Mountain legs
Colleagues from the Southwest are looking for volunteers with mountain legs to help them with their ‘Three Peaks Postcode Challenge’ in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The National Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales, often within 24 hours. The three mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland (1345m), Scafell Pike in England (978m) and Snowdon, in Wales (1085m).
The 15-strong team from Torquay, Newton Abbot and Dawlish delivery offices are in the latter stages of planning their challenge, which if goes to plan, will start with Ben Nevis on Monday 27 April and include a total walking distance of 23 miles, and a combined ascent of 3,064 metres.
Postman Lee Hrycyszyn, said: ‘We’re ok for Snowdon, but we’re looking for volunteer colleagues from the areas of Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike with experience of the mountains to get us up and down in the allotted times, which I believe, are five hours or less for Ben Nevis and four hours for Scafell Pike.’
The squad of 13 walkers and two support drivers aim to depart Torquay Delivery Office at 04.30 on Sunday 26 April for Fort William in Scotland – the first waypoint of a planned four-day journey.
‘Our journey will begin with a mammoth 12-hour drive to the Highlands in Scotland,’ said Lee. ‘This will be our start point for what will be a 24-hour race against the mountains.
‘The plan is to start the ascent of Ben Nevis at around 15.00 allowing for a sub-six-hour round trip from top to bottom. We’ll then clamber into the bus and drive to Scafell Pike.
‘Well refreshed, we’ll conquer Scafell Pike in hopefully, no more than three-and-a-half hours. This should leave us with a four-hour recovery trip to Mount Snowden, where if everything has gone to plan, we should be left with a final four-and-a-half hour trek up and down the Pyg Track of Mount Snowden. That's the plan on paper anyway, but I think we’ll have to adapt to the weather, which could obviously play a vital role in the challenge.’
When we asked Lee why the team had chosen the RNLI, he said: ‘Where we are in the Southwest, we’re surrounded by coastline. Families and tourists alike enjoy the coast and everything it has to offer all year round, but what many of us don’t appreciate is if we get into trouble in the water, it’s the RNLI that saves the day.
‘What I never realised is that the RNLI is 100% funded by donations. Our local boathouse, Torbay Lifeboat Station is the base for RNLI search and rescue operations at Brixham in Devon. It costs in the region of £250,000 a year to run. That's a huge ask for any fundraising network. This is why we wanted to show them how valued they are by way of a donation on behalf of our Royal Mail Southwest sector area.
‘If you have a sense of adventure (as well as a sense of humour) and you’re familiar with Ben Nevis or Scafell Pike, or you would love to join us on the mountains, please drop me an email at: Lee.Hrycyszyn@royalmail.com.’
For nearly 140 years, Torbay Lifeboat Station has operated an all-weather lifeboat and the crews, who are all volunteers, have a remarkable history of bravery with 52 awards for gallantry. Lee and the team are hoping to raise £4,000 to help pay for new equipment and repairs as well as training for the volunteers, who receive nothing for their efforts.
