Want to receive our monthly e-newsletter, full of stories, news, events, opportunities and more? Then sign up today!
Five take on the Five Peaks challenge!
Jasmine Roebuck, Natalie Smith, Alex Fowler, Ryan Day and Alex Garber climbed Ben Nevis (1345m), Scafell Pike (978m), Snowdon (1085m), Slieve Donard (850m) and Carrauntoohil (1038m). Overall the challenge covered 64kms and involved 5,300metres of ascent, the equivalent of Everest Base Camp! Not only that but the challenge included all travel time, with Tom Woolfe, the team’s driver taking on 23 hours of driving!
“We wanted to do a physical challenge and enjoy hiking” says Jasmine, who with Natalie had completed the three peaks challenge last year. “We thought, how can we relive that, but go a bit bigger?” They decided to fundraise for Forget Me Not as they wanted to support a local charity and, Jasmine says, “learning more about what Forget Me Not does was key to getting us over the finish line!”
And they certainly didn’t have a smooth ride. Even before they arrived at their first mountain, Ben Nevis, a car clipped their van knocking off the wing mirror. “We were worried we’d fallen at the first hurdle, but luckily the van owner met us at a service station and fixed it at Formula One pitstop speed in the middle of the challenge!” They completed the Ben Nevis ascent in under two and a half hours, and while Jasmine was unwell and couldn’t climb Scafell and Snowdon, her teammates did both in exceptional times too. In Northern Ireland, they climbed Slieve Donard in the dark, navigating paths they’d never done before, reaching the mountain’s peak at dawn, rewarded with a stunning sunrise.
Then they faced their final climb – Carrauntoohil in the Republic of Ireland. With six hours to conquer the final peak, the team felt confident. But then the weather took a turn for the worse and a number of routes were flooded. “Searching for alternatives meant we lost about 2 hours. We eventually made it to Devil’s Ladder, which is not an easy route even in good conditions. 3 of us made the tough decision to call off the attempt as there was a risk of getting into difficulty. Natalie and Alex Fowler carried on – fuelled by the fundraising efforts of the team. They made the summit in extremely tricky conditions, beating the weather and the 48 hour time limit!”
The team completed the 5 peaks challenge in 47 hours 33 minutes which, as Jasmine understates, was “quite the achievement!” “There were moments,” she says, “when we certainly didn’t think we’d do it but we’d push ourselves on, we wanted to do it for the charity and for each other. We’re still a bit overwhelmed by what we’ve achieved, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.”
The team has smashed their original £1,000 fundraising target – their total now stands at over £3,000 and continues to rise. “We’re over the moon about that. We’ve had such good support throughout.”
Massive congratulations to the whole team on their amazing achievement – what an incredible feat of endurance!
If you’d like to donate to their fundraising page – you can do so here.
