And so into August

August has been a really busy month so far. Iain has been doing some centre work as usual here in the Lake District. He also had two days - one at the end of July and one in August working for a client in North Yorkshire at the Gritstone outcrops of Brimham Rocks providing beginners climbing sessions there in conjunction with abseiling & ghyll Scrambling at Howstean Gorge in Nidderdale. These are both venues well worth visiting if you get a chance.

After the second day Iain didn't return to the Lakes but drove straight down to Llanberis in North Wales that evening in order to be ready to guide people who were attempting a National 3 peaks challenge starting at 08:00 the next day.

This was Iain's sixth such challenge over the last three years and includes an ascent of England, Scotland & Wales's three highest peaks - these being Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis & Snowdon all in under 24 hours. The total ascent is 9700 feet, the total distance walked is up to 22 miles and the endurance factor is described as being hard - no wonder!

This particular group were from a bank in London and were using the event to raise money for charity. There was 21 delegates split into three groups and Iain had the fast groups on both Snowdon & Scafell with the ascent time on Snowdon being 1 hr 55 from Pen Y pass and on Scafell Pike 2 and a half hours. After a 5 hour drive through the night (during which no-one gets much sleep!) the group set off from Glen Nevis Youth Hostel at 05:30 the next morning with the fast team reaching the summit at around 07:50 - 10 minutes to spare from that 24 hour deadline and it was with a great feeling of satisfaction that everyone sat down to a meal & a beer in the Nevisport Bar in Fort William that lunchtime with the event behind them.

Next day Iain was back at work at one of the Lake District centres and then this last week has been an interesting mix of his own client days plus a couple of multi-activity days for another client. You get to hear about his own client days in the next post.