Three Peaks - Yorkshire Dales

Me and a few mates are planning to do pen-y-gent, whernside and ingleborough in a day to raise money for charity in a couple of weekends time.

Can anybody offer any words of advice?


Many Thanks!!

If you have any specific questions i may be able to help, i've walked up all of them at different times and i grew up in that area.

Cool!

I think Wainwright said in one of his books that the 'three peaks walk' shouldn't be attempted in winter and this sentiment has been echoed by a few other people I know!

Anyway, two of our group know the area reasonably well and we're all fit and healthy!

The traditional route from what I've heard seems to be up PYG from Horton and then take the long trek over to Whernside and then head to Ingleborough before finishing at Horton.

Do you reacon this is feasible with only 8 or 9 hours of daylight?

I'm thinking it's going to be better to get an early start - say an hour before sunrise, is this practical for getting up PYG in the dark?

Alternatively, one of us have had the idea that we could get an early start and walk up the road from horton to the ribblehead viaduct (because this would be easier walking in less daylight), from there we could get up whernside and get back to Horton via Ingleborough. From there, if we've got reasonable time and energy left, we can go up and down PYG from Horton.



Any comments or suggestions gratefully recieved!

Done this route a few times, 8 hrs means a reasonable pace even perhaps the odd bit of running. Route is fairly easy to follow if you go up from bracken bottom (Horton) you just follow the wall up and then at the stile turn left and then the summit is up up up.(Going this way makes it a more rounded route)

One point you might like to consider is to go up the old path on Whernside which heads more or less straight up, steep but will ultimately save you time. Once on the summit of Whernside good path all the way down to the road at the Hill Inn.

Just Ingleborough left and again it's good obvious path/slabs. Once on the summit it's all down hill from there, but a word of caution it seems bloody miles to Horton and the cafe.

Good luck and if you need any more info - just ask.

If you want the certicate from the cafe in Horton to say you have completed the three peaks in under 12 hours do not go on a Tuesday or Friday cos last year they were not issuing certificates on those days. There is a notice on the front of the cafe saying what information they require so you can post the details through the letter box before you set off. The cafe does a very good pint - of tea!
Even as a person of advancing years (OK 50)I managed the traditional route in 9 hours 41 minutes last year - definitely not running.
Enjoy

I did it last year on early May bank holiday weekend, starting from the roadside by the Hill Inn. Ingleborough first, then Pen y ghent and finishing off with Whernside. We took just under 10 hours at a steady sort of pace. The longest haul was bit between Pen y ghent and Whernside, quite boggy in parts. Doing it this way you miss out on the certificate, if that's important.

I think its perfectly possible to do this route at this time of year, although, if there's proper winter conditons, it might be hard doing it in the time. Inevitably, if you're going to take 10-ish hours, some walking would need probably need to be in the dark. A pre-dawn start should sort this out, though.
I think Wainwright's worries probably centre around limestone country under deep snow - ie the technical possibility of falling throught he snow into a pothole or a clint (or is it gryke?) As far as I'm aware, the only time something similar happened was a walker on Cross Fell who fell through snow down a mineshaft a few years back. Under normal conditions, this is probably a bit unlikely.