On Saturday 3rd June 2023, fifteen WS volunteers took on the Welsh Three Peaks with the goal of raising money for our charity of the year, FareShare. Below is a WS FC-inspired match report of how we got on.
On Friday 1st June we planned to make our way to Wales so that we might get a good night’s sleep before embarking on our expedition. Donning our FareShare t-shirts, we drove up to Merthyr Tydfil on Friday afternoon – letting nothing come between us and our goal. This is where we would start the biggest challenge of the weekend… camping.
Having consumed some carb-heavy dinners and drunk Barry Island beer responsibly, we settled down for the night to the sound of bleating donkeys (we can assure you that they bleat) and screaming goats. When our alarms went off at 5am on Saturday morning, there was a palpable air of nervous energy, some sore heads and lots of groaning from the camping-inflicted sore backs.
First, we tackled Pen y Fan – the highest peak in South Wales. This really was the calm before the storm as we were up and down in under 3 hours and met by the Grill King at the bottom – who provided welcome lukewarm bacon baps.
On a pork-induced high, we drove a couple of hours north to Cadair Idris, in central Wales. At this point the temperatures were soaring, the factor 50 was being applied in thick layers and we were feeling like an unstoppable force. You could say that Cadair Idris was the toughest of the peaks, with challenging and varying terrain, but we made it up and down in around 5 hours – we were on schedule.
At this point, Luke decided to take a bath in the idyllic brook that gently babbled around the foot of this majestic mountain – the rest of us re-fuelled with coffee and cake.
We are not quite sure how we got so far behind schedule, but once we had completed the drive north to Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) it was fast approaching 9pm and the light was fading. Our hope of seeing the sunset from the top of the mountain (and getting to the pub afterwards) was dwindling.
Special credit goes out to Stephen Rodgers who, at this point, had twisted his ankle but decided to power through the last peak!
We summitted Yr Wyddfa at 11pm, headtorches lighting the way, before walking 2 ½ hours back down to civilisation. By this time the pubs were all long-closed and there was just a short drive to a luxurious Travelodge where we would spend the night – the Welsh Three Peaks completed.
Fundraising
To date we have raised £3,497 – smashing our target. Many thanks to those who have supported us.
There is still time to donate here.