The DCS Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge

It started with an early alarm, a lot of nervous excitement and a 4:30am meeting at reception. After travelling up to Llanberis on Friday for our overnight stay, the team gathered bright and early on Saturday morning, where our guide, Alex, was on hand to give us the briefing before we headed off.

One of Alex’s tips for the day was “Be Bold, Be Cold” — something that definitely stuck with me. Although, about 30 minutes into the walk, it became pretty clear that being bold and cold wasn’t quite the combination we were looking for, and following a complete detour of weather forecasting, a few reinforcements to the clothing department were required!

Mountain 1 – Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)

We took on the Llanberis Path towards the summit. We’d been told it would be a slow and steady climb, but the pace of the team was actually really good. There were certainly some steep sections, but we just kept plodding on, one step at a time, and eventually reached the summit at 7:35am.

Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. Our carefully pre-planned DCS banners and flags were pretty much useless in the wind, which had other plans for them — sorry, Soph! We managed a very quick photo before deciding it was probably sensible to get back down rather than have one of us disappear over the edge holding said DCS flags and banners.

We headed down via the Pyg Track, which was treacherous in places. Flowing streams, sharp rocks, steep sections and plenty of opportunities to question our life choices made for a challenging descent. As we made our way down towards the lakes, Alex kept us entertained with various folklore tales about how the mountains were formed — including stories of the supposed sea creature living at the base of the mountain.

Eventually, we made it back to the meeting point. A quick toilet stop, a change of socks and, most importantly, Kath waiting for us with a box full of breakfast rolls!

Andy’s Airlines – Destination: Cadair Idris

Our minibus driver, Andy, then got us on our way to our second mountain, Cadair Idris. And when I say Andy got us there quickly, I mean really quickly. Such was the pace of the journey that the team quickly renamed the minibus “Andy’s Airlines”, as bums regularly left seats over the bumps and around the bends.

We arrived at Cadair Idris at around midday, with the effects of Snowdon starting to make themselves known. A few sore legs, tired muscles and questionable levels of energy joined us for the journey.

Mountain 2 – Cadair Idris

A few of us had climbed Cadair Idris previously, so we were delighted to hear that we weren’t going to be taking the route involving the infamous steps through the forest. It was still bloody hard, but this time, the weather was on our side.

While the rain, mist and cloud had robbed us of any real views from Snowdon, Cadair Idris was completely different. As we climbed, the views opened up and we could see for miles. It was spectacular.

The summit itself seemed to get further away rather than closer, but we just kept chipping away at it. Eventually, after a final section of scrambling and a bit of rock climbing, we reached the top.

Mountain number two. Done.

After the obligatory group photo around the trig point, we took five minutes to refuel.

Then something happened that none of us could have planned. A group of hikers approached us to congratulate us and thank us for taking on the challenge — because they worked for our nominated charity, Velindre Cancer Charity.

Miles away from towns, roads and civilisation, the chances of bumping into people connected to the very charity we were raising money for seemed incredibly small. It was one of those moments that made the whole thing feel that little bit more special. We grabbed a quick photo together before beginning the descent.

And that’s where the legs really started to complain. Every step seemed to bring either a groan, a grimace or both. The uneven terrain, followed by what seemed like thousands of metres of rocky, stony path, was absolutely brutal on the joints. At this point, nobody was particularly interested in the scenery anymore — we just wanted the bottom.

Then, eventually, we reached the stream crossing, and there waiting for us once again was Kath, this time having returned from the local bakery. She had returned with pasties, sausage rolls and a whole selection of baked goods. Kath’s popularity was soaring and certainly helped keep spirits surprisingly high.

Mountain 3 – Pen y Fan

A few hours, several questionable faces from another stint on Andy’s Airlines, and more than a few dodgy Kath GPT pictures later, we arrived at the base of Pen y Fan. There was one mountain left.

By now, the tiredness was really starting to kick in, but knowing we were so close to completing the challenge gave everyone another boost. We started the final climb and, incredibly, caught the sunset on the way up. The views were absolutely incredible and, after everything we’d already been through, it felt like the perfect reward.

We managed a full team climb before finally reaching the summit of Pen y Fan at around 8:35pm. Except by then, it was pitch black.

The final descent was a completely different experience. Head torches on, tired legs underneath us and dozens of wild horses appearing out of the darkness around the mountain. Somehow, we made it back down.

And at the bottom were the people we’d been thinking about for hours — our families. Cold drinks, both hard and soft, were waiting for us. After a day of climbing mountains, walking through streams, battling the weather, eating enough bakery food to sink a minibus and questioning whether our legs would ever work properly again, it was the perfect way to finish.

What a Day

Three mountains: Yr Wyddfa, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan. One incredible team, one hell of a lot of sore legs and, most importantly, over £10,000 raised so far for Velindre Cancer Charity.

That figure makes the aches, the early start, the rain, the darkness, the high-thrill driving and even the mountains themselves feel completely worthwhile.

There’s something pretty special about doing something difficult together. The laughs, the struggles, the ridiculous moments and the people you share them with become memories that stick with you.

For everyone at DCS who took part, I think this is something we’ll look back on for a very, very long time. And judging by the amount of footage and photos we’ve accumulated, you’ll probably be hearing about it for a while too!

What an incredible day. What an incredible team. Three peaks. One unforgettable adventure.

#TeamDCS