottom of the steep descent of Whernside, you get this great view of the viaduct.

It was here we had to bid farewell to Peter. Thanks for making the effort to come and see me off and give me some moral support. In actual fact, I really thing Peter just came to protect his very generous £50 investment in my charity, to ensure I was not cheating and would make it around!

Ta ta Peter - Nice catching up!

It is only a short distance from here to the beginning of the final route up Ingleborough. There is not much distance between the 2 at this stage. Now we got a good view of the final obstacle, but only I knew of the horror of that final ascent, and boy, did I keep rubbing that in for poor Rob!

Ingleborough comes into view

Now you can see the awesome scale of the final peak

You enter the final path up to Ingleborough through a gate which signals the rather ancient distance of 2& 3/8ths miles to Ingleborough. Off we set at a reasonable pace. Karl was nowhere to be seen now.

Rob marching off into the distance.

As I approached the final vertical ascent, I had no idea if the cramp would set in again. I was pleasantly surprised it was fine. I did not find it anything like as hard as last time. The only problem here is that I at last ran out of water, despite buying an additional 1½ litres at Whernside. I was desperate for more fluid, and though I knew Rob was waiting at the top, I set off to locate some fresh water from the brook. I had to swing out over a precarious drop to get to the stream, but didn't care. I took out my water bladder and proceeded to fill it up. Then I checked it to see how clear it was. Damn! It was a menagerie of wildlife with larvae of every kind swimming around. I had to pour it all away. I then got to the saddle of Ingleborough and went further beyond, seeking the source of the spring to see if I could get clear water. I got another fill up but alas, still full of creatures, so that was it! No water and still 4 miles to go!

When I got to the top of Ingleborough I could sense Rob was pissed off. I had kept him waiting whilst seeking out water, and he was dry now also. I promised Rob I would get him on the right path after photos and so we hurried some quick shots to show the world we have completed all 6 peaks. Due to my messing around, Rob was on for a 10 hour circuit time and me (allowing for a slower descent than last time) a 10½ hour time, both very respectable.

6-up and Challenge Complete!

Whilst we were chatting on top of Ingleborough, Karl was still making his way up to the final ascent.

Karl making way to final vertical ascent. We were on top by this stage

Just as we were making our way down to the path having descended the final peak, Rob said he could see Karl collapsing over the saddle in the distance. Shit - what to do? We would have been off and on for a brilliant time if we went now. Rob to be fair was really good and said it would be poor form to leave now, so we had to wait a further 30 minutes, including climbing back up Ingleborough again so we could get the group shot for the Company.

As Darren came up to us, he had a face like thunder. "What's up?" I said. he told me, "bad news boys, you are going to miss your celebratory steak dinner because Karl is going to take 3 hours to get down from here, which will take us beyond last orders for food." We had to laugh. At least the pressure to sprint to the end was over. We just used this as a good opportunity to take the mickey out of Karl. Look now, you've cost us our Steak Supper!

6-up, or is it 7?!!!

At least this gave me an opportunity to hand round some of the famous Midget gems.

Look how happy Midget Gems make me!!

Once on the right path, Rob literally sprinted off, and I hobbled off in pursuit, with Karl holding up the rear. Then you come to the famous 2 & 3/4 mile sign and get excited, but not now! I know it is a teaser. After a further 1½ miles you come to this soul destroying sign saying 2 miles to go! I did check this sign for accuracy on this occasion and can confirm it is really accurate. it is the just the sign before that is a problem.

After an agonising 2 hours, as predicted, I hobbled into Horton on 11 hours. Well within the 12 hours target. We had all planned to meet in the pub in Horton and eat there, and wait for all the party to assemble. When I crossed the railway line, I could already see Rob sitting next to the car. I was on the phone to Karen having declared my arrival, and immediately realised, ROB HAD LEFT HIS BLOODY WALLET IN THE CAR!! So he had arrived 30 minutes before me, with no drink, and had gone to order his beer only to realise he had no money. he begged for a glass of tap water, promising he would be buying a drink later when Darren arrived with Karl, but that may be some time off!

I told Rob not to worry, we would buy a meal and drink on me and he could pay me back when Darren arrived. So we marched off down to the pub. We quickly realised this was an excellent accident. The pub was amazing. The Old Peculiar beer was like nectar and we could see the food was good from the other people in the bar, so looked forward to ordering. It was 8pm by now, and again, Rob, being ever the polite one, said we should wait until the last minute before ordering in case Karl got back in time for food. The last order for food was 8.45pm. I said we should order both their meals even if they were later, and they could still eat it cold.

As it happens, Karl wondered in just in time to order his food.

here is a picture of Karl at the end of his challenge!

Karl collapses after his challenge

Darren and the company very kindly offered to pay for our meals, despite their money having been invested in the pub in Skiption we could not make now, and also said we could afford starters in this pub. When the food came was literally out of this world. I can honestly say, my started was like a desperate Dan meal, and was the best starter I have ever eaten in my entire life! It was black pudding and bacon on a bed of salad. By the time our main meals came, we were looking on with sated expressions not sure we could tackle the main event now! I managed half of mine. Pity Rufus wasn't there to pick up the spoils.

We set off for the Craven Heffer hotel in Skipton soon after 9.30 pm and got there just after 10pm. It was not really in Skipton, more Grassington. I am always suspicious of places called "South Skipton". Where the hell is that? As we stood at the bar waiting to register, Rob took a look around and said, "am I the only one who thinks we had a lucky escape not making it back here for our celebration meal?" he was not wrong. It looked dead and a dump.

Karl and I went down to the bar after dropping off our gear to have a soft drink. I specifically told the bar manageress my parents were coming tomorrow morning at 9am and she should treat them well, as I don't see them as often as I should. Of course I will she said. remember this when i tell you how she treated them in the morning!

When the morning came, Karl and I got down for breakfast about 7.30am. It was grim to be honest. No cooked breakfast and a selection of stale croissants, Dairy Lee triangles, Mini Babybell, and bloody Pepperami in their wrappers!

My parents arrived at 9am as promised, and as I had notified the Manageress, and were looking forward to having a coffee and some breakfast. They were told refreshments were only for paying guests and the breakfast was over, despite still being laid out and available. Zero points Craven Heifer for hospitality and good will.

There was a fearsome array of dangerous instruments of torture on the walls, that wouldn't pass many H&S inspections. See below for the scythe hanging precariously over the door, waiting to swipe off the heads of anyone who dares to ask for a coffee or cooked breakfast!

Karl sitting under the dangerous looking scythe!

Without any offer of breakfast, my parents quickly got ready to leave back for home. They very kindly offered to drive Karl back to Blackburn, rather than have him getting a train back.

We had time to get a final group shot together in the car park, and got this, what I believe to be the best shot of us all.

The Mighty Six Peakers!

Well folks, that's it for another year. It was on the face of it an impossible challenge, but as always, the human spirit is strong when the rewards are great. My cause is one that could carry me to the Moon and back. As always, I have to offer a massive thank you to all my sponsors of my Breast Cancer charity. You have been more than generous as always.

Also, a massive thank you to Advocate Events for organising all the logistics for the event and getting us around in the required times to achieve our goals. I would recommend them to anyone else looking to do a similar challenge. They are very knowledgeable and friendly. Anyone interested in looking them up, use the link below:

http://www.advocateevents.org/

What comes next is still to be decided. It is becoming more difficult to dream up another challenge that seem more and more impossible, whilst I get older and older. As you all know by now, I leave a few years between charitable events, so don't worry about that. I do a major challenge every year to keep me in trim but the next charity event will be something from the following:

1. 9 Peaks in 3 days - covering the 3 Sisters, 3 national peaks, Y3Ps
2. The Pennine Way - 278 miles in 3 weeks
3. Offas Dyke - 177 miles in 2 weeks
4. Mont Blanc and The Matterhorn

Until that day, here's me, one of the Mighty Six Peakers, signing off and retiring for a hot bath and a well earned break!

Remember, my sponsorship page will remain open for several months yet if you are interested in making a donation:

http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Ramage6PC/new/2

Bye.