...and finally....

The Lost Boyz - Roger Staplehurst, Mike Staplehurst, Jules Webb and myself, Matthew Izzard are four middle aged guys who had an idea to try something out of the ordinary on a dark December night in a local pub.
Our ambition has been acomplished. But how? What started of as a grand idea really did grow into something grand. Four climbers, three support team, god knows how many helpers. We all did the Three Peaks Challenge in time - over 50% of people trying it don't. We even managed to raise over £2,000 for charity.
The reason we made it was down to those who love us and unconditional support and assistance given.
We'd like to thank Kirsty, Claire, Mandy and Mikes wife for supporting us all the way. Tony and his wife for driving us in the Scotland leg, Jules for his amazing support and getting us there, Richard Hobbs for the location of hot meals. Roger's bosses wife for loaning her Tom Tom (almost returned in one piece!) and last, but not least all of you who donated and encouraged us.
I'm going to be a bit selfish now. I'd like to make a personal thank you before signing off. To my best mate, Rog, for allowing me to buy him that extra pint that made him say 'Yes! Let's do it!'
Rog, mate, WE DID IT!!

Final Goodbyes

While we were completing the Challenge it was fantastic watching others finishing and experiencing the same emotions as us - we made many friends over the 24 hours.
Claire and Mandy provided tea and refreshments - Mandy even climbing Snowdon herself and encouraged us all on!
Something akin to rigor mortis set in after a very short period - we sat down for drinks and while the girls got the cars for the journey back four middle aged guys were acting like geriatrics walking around like John Wayne on a bad day!
We changed in the car park and sorted out kit and then drove to Betws-y-Coed and had a meal and a celebratory drink.
Tiredness set in and the journey back was a quiet one but with a great sense of acomplishment.
These were the final times:

Ben Nevis Start: Saturday 16th June 2007, 4.30pm
Ben Nevis Summit : Saturday 16th June 2007, 7.20pm (2hr 55min)
Ben Nevis Desent: 1hr 55min
Ben Nevis Base: Saturday 16th June 2007, 9.15pm (Total 4hr 45min)

Fort William to Seathwaite Drive Time: 5hr

Scafell Pike (Seathwaite) Start: Sunday 17th June 2007, 2.15am
Scafell Pike Summit: Sunday 17th June 2007, 5.10am (2hr 55min)
Scafell Pike (Seathwaite) Desent: 2hr 20min
Scafell Pike (Seathwaite) Base: Sunday 17th June 2007, 7.30am (Total: 5hr 15min)

Seathwaite to Llanberis Drive Time: 3hr 40min

Snowdon (Pyg) Start: Sunday 17th June 2007, 11.10am
Snowdon Summit: Sunday 17th June, 2007, 1.20pm (2hr 10min)
Snowdon (Miners) Desent: 2hr 5min
Snowdon (Miners) Base: Sunday 17th June 2007, 3.25pm (Total: 4hr 15min)

Total: 22hr 55min

Snowdon

If it hadn't been for our support team and Jules encouragement we would never have done it. The girls made up the 45 mins we lost on Scafell on the drive to Wales. We managed about an hours sleep on the way and we arrived at Pen-Y-Pass with 5 hours to do Snowdon.
The training we had done a few months ago really helped here. We knew the route and we knew we could do it in the time. We deicided to try and go as a team and went up the Pyg Track.
Progress was steady and we took our time due to fatigue. When it got to the steeper bits we all went at our own speed and once we had got to the top we decided to decend however we felt best.
It was a long walk back, we went down Miners as this was easier and it felt very emotional finishing, crossing the line, being applauded by all the other teams and supporters doing the Three Peaks that weekend.

Scafell Pike

This was by far the hardest of the Three Peaks. We had driven through the night and partly due to excitement at the great time we had done Ben in, the buzz of actually being underway and trying to sleep in a car meant that we all only grabbed a few minutes at tops. It has to be said that Tony did an amazing job of driving - he slept overnight in the car at Scafell and then drove the hire car back to Scotland next morning. He got us to Scafell under time and we started climbing at 2.15am - in the pitch dark. We decided to go the Seathwaite route as, although this was longer, it is an easier climb. We all had torch 'headlights' on and in a way this made it easier as it meant we concentrated on what was ahead of us in vision rather than the whole climb. We did well, getting to the 'hard part' after 1hr 20mins, just as it started to get light.
Then all the warnings at to why Scafell is the hardest came to light as well. There is a boulderfield at the top of Scafell which we had to clamber across, in the wet. It was very tricky and the knees started to ache, progress was very slow, we were very tired and tempers, while not frazzled made us less tolerant than normal.
It is then thatthings really got tough. We had to decend about 100m on boulders and scree, picking our way carefully. The clouds came down and we had a very sharp climb up boulders to the summit of Scafell Pike. We had lost the 45mins we had made on Ben Nevis, were hurting a lot and had to go back over the terrible boulders.
The pictures tell the story of how we were feeling. But we knew we had a job to do and still plenty of time.
The desent was also very slow and painful - but the prevailling mentality was to get down. each step was a step closer to breakfast and a cup of tea. In the end we all managed it, exhausted in 5hrs and 15mins - 45 mins over our schedule but only 15mons over the recommended time.
Mandy, Claire and Tony met us at the bottom with hot breakfast and tea - wonderful. We all bundled into two cars, Tony heading back to Scotland in the third car and we left to Snowdon, the final climb!

It's Wednesday - three days after the event

I'm still ....

- knackered
- falling asleep
- work seems a million miles away

oh, and one member is already calling for a 2008 challenge!! Fact - The man is going to die.

WE DID IT!!!!

We've all arrived home and we'll update the blog properly later - too much sleep and family to catch up with first!

We all completed the Challenge in the following times:

Roger Staplehurst: 22hrs 43mins
Jules Web: 22hrs 55mins
Matthew Izzard: 22hrs 55mins
Mike Staplehurst: 23hrs: 46mins

The uneditted, uncaptioned pics can be found here.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/matthewizzard/threepeakschallenge02

We raised over £2,500 for Charity and have some wonderful memories. We'll let you share them with us later and give you the full story - but give us a couple of days!

The Lost Boyz

We Bagged Ben!

It's half eleven at night. We,ve just done Fort William to Glasgow in an hour ten in a VW Sharan!
We started Ben at 4.30pm - we were all too eager and pumped up. The weather wasn't as bad as we thought but we had a lot of cloud and some snowfields too cross near the top!
We went up in 2hr 50 and down in 1hr 55 - 4hr 45 in total, 45 mins ahead of our scedule.
Tony is doing a great job driving, we should get to Scafell Pike for just after 2am.
The car is full of energy and testosterone, everyone is buzzing but we have to try and get some sleep (apart from the driver!)
No blisters or injuries to report so far!

Final Preparations.

It's 10.30am on the Saturday morning of the climb. We're all at Glasgow airport. We staying in the TravelLodge last night and had a good full breakfast this morning. Then, after we'd all phoned our families we sat around and talked about the climbs ahead. Ben Nevis weather is not good, it could be freezing at the top and the windspeed could be as much as 45mph. Jules says this is 'challenging'!!!

We are picking the vehicle up in an hour - ordered an MPV, expecting a Clio. En-route ' personal relievement' is also an issue - how many motorway services can we stop at...

The last coffee's are now being drunk and we have all packed our kit bags - four layers of clothing each (it will be cold!), minimum 3Ltr water each, we have blizzard shelters and first aid kits.

The banter and laughs we had last night are already tailling off and everyone is being a little bit quieter and a bit more focused.

We may not get a GPRS signal at Fort William so if not this will be that last posting until the early hours tomorrow.

Ready at last!

It's 11.00pm. We're all in our hotel rooms in Glasgow, having flown up from Stanstead. Had dinner at another hotel and we are starting to pack and do kit checks. The weather for tommorow is an issue - very cold and wet. Ben Nevis is going to be hard work and we are all nervous, talking times and strategies.
Will update tommorow once we have our car and provisions and have got to Fort William.

Mountain Weather

It's gonna be wet and windy!

For those of you tracking us updates on the weather up the mountains can be found at these sites:

Ben Nevis: www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/he/fort_william_forecast_weather.html

Scafell Pike: www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/nw/keswick_forecast_weather.html

Snowdon: www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wl/betws-y-coed_forecast_weather.html

Amazing Sponsorship!! Thank you!

Thank you to everyone of behalf of the team for all the money you have helped raise. We have got to almost £2,000 so far - an awesome effort considering we originally targetted just £500 for Chrohn's Disease.

The sites we set up are as follows - for any last minute donations!

www.justgiving.com/roger_staplehurst
www.justgiving.com/mikestaplehurst
www.justgiving.com/matthewizzard

You will be able to track how we are doing as we INTEND to update the blog as we go. We'll also email everyone about how to track us, but thanks again!

Final Preparations...

An awful lot has gone on over the last few days - Rogers foot has been cured by a sadomasicistic physio - apparently she insisted on upping the voltage of his 'therapy'. What me Mike and Jules are trying to work out is why he wants to carry on the sessions after the climb. Hmmm.

We have sorted out the cooking logistics - rather than getting the drivers to prepare food each time we come down and all the mess involved we found a website www.hotcan.com that provides self-heating food - just open the packs and after a few minutes you have hot food!

All that remains now is for us all to pack - we're meeting up later on today to drive to the airport.

Personally I'm quite nervous, but also excited. All of a sudden a mad idea down the pub on a dark December evening is reality. A big reality and somthing that over the course of the next 48 hours we are all likely to never forget.