Thank you so much to the team and to the many wonderful people who are supporting us on this challenge – you can see a few of the other team members on their sites as follows:
Challenge date:
21 - 23 August 2009 Mount Snowdon Scafell Pike Ben Nevis 36 hours! Wearing pink knickers!
Saturday 22nd August
The Pink Pants team at the summit of Mount Snowdon
We have a very early start and breakfast in the minibus on the way to Snowdon, which we start at 6.23am. It’s a wonderful clear morning and it looks like we will get views from the top of Snowdon. We start Snowdon in excellent spirits, climbing the beautiful Pyg Track. There’s hardly anyone about. When we do start to meet people, they want to know what we are doing and why we are wearing pink knickers. We give out leaflets to them. Everyone is very generous with donations on the way – we had not expected this. The pink pants have certainly got us noticed! We have a really delightful climb to the top – in my two previous trips to Snowdon, we did not have such excellent climbing conditions – this is wonderful! We arrive at the top around 9am and have amazing views, it is so beautiful but we don’t have much time to stop and admire the views for long – we have work to do! We descend on the Miners track, arriving back at the car park about 11.20am, having taken 5 hours to complete Snowdon. We are on schedule and everyone is really pleased to have completed our first mountain.
We make our way over to Scafell Pike in the Lake District – the holiday traffic means we don’t arrive there until 6pm and are now 2 hours behind schedule. On the way, most people have some sleep but it’s quite squashy in the minibus – we are practically sleeping on each other’s shoulders! We are getting to know each other really well! When we arrive, we quickly get ready for the climb. The leaders want us to make up time on this mountain, so we get going at a quick pace. One of the team had suffered a knee injury which had been exacerbated by the climb on Snowdon and it rapidly becomes apparent that she is unable to continue safely. This is devastating news and we share a few tears at this stage. She bravely returns to the minibus and I continue, but I am very, very tired. This is so hard – my right leg is swollen and very heavy at this stage (I have lymphoedema) – I had expected this but it is still tough.
Ian is behind me and pushing me to continue. I wonder how I will ever get up this mountain. There is a rapid, steep ascent for the first half of Scafell – I am not sure I ever want to see this mountain again… Only the kindness of the team members gets me through, along with Ian’s relentless tactics to drive me on. Natasha very kindly offers to carry my rucksack, and then John (an amazing man who joined the team, climbing for another charity, but who so kindly wore the pink pants and supported us unfailingly) and Richard carry my belongings between them. Their incredible support helps me through this dark stage of the climb. I couldn’t have got there without them.
We arrive at the top of Scafell Pike around 8.15pm – it’s still light and we have some views from the top but we can’t stop, we need to start our descent as darkness will soon be upon us. The exhilaration from getting to the top doesn’t last for long – a short way down and it is almost pitch black. The initial excitement from wearing my head torch is short-lived – it’s hard climbing down in the dark on this rocky terrain. We are also descending on a different route. It’s longer but shallower. Whereas our climb was only 4 miles of steep ascent, the 7 mile descent takes us more than twice as long. This is where many of the team hit their low point. It’s dark and there are stony cliffs to traverse – later it starts to rain. Lou has a horrendous blister which has to be burst. Everyone is tired and hungry - this part of the walk seems interminable. It’s 1am by the time we get to the minibus, the rain is heavier and all we can do is bundle into the minibus to start our journey up to Ben Nevis. We are all shattered – even though it is cramped, sleep is soon upon us.
Paula
Mount Snowdon 
We have a very early start and breakfast in the minibus on the way to Snowdon, which we start at 6.23am. It’s a wonderful clear morning and it looks like we will get views from the top of Snowdon. We start Snowdon in excellent spirits, climbing the beautiful Pyg Track. There’s hardly anyone about. When we do start to meet people, they want to know what we are doing and why we are wearing pink knickers. We give out leaflets to them. Everyone is very generous with donations on the way – we had not expected this. The pink pants have certainly got us noticed! We have a really delightful climb to the top – in my two previous trips to Snowdon, we did not have such excellent climbing conditions – this is wonderful! We arrive at the top around 9am and have amazing views, it is so beautiful but we don’t have much time to stop and admire the views for long – we have work to do! We descend on the Miners track, arriving back at the car park about 11.20am, having taken 5 hours to complete Snowdon. We are on schedule and everyone is really pleased to have completed our first mountain.
