It was a series of early departures for team G&G as we set out to climb three of Yorkshire’s peaks. We left the office around 3pm and after a five-ish hour journey arrived at base camp to find we were just a little too late for a session in the spa.
The team reconvened tired-eyed and slightly woozy from force feeding ourselves carbohydrates and bananas many hours before our stomachs had woken up. We wearily lifted our packs full of water and warm waterproof gear into a minibus to head to the hills.
When we arrived at the event’s welcome tent it was dark and cloudy enough to obscure the magnitude of the challenge awaiting in the hills. For this early portion the team were effectively walking through cloud which challenged the wicking properties of our recently purchased outdoor gear.
Within a couple of hours, having scrambled up a few slippery rocks and having agreed that Suffolk’s completely flat countryside had failed to prepare us for the realities of the ascent, the team reached the top. We only had time for a quick photo and a handful of chocolate biscuits before descending into an eight mile walk to the next hill.
As we began the descent the mist started to change from dark grey to lighter grey with spots of what might be interpreted as sunny sky. The forecast had promised clear skies and 25-degree sun and over the other side of the first peak the team’s faith in the BBC weather app was restored as we descended from the mist into a shining green Yorkshire dale.
With a flatter terrain and the sunshine drying our hair and fleeces the team’s discussions turned with optimism towards the promise of bacon sandwiches at the first checkpoint and which of the daunting peaks ahead we would have to climb. It was a pleasant walk of modest inclines and declines with the famous Ribblehead Viaduct as its guiding star.
The first checkpoint delivered on the bacon (and sausage!) sandwiches and the team took the opportunity to hurriedly take some food and water on board whilst remaining mindful of the need to keep our tired muscles moving. We didn’t linger long and soon set off past the viaduct onto the second peak, Whernside.
Whernside presented a long and steady incline to the long ridge running along its peak. By this point in the day (still breakfast time) the skies had cleared, and the morning’s mist was far behind us. We could clearly see the peak and the long walk towards it. Wewere kept motivated by the steadily improving views and the thought of a full 360 view of the valley at the top.
Bags were unzipped, sweets wrappers crinkled, and Coca-Cola cans cracked open. With our eyes fixed on the peak and with ample assistance from Bertie Bassett the team dug deep and kept climbing up the slate steps to the top with only the occasional rest stop.
The peak delivered total views of the dales, and our team delighted in seeing where we had been and where we were yet to go. We struggled to believe that we had already walked so far… and still had so far to go at this halfway point.
The second (and final) checkpoint was positioned very near the bottom of the second hill with some clever marketing enroute causing a vulnerable captive audience to desire a £2 glass of orange squash with a fervour not experienced since early childhood. The team rested for another short period of time at the extremely well-stocked snack shack and then continued to the third peak, Ingleborough.
It was another gentle ascent fuelled by orange squash through a very pleasant nature reserve, but we had been lulled into a false sense of security. At the end of the lush green pastures and beach-holiday boardwalks we encountered a scar in the hillside.
We had been wondering how exactly we would be climbing to the top of the third peak when we were getting closer and closer without much of an ascent. The answer was a black zigzag leading more than halfway up the peak from the pleasant pasture. As we approached it we saw it was populated by climbers in the charity’s blue tee shirts.
The team, who had grown tired climbing what were essentially very long sets of stairs, would now be forced to climb a rocky slate ladder to the peak. For those who had not yet cracked open their can of Coca-Cola, now came the time for that injection of energy.
The extreme ascent made the relatively steep final portion of the climb to the final peak seem much gentler. We reached the top of the final hill. It was more plateau than peak – with a rocky moon-like surface (without any of the relief from gravity) – but with tens of thousands of small steps we had made it!
The third and final descent was the longest, essentially being a five-mile long walk downhill back to the welcome tent. By this point sugar reserves were running low, and legs were exhausted, but we marched on.
With hills and bends keeping the endpoint out of sight and guided mostly by wooden signs whose estimations of distance had clearly been set before the invention of GPS, the team had to summon the best of our willpower to make it to the finish.
Eventually the shining white tent at the bottom of a hill appeared with the finish line in sight. The greenery and hills gave way to train tracks and tarmac, and we hobbled on to the endpoint.
Back at the camp we were treated to a choice between pizza and fish and chips (gravy optional) supported by a well-stocked bar. We rested our weary feet and snoozed on the journey home.
This account glosses over some of the gruesome details! It really was an arduous undertaking for our heroes. Every member of the team achieved something so thank you so much to those who have already sponsored us, please do think about donating in recognition of their hard work and sacrifice if you haven’t already done so.
Greene & Greene (cancerresearchuk.org)
Jonathan, Harriet, Ali, Lee, Andrew, Tim, Greg, Mark W, Helen, Sally & Melanie.
