3 Peaks aftermath.

Hi there,

What can I say, it wasn't meant to be. The conditions were impossible and we were told by firemen, local mountain walkers, family and everyone else that attempting 3 peaks in October was seriously tough . Our scouser driver repeatedly told us how many groups had tried and failed and that we were nuts
Well on arrival at Glasgow it was chilly and blustery and even at the foot of 1344m Ben nevis it was not apparent that the weather was going to get so treacherous. The team was positive and well prepared and we were in good spirits for the first hour and a half. It was pitch black but once on the main pathway we were moving steadily. The wind was picking up and the rain was constant and flowing off the mountains through the path.
After traversing the first part of our climb the wind picked up dramatically and was swirling around us. The wind was penetrating everyone's clothing with the wind increasing to 70-90mph and the wind chill factor was meaning every slight stop was making us cold. We pushed on for a further 45minutes but when we got to 900 metres the ground opened up and the wind was blowing us around like kites. We had 90 minutes plus to climb to the summit at best but the reality was that someone could easily be blown off the side of the path or loose there footing in the conditions and we had no chance of looking after them with everyone getting cold. So with everyone in agreement i said we needed to go bach down. I think any other decsion would have been irresponsible and it was not taken lightly. As we turned wind was into us like no-one had ever felt and it took so much energy and time to walk a short distance I was immeadiately sure it was the right decsion to turn back. At one stage we all locked arms to stop us all being blown around and Tooves ( our smallest member)could barely stand up. We were all worried and just wanted to get out of the wind asap. Coming down was seriously dangerous and the wind and rain was cutting us in two. It took us 90minutes plus to come down but with only a few slips and no injuries, I was relieved. All our gear was soaked through and we were cold to the bone.
When we had changed and warmed up we got reports Scafell and Snowdon were even worse conditions. We drove to Manchester and decided, to try any more walking was dangerous, foolhardy and not what we wanted to do the challenge for in the first place.
Unfortunately the challenge was over but we live to fight again and in fact the walking and mountains we not our victor it was the conditions. A huge thank you to the guys on the expedition for being so strong of mind and calm in the face of treacherous and barren conditions. We have gelled as a team in the face of adversity and do not take lightly to failure. We will be back.
See below for conditions and just add 800metres, a 5ft wide path and pitch darkness to understand the predicament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4aB50qNoz0