National 3 Peaks

[stomper]

Myself and my brother and freinds will be doing the national 3 peaks this coming August. Now i know the quickest route up Nevis but its the route up Scarfell Pike i am not too sure about as there are a few routes up. The first is by Seatoller and the other is from Wastdale.. If any of you have done the NTP which route up did you go. I believe Wastdale could be the quickest but could be wrong

[electricfly]

Haven't done these as the NTP challenge but have hiked various routes on Scafell Pike and would agree that starting from Wasdale head and up via Brown Tongue would be your best approach for a fastest ascent.

[jmarkb]

According to http://www.national3peaks.com/scafell-pike/ the Wasdale route is an hour shorter to walk, but adds an hour to the driving time. I suspect the Wasdale route is easier to navigate in the dark.

[AJNicholls]

I've done the National Three Peaks Challenge before and have done Scafell Pike from both Wasdale Head (at night) and Seathwaite (AKA The Corridor Route, in daylight) so I figure I can try to answer this for you.

The Wasdale Head route is shorter but far steeper. I believe it's actually a route that Wainwright discovered and considered a short-cut, but has since become a main track as a result of overuse from Three Peakers. The Seathwaite route is far more pleasant, although if you're doing it at night (as the Pike is usually done on a Three Peaks Challenge) then much of this will be missed. The route I took from Seathwaite had a short scramble on it too, which I might not have been keen on in the dark.

If the total time ends up being equal when comparing Wasdale (shorter walk plus longer drive) and Seathwaite (longer walk plus shorter drive,) go for the former. Despite the better views from Seathwaite, consider the fact that Scafell Pike is far from England's best mountain and you'll enjoy Snowdon a lot more without an extra 2 hours' pressure on the knees.

Cheers.

[Milesy]

I will pay you not to do it or do it via alternative routes

[jmarkb]

You may well be beyond the point of no return, but I would encourage anyone thinking of doing this to do something more original and with less environmental impact.

[NickyRannoch]

if you must do it please leave the poor people off wasdale out of it.

im sure your a responsible person but others are not. all through the summer the residents have to contend with vans cars and minibuses coming through at all times of the day and night and people leaving their detritus - including bodily waste.

[stig_nest]

I overnighted on Lingmell in the summer last year as part of an ''all wainwrights in one year challenge''. getting up after dark for a call of nature I was amused at first to see the centipede of head torches etc on their way up/down the slopes.. then I started to think of the horrendously rocky upper slopes.. I honestly don't see it as a challenge to do all 3 in 24hrs.. It flies in face of common sense to climb the pike after dark. A fact made all the more obvious when at around 2:30 am I was awoken by the r.a.f. sea king arriving on scene - someone had taken a tumble and broken a leg.
Why not set a more unique challenge of say, climb the U.K. top 10 in one week. Or even do the welsh 3 peals between sunrise and sunset (Pen y Fan, Cadair Idris, Snowdon).
As stated - people live in Wasdale and Seatoller for that matter. How would you feel if you were being woken up every night by bus loads of charity walkers?- You wont enjoy the pike after dark because you wont see anything and surely that's the most important thing.

[stevesey]

Was thinking of doing it this year - but tending towards a 3 night camp at Wasdale Head, with a couple of very long circuits from there instead. Really fancy something like Lakeland 3000 as it's a tougher challenge anyway

[Circles]

These challenges have always seemed a bit pointless to me...but each to their own...I'm always bemused at people moaning about crowds and the environmental impact of lots of walkers...but never hear anyone voluntering to do their bit to help by stopping walking...You can't arrive at the top of Ben Lomond and complain about the crowds because you just added to it...If people want to walk it at night, wild camp, whatever, each to their own...as long as they are respectful of the communities it shoudln't be an issue...organisers should ensure there are sufficient facilities on site to reduce the impact...and locals should charge them like wounded bulls for bottled water and use of facilities (lets not forget that tourists, particularly walkers are the lifeblood of these communities...the 28 walking shops in Ambleside, 52 in Kendal and 78 in Windemere rely on this for example).

Having said that, spending 24 hours looking at your feet and walking in the dark...why would you bother...if you want a real challenge go do the Inca or Kokoda Trail

[GableNovice]

I can see where people are coming from about the environmental impact however the mountains involved in the challenge (particularly Snowdon and Ben Nevis) are going to be busy regardless of 3 peakers simply because of their statuses as the highest mountain in their respective countries. Snowdon and Ben Nevis particular due to their accessibility are completely over walked however it would be impossible and perhaps wrong to limit the amount of people walking on them. The best thing surely would be to encourage people not to litter and take any litter they see off the mountain and in regards to erosion, stick to the main paths so as to limit the damage to a smaller area. As much as I hate seeing deep lines worn across mountains it's better than seeing whole slopes worn away.

[johnkaysleftleg]

I'll add my voice to the "why not try a more original 3 peaks?"
In all honesty the three least enjoyable hill walks I've done have been these. Scafell Pike may be much better via the corridor route but in the dark you just asking to fall down Piers Gill. In fairness to Snowdon it was largely down to the weather and the Ben via the Pony track was just a treadmill with hundreds of others. Never done a walk that I had to wait for a space in the endless line of walkers to restart after a rest.

[dodec]

To most it's not the routes that are the challenge or even important, but the fact that they are done within 24hrs. It's a challenge and like the London Marathon it's going to attract people.

If you are doing it as a small independent group, then go for it (Wasdale is the quickest route but do park as far away from habitation as you can). If you're doing at as one of these large scale 'charity' events then i'd reconsider, it's these that are the main cause of disruption, just go independent.

I organised a small group of friends a few years ago, we did it independently and raised some money for a local hospice, it was a great weekend.....But would i do it again..Nope

Instead, the following year we did Tryfan N ridge in the morning, then Striding Edge/Helvellyn in the late afternoon/evening...followed by a cracking dinner and several (probably too many) beers in the Travellers Rest before the trip to Fort William. The morning brought on the Carn Mor Dearg arete from the CIC hut and then on to the Ben.....Despite it being August, we hardly saw a sole, until the summit of the Ben of course.
All in this was a bigger challenge and far more enjoyable for taking a little more time over it.

[stevesey]

To most it's not the routes that are the challenge or even important, but the fact that they are done within 24hrs. It's a challenge and like the London Marathon it's going to attract people.

... the following year we did Tryfan N ridge in the morning, then Striding Edge/Helvellyn in the late afternoon/evening...followed by a cracking dinner and several (probably too many) beers in the Travellers Rest before the trip to Fort William. The morning brought on the Carn Mor Dearg arete from the CIC hut and then on to the Ben.....Despite it being August, we hardly saw a sole, until the summit of the Ben of course.
All in this was a bigger challenge and far more enjoyable for taking a little more time over it.

That's exactly my reason for re-considering - the routes are important to me - I don't just want to slog up the quick tourist routes. So Snowdon via Crib Gouch, Ben Nevis via the CMD and an elongated Scafells walk (not all in the in same weekend though) are on my list instead.

N.B If you do the 3 peaks close to June 23rd do you really do that much walking in the dark - if you get the timing right most of the dark hours can be used up on the road between Fort William and Wasdale can't they?.

[simon-b]

To most it's not the routes that are the challenge or even important, but the fact that they are done within 24hrs. It's a challenge and like the London Marathon it's going to attract people.

... the following year we did Tryfan N ridge in the morning, then Striding Edge/Helvellyn in the late afternoon/evening...followed by a cracking dinner and several (probably too many) beers in the Travellers Rest before the trip to Fort William. The morning brought on the Carn Mor Dearg arete from the CIC hut and then on to the Ben.....Despite it being August, we hardly saw a sole, until the summit of the Ben of course.
All in this was a bigger challenge and far more enjoyable for taking a little more time over it.

That's exactly my reason for re-considering - the routes are important to me - I don't just want to slog up the quick tourist routes. So Snowdon via Crib Gouch, Ben Nevis via the CMD and an elongated Scafells walk (not all in the in same weekend though) are on my list instead.

N.B If you do the 3 peaks close to June 23rd do you really do that much walking in the dark - if you get the timing right most of the dark hours can be used up on the road between Fort William and Wasdale can't they?.