"Midnight charity hikers invade Lakes" Guardian June 2000

"Is there no nook of English ground secure from rash assault? 
Plead for thy peace, thou beautiful romance of Nature ... "
William Wordsworth, 1844 

The midnight peace of one of the quietest places in Britain has been shattered by sponsored charity attempts on Britain's highest mountains, according to exasperated officials of the Lake District national park. 

Volleys of abuse have followed crocodiles of children up the slopes of Scafell Pike after as many as six buses a night have reversed into Seathwaite hamlet, their occupants slamming doors and using local lavatories at 1am. 

The remote collection of farmhouses, previously know for being the wettest place in England, has the misfortune to lie halfway along the Three Peaks challenge, which sees sponsored groups tackle Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours. 

A similar problem besets the head of Wastwater, on the other flank of Scafell Pike, according to Bob Cartwright, head of management in the Lakes authority. "Residents are really sick and tired of it now," he said yesterday, after tackling the head of a Birmingham school whose minibus's reversing bleepers had Seathwaite in fresh turmoil at the weekend. 

"No one wants charities to stop raising money, but they must be able to find other ways - or other routes. Even a shift to a new set of peaks, like a challenge from a mountain on the isle of Lewis, via Helvellyn to Cader Idris, would help. 

"It is such a shame that charities should end up linked to events which show no consideration for the environment and other people." 

The protests have prompted the park to reissue a code of practice agreed last year with large charities, after a sponsored walk involving 3,000 people caused furore. Mr Cartwright said several charities had dropped the Three Peaks challenge, but the code appeared little known among smaller fundraising groups. 

The voluntary code limits starting times of walks to between 5am and 10pm, requires organisers to bring their own water and lavatory facilities, and lays down rules for effective marshalling of groups. All of Britain's large charities have signed up to respect the compromise between enjoyable fundraising and leaving upland communities relatively undisturbed. 

Liaison has been overseen by the Institute of Charity Managers, which has also worked to ensure the advance warning of events. John Scourse, chairman of the institute and fundraiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind, said: "It's worked well, but the Three Peaks walk is a very popular and effective fundraiser for small groups who are beyond our orbit. 

"The only way to deal with that is for the charity sector to get together and spread the word ... It's a matter of doing things sensibly and, I'm afraid, not doing the Three Peaks at all." 
Martin Wainwright Guardian Friday June 16, 2000
(c) Guardian Newspapers
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I am raising money for a local charity and am organising a mountain walk to do this. My idea is to climb the highest mountains of England, Wales and Scotland in a day. So far I have managed to persuade about 30 people to do it with me.

I dont have too much experience of mountain climbing so I was hoping that you could give me some tips. 

I don't think you'll get much joy from the majority of users of this group, since many (most?) hillwalkers are quite opposed to this type of charity event, as they introduce to the mountains many people who are not competent to be there, as well as causing a disproportionate environmental impact, traffic problems in the case of very large events plus extra work for the mountain rescue organisations. I believe that on one "event" day in 1998 over 50 people descended into Wasdale Head from Scafell Pike, believing it to be Borrowdale!
I believe that after one event, it cost over £ 6,000 to clear the litter from Ben Nevis.
I understand that coaches parked at Seathwaite have on more than one occasion caused the total blockage of the road through Borrowdale, with implications for the movement of emergency services.

The costs of callouts of the mountain rescue services ( themselves charities) are rarely paid from the donations received by those charitable groups benefiting from their expertise.

the people who live near the kick-off points for these events are heartily sick of the noise and aggravation caused by large parties arriving/departing at all hours of the night. Bear in mind that there'll probably be several other groups doing the same thing if you choose a summer weekend to do it in.

I'm not against raising money for charity at all, merely against it being raised by overloading the hills with incompetent mountaineers.

1. Do mobile phones work on these mountains so that we can use them to call for help if required and call family and friends. Are some networks better than others ?
Yes, definitely. Your phone will work on any of these hills. If you are lucky, you might get a signal as well.

2. Are all the paths simple or will we need to take ropes etc. I have heard that Scafell in the Lake District is quite hard.
They are all easy and don't require ropes but I would recommend taking a large ball of string with you. Tie it to your car and unwind it as you ascend - it makes the descent so much easier to find.

3. Do I need to let mountain rescue know that we are doing this. If I did might they send someone to guide us or give us advice for each peak?
The Lake District National Park certainly has guidelines for these events ( should comply with the recommendations of the Institute of Charity Fund Managers, too) . It's a good idea to notify the Mountain Rescue services that you're doing it, but NO they will not send a guide or waste their freely-given volunteer time in hand-holding you. If you insist on going ahead with this exercise and want a guide, use some of the money you're raising for charity to pay the going day (or night) rate for a mountain guide in each area. They're usually members of their local resuce teams anyway. If you need a team callout, I strongly recommend that you use your charitable income to pay the full cost of their callout ( maybe a dozen people, couple of vehicles, wear and tear on kit etc)....it never happens.....people just want these voluntary services to be available whenever they get themselves into trouble through their own incompetence, without thinking about the cost and the drain on the people involved.

4. Do you think its best to do Ben Nevis first or at the end.
In the middle :-)

5. Can any/all of the mountains be done by mountain bike instead of walking?
Oh, definitely. People have driven up Ben Nevis before now, so I shouldn't think you'll have any difficulty there.

You probably think everyone is being unhelpful, but look through the ng at the responses to all the other questions - all freindly - it really is a rotten idea. How about competing in a Marathon or pushing a bed to somewhere or other, or a triathlon, anything but those three peaks.

I also hope you wont be considering allowing tired drivers to race between the hills trying to make up lost time

Some extracts from Wasdale Mountain rescue records June 97:- 

June 8 Two parties of 3 TPers o/d Scafell Pike One party turn up in Wales having not checked in Second party turns up in Eskdale complaining search not started before 7am 
June 14 Tper with injured Knee required Keswick & Wasdale MRT + helicopter
June 27 4 TPers overdue, found by another party 
June 28 6.30pm 4 TPers overdue Borrowdale, turned up in Wasdale 
8.40pm 4 TPers ditto above ! 
915pm 5 TPers ditto above !! 
9.40pm 4 TPers ditto above !!!

It then quietens down till September when on the 6th 15 TPers turn up Wasdale and then 12 more on the 14th.

The record for a year is 230 lost into Wasdale ! Approx 1/3 of the team leaders report concerns 3peakers - erosion, s***, litter, disturbance to locals, parking etc.

Troll or trawl, posting intended to provoke rather than a request for information