Great Britain may not have the world’s tallest mountains nor its most exotic vistas, but its peaks have inspired more than a few lines of verse and have helped catapult some of its citizens to great climbing achievements further afield. Each of the tallest peaks in Wales, England, and Scotland—Yr Wyddfa (better known to non-Welsh speakers as Snowdonia), Scafell Pike, and Ben Nevis, respectively—has its own charms and challenges. British climber Pete Royall believes that the hikers and Anglophiles will be best served by ascending all three mountains, back to back. “Despite being relatively low in altitude when compared with the world’s highest peaks, these are nonetheless real mountains, as many people have discovered, to their joy—and a few to their cost. For me, the experience of climbing all three is so much more than the sum of each individual climb. I’ve come to call it the Three Peaks Challenge.”
Thanks to their relative proximity (Pete has clocked the distance among the peaks as 460 miles by road and 280 miles as the crow flies), some intrepid hikers will attempt to climb all three in one twenty-four-hour period—a feat that poses both physical and logistical challenges. “There’s a minimum of 10,000 feet of ascent and descent and twenty miles of walking, not to mention all of that driving,” Pete continued. “While it can be done, most visitors appreciate a more leisurely pace that allows them to get a taste of the local countryside. A week is about right, as it gives you a day for each hike, plus a chance to do a bit of sightseeing as you move from Wales to England and then north to Scotland.”
Traveling from the south to the north, Three Peaks challengers will first visit Yr Wyddfa, in Snowdonia National Park. Located in northwest Wales, Snowdonia comprises more than 800 square miles of land that’s held in mixed public and private ownership; unlike a typical national park in the United States, Snowdonia includes a number of small towns, and is home to some 25,000 residents. Pete likes to base his Yr Wyddfa ascent in the hamlet of Beddgelert. “Welsh is the first language here, and the town takes its name from the faithful hound of Prince Llewellyn,” Pete explained. “The legend goes that Llewellyn left his hound Gelert to guard his baby son as he went to hunt a wolf. When he returned, Gelert’s mouth was covered in blood, and his son’s diaper was nearby. Llewellyn stabbed Gelert in a rage, only to find his son safe and the carcass of a wolf moments later. I like to take guests to visit the site of Gelert’s grave the day before our hike.
“Yr Wyddfa boasts stunning, rugged scenery. There are a number of routes to the top, and all the hiking is above tree line. My favorite is the Snowdonia Horseshoe, which traverses the ridges that enclose the high mountain lakes of Lynn Glas and Llyn Llydaw. This trail climbs the red rock pyramid of Crib Goch and runs along several knife-edge ridges. Near the top, the trail joins the tourist route—which includes a steam-powered railway, which has been bringing the less energetic to the summit since 1896. I like to take the Miners’ Track down. This trail was built in the early 1800s for miners who extracted copper and slate from the region; the old workings of the mines can be seen from many trails. On the way back to town, I love to take visitors to the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel for a bit of refreshment. The Pen-y-Gwryd was home to the 1953 Everest team (that included Sir Edmund Hillary) as they prepared for their expedition on Yr Wyddfa.”
From Snowdonia National Park, you’ll head northeast into England, along the coast, past Liverpool, and on up to Lake District National Park, in the county of Cumbria. “If time permits, I suggest that visitors take a cruise from the southern end of Lake Windermere (the longest of the park’s lakes) to the north and then drive across a high pass into the town of Keswick, which some might call the Aspen of England,” Pete continued. “The Lake District can be described as a wheel, with Scafell Pike at the hub, and lakes radiating out; William Wordsworth first coined this description. For me, one of the region’s great appeals is its scale. It’s almost like a garden wilderness. In the valleys, you have charming towns maintained as they were 100 or 200 years ago, yet the high tops are still quite wild.
“You can climb Scafell from four different valleys, each with its own unique character and scenery. I like to approach from the north, via the burg of Seathwaite. You first ascend Glaramara (2,560 feet); if the weather is clear, you’ll have a 360-degree panorama of the other peaks of the Lake District. Next, you’ll cross a grassy ridge that connects to Allen Crags, then to Esk Hause. The hause (a Cumbrian word for “pass”) brings you to the flanks of Ill Crag and boulder-strewn Broad Crag. After a bit of scrambling, you’ll walk the last 300 feet to Scafell Pike (3,210 feet) itself, where you can look south to Wales and west to the sea and Ireland. I like to take the Corridor route down.”
Leaving the Lake District, you’ll follow the coast into Scotland, past Glasgow, along the shores of Loch Lomond and into the Highlands, where Ben Nevis—the tallest mountain in Great Britain (at 4,409 feet) awaits. “There’s quite a contrast between the Lake District and the Highlands,” Pete observed. “Where the Lake District is rather tame, Scotland is considerably wilder. There’s much less of a sense of man having gotten control over the land. Ben Nevis has an interesting configuration. On the north side, there are tremendous cliffs that attract rock climbers from around the world, especially in the winter. The route that most people take is a series of zigzags on the south side. This trail was built over 200 years ago so pack animals could get supplies to the weather observatory near the summit, and became popular in the Victorian era when city dwellers were inspired to recreate in nature … and the railway came into existence to deliver them from London or Glasgow to Ben Nevis. I much prefer reaching the top by the Carn Mor Dearg arête, a spectacular ridge walk. As you’re walking up the horseshoe-shape ridge, there are stunning views of the north face of the Ben and great vistas of the Cairngorms to the east. We take the normal route down.”
Once you’ve descended Ben Nevis to complete the Three Peaks Challenge, the Nevis Inn awaits at trail’s end, the perfect venue to enjoy a celebratory toast … perhaps a dram of one of Scotland’s fine single-malt whiskeys.
PETE ROYALL was born and raised on Walney Island in Cumbria’s South Lakeland. By the age of fourteen, he was spending most of his weekends exploring the mountains and valleys of Lake District National Park. By the age of sixteen, he had discovered the joys of granite, and his exploration grew to encompass climbing the crags and cliffs of mountain faces. Several seasons of climbing in the highlands of Scotland and the European Alps led to exploration in the Himalaya and, eventually, to most of the world’s greater ranges. Since 1992, Pete has led treks and expeditions to the Nepal and Indian Himalaya, the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to the Andes. During this time, he has taken close to a hundred groups into the world’s greater ranges for Britain’s premier adventure-travel company, KE Adventure Travel, and has pioneered new routes in the Himalaya and the Karakoram mountains, including first-pass crossings and first ascents of unclimbed peaks. Pete also leads trips around Great Britain, including the Three Peaks Challenge.
► Getting There: Following the itinerary set out above, you’ll fly into Manchester, England, and drive west to Beddgelert, Wales. The trip concludes near Glasgow, Scotland. Both are served by most major international carriers.
► Best Time to Visit: June through September will find the weather most reliable.
► Accommodations: If you go it on your own, you may wish to stay in Beddgelert (www.beddgelerttourism.com); Keswick (www.keswick.org), and Glencoe (www.glencoescotland.com).
► Guides/Outfitters: Wandering Aengus Treks (888-811-4256; www.wanderingaengustreks.com) leads guests on the Three Peaks Challenge and handles all logistical details (transportation, lodgings, etc.).
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