Mark Spanner’s Three Peak Challenge
This month Mark Spanner completed his ‘Three Peaks Team Walk for Kaz’ to fundraise for Halton Haven Hospice.
Mark Shared his, and the walking teams, story with us:
“WE DID IT!
At the beginning of June 2022, our niece, Karan Waller was admitted to Halton Haven Hospice for end-of-life care. The care that she, the family, and her friends received astonished us all. It truly was a home from home, and they went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and treated like one of their family, the Halton Haven family.
Halton Haven is a very special place and it’s not until you have had a personal experience there that you realise how much we need this remarkable hospice in our community. All of the staff and volunteers touched our family dearly and we have created bonds with them that will last forever.
After weekends of training including Snowden, Scafell Pike, Helvellyn and other, the Team of 25 set out on Friday 14th October travelling to Fort William, staying overnight in a hostel, before waking early next morning to scale Ben Nevis. Conditions were brutal as the summit was reached, with high winds and minus 8-degree temperature. It was bitterly cold and resulted in frozen hair for the girls.
As the oldest member of the Team, I always knew it would be a real challenge and I had trained hard. Unfortunately, I suffered an Achilles Heel injury and had turn back half-way up Ben Nevis. My challenge was over, but I spent the next two days helping out, driving 900 miles and making sure the others were ok.
The Team travelled back to Cumbria on the Saturday afternoon, staying overnight in a hotel in Gosforth. On Sunday we set off early to climb Scafell Pike in the dark, with our headtorches lighting up the path. Conditions were better, and the Team was able to set off for Wales and Snowden by late morning.
It’s fair to say that although we had climbed Snowden on several occasions during the training weeks, it was clear that scaling two mountains and driving hundreds of miles in a day would take its toll. However, we did it, albeit tired and sore from our efforts.
It’s a challenge that some would never want to do again, but everyone felt a huge sense of achievement, and all for a great cause.”
This post was written by Michael McMahon