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Yorkshire 3 Peaks - 28 December 2011

Jan 01, 2012

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks on a gusty, damp wintry morning in God’s Own County was the perfect antidote for the softness caused by too many nights out, too many mince pies and too much mulled wine in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Growing up in the Yorkshire Dales, I have climbed the individual peaks of Pen-y-Ghent (694m / 2,277ft), Whernside (736m / 2,415ft) and Ingleborough (723m / 2,372ft) many times and I never tire of running or walking the highest points in Yorkshire.

I first ran the 24.5 mile (39.2km) Yorkshire 3 Peaks route a couple of years ago, during perfect summer conditions, although still managed to lose my way (and one of my trainers) across the notoriously muddy bogs of Horton Moor. So when Henry Topham asked if I was keen to run the route with him on his birthday I couldn’t wait to give it another go...

So teaming up with Henry and Martin Smith (both Old-Giggleswickian’s), the three of us set off from Horton-in-Ribblesdale just before sun-rise to attempt the circular course which weaves its way up, over, round, down and through the impressive landscape of limestone, sandstone, peat covered fells and glacial till.

The route heads out of the village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale to the first and smallest peak of the three, Pen-y-Ghent, where we were joined by a fourth Old-Giggleswickian (Henry Meredith), who had a quick canter up and down the peak as part of his training for the Rome Marathon.

We made steady progress up Pen-y-Ghent, despite being slightly slowed by the strong head winds on the steep ascent, reaching the first trig point in just over half an hour. From here, a quick yet blustery descent allowed us to make up some time lost due to the strong wind, before leaving Henry M as he made his way back in to Horton.

The remaining three of us continued our winter dash across the wet, extremely boggy and at times treacherous long haul to the second peak (Whernside). Navigation across this largely flat stretch can be difficult during the winter and finding stable footing became particularly challenging, which I found out the hard way, sinking waist deep in to a bog. After a few more comical slips and falls by all of us, we reached Ribblehead Viaduct and the start of our second real climb, unscathed but damp and mud spattered.

Still in good spirits and making good progress (just over two hours in so far), we began the long climb up the side of Whernside. The climb isn’t particularly challenging, however the bracing winds we experienced earlier in the day had followed us and picked up in strength, bringing with it hailstones and bitterly cold conditions. Making our way across to the trig point through the snow lined plateau the wind continued to strengthen slowing our pace immensely, as we battled to keep our footing and forward momentum.

Descending from Whernside was not only a relief in terms of getting some protection from the wind and cold but also meant we only had one more peak to go. After a quick refuel and a stretch we cracked on making quick progress across to our final climb, Ingleborough. Initially we climbed gradually towards the summit before ascending a steep zigzag path up the sheer side of Ingleborough.

Once at the top, all we had left was a 4-5 mile descent back down Ingleborough, through limestone outcrops and a few fields to reach the village of Horton. The final face-plant of the day went to Martin as our battered legs and bodies coped with the uneven ground as we moved towards the sanctuary of the car and the promise of a curry later that night.

We finished the route in six hours. Not bad given the conditions but we will be back for more and a quicker time.

A great way to end 2011.

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