So we did it, it was a success, we faced the mountain 3 times, at 3 very different times of day, very different amounts and types of people up there and 3 very different experiences. The 2018 Snowdon 24hr challenge was a success, raising over £3000 for our charities.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. And there were certainly some miles and some height gained in the next 24hrs. We stared a little late, 6.30pm for the sunset trip. Heading up the Pyg Track, down the Miners. We climbed 777m from Pen Y Pass and descended 842m on each circuit (that's 2331m of up in total and 2526m of down in total). And I can tell you we all had slightly achy knees through the second descent.

The first trip seemed pretty straight forward, all in good spirits and with seemingly good energy. Very few other people on the mountain and most of them heading down rather than up at that point. The air was warm, but the slight breeze was lovely. We seemed to gain the summit quite quick, just 2hrs and was amazing to actually get to see a Halo at the summit due to the slight bit of could billowing around and the angle of the sun. To be actually waving our arms around and see them projected on the clouds ahead of us was amazing. Plus the serenade by the guitarist up there was lovely.

We didn't stay long, all headed back down to Pen Y Pass, another 2hrs, although a slight delay as Christina and Katie, being ahead, got stopped by the cows on the track until Jayne turned up and just waded through. We only slept for about an hour and after a slight delay while we waited for the oversleeping Christina (set her alarm for 12.30pm not am) went to collect Blood Biker Steve who was joining us for the dawn ascent.

Was dark for about the first half the journey up, head torches necessary, but was lovely to see the light coming up really slowly, stars and planets really clearly visible. We arrived about 4am and stayed for a while with a small group over maybe 20 people there to see the sunrise. Was a bit cold and breezy, Steve offered to break our his Bar (G+T, Jack n Coke, Cosmos anyone) before Jayne and I headed back down the Miners and Steve, Christina and Katie went down the Llanberris path to meet others for the later morning ascent.

This is where the knees started to ache, but just like a machine that needs oiling, it was fine, just not so comfy. Had about 90 mins sleep, woke to make a pot of coffee and munch some of the lovely flapjacks our nutritionist Kate Bevan Wood made (which with the energy balls were amazing). It was a later set off than planned, 9.30am rather than 7am due to a few factors and a decision that 3 ascents would be enough and that for time, energy and logistics, 4 wasn't going to happen in 24hrs.

The 3rd ascent was pretty slow, the sleep depravation was not helping and it took a good half of the ascent to wake up and get pumping. But we all made it within about 10 mins of each other. Was just a pity that we didn't manage to meet Gemma Price, her partner and her daughter Darcy who also came up that day. But Christina arrived with her mum, who enjoyed herself loads on her first time up (and with a new knee) and Anika. 

We were all clearly quite wiped out by this point, had some photos on the incredibly crowded summit, must have been 1500 people up there, queuing for the cairn to take pictures, so we sat and chatted for a while and then went our separate routes down. Was so uplifting to see so many charity events, so many people challenging themselves to help others and provide for others something that they didn't have without this great effort.

So so beautiful to see so many different types of people, encouraging each other, helping each other, supporting each other. On the way down Jayne and I stopped at the lake and soaked our hot feet for a bit, had a snooze on the beach before a slow descent.

It was a magical 24hrs, so much experienced, so inadequate to put it into words. I'm grateful we were all safe, no trauma, no accidents, no injuries (and we didn't have to call an air ambulance out). The following 24hrs of rest was amazing.

We both beat our charity targets, but the work continues for the charities, we were just a small part of that. So if you'd still like to donate, you can do so via our just giving pages  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-calder or https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/christina-morgan5

Thank you so much for all your support