Lyon Images - Hungary

Images taken whilst completing the Three Peaks Challenge in August 2006. 16 work colleagues from NUKEM Limited, UKAEA and AEAT got together to complete the 3 peaks in August. We were raising money for the charity "Heads Up" as well as having a good time.

Photographically this was an incredibly chalenging event - you are being pushed to the limit of physical endurance, you are carrying an extra couple of kilos of photography equipment and you still have to compose, focus and expose the shots! I chose to shoot in a very loose manner whilst covering all the aspects of the event.

Watching groups start

A group leave to start Ben Nevis

Ascending Ben Nevis

Lochaber district

Driving to Wast Water

Ascending Snowdon

Descending Snowdon

Final time 19h 16m

The “Peak Elite” team for the Three Peaks Challenge comprised of Adam Swales, Alex Wales, Niall Riddell and Mark Ball (driver). We had been in "training" for a few months prior to the event however everyone was a little nervous prior to the start. The team chose to set off slightly later than the other teams for the first of the three summits; Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest peak at 1344m.	L to R: Mark Ball, Alex Wales, Adam Swales, Niall Riddell
We completed the ascent in two hours and, following a quick photo stop at the summit, descended in an astonishing 1h 30m having run on the flat sections of the track. This fast completion of Ben Nevis (3h 30m as opposed to the budgeted 4 h 30m) set us up for a fast overall time but also gave us “time in the bank” for the next peak, which would be a technically challenging night climb	. Summit of Ben Nevis
We piled into the car and forced some pasta and sandwiches down before trying to get some sleep for a few hours as Mark sped us safely to our second mountain. Far too early, we were awoken on the approach to Wast Water where Scafell Pike – our second summit and England’s highest peak – stood before us. At 01.10 we set off into the pitch blackness and quickly caught up with two other three peakers who were having trouble crossing a stream. 30 seconds later and we were safely across (with wet feet) and trying to locate the path. After one hour of climbing we came to the conclusion we had missed the path and were more or less lost in the dark. However, our spirits were still high and with some creative navigation we were able to find the correct route. A further hour and we had finally reached our second summit for a quick photo at the triangulation pillar.	Summit of Scafell
Our descent was aided by finding the path and we met all three of the other NUKEM teams on our descent. We awoke Mark in the car park and piled into the car for a few more hours sleep as we made our way towards Wales. By 09.10, we were in the car park at the base of Snowdon – Wales’s highest peak and the last in our challenge. We had budgeted 4 hours for this climb and after a review of the times we concluded that a three hour climb and return would put us into the sub 20 hour category.	Checking bearings in Snowdons mist
We therefore set off at a fast trot and passed many other climbers on route. By the time we made the summit we were almost alone again having completed the ascent in 1h 20m. A second review of our times and we set a stretched target aiming for a total completion time of 19h 30m. We raced back down the mountain surprising climbers still ascending whom we had passed earlier. True to the approach of NUKEM’s Consulting Division, we came in ahead of target and completed the entire challenge in a remarkable 19h 16m, tired but proud of our achievement,	Exhausted - Snowdon
This was a real success aided by generous support from NUKEM (provision of cars and fuel) and our sponsors. The “Peak Elite” NUKEM Three Peaks Challenge team raised about Ł950 of which 80% will go to the Head and Neck cancer research charity “Heads Up” based in the Oxford and 20% will go to the mountain rescue teams in the regions where we were climbing. In total the 4 teams raised over £2500. Many thanks for your help and sponsorship of this event. Niall, Adam, Alex & Mark	Map reading practice prior to the event ensured everyone returned home safely.