Christmas Training 

Ding dong merrily on high! The Lost Penguins 2007 Christmas holiday training saw some of the highest peaks in the country.
     
Saturday 29th December was a epic tour of the Yorkshire Three Peaks: Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Sunday 30th December offered a much more sedate ridge trek around Hope Valley taking in Mam Tor and neighbouring peaks. Both days offered completely opposite training effects - the miserable, bone chilling, dark and depressing adventure in the Yorkshire Dales can't fail to have been good learning and preparation for the hard work ahead in the Arctic whilst the better weather and scenic and generally less onerous trek in the Peaks bolstered team spirit.

The Three Peaks

 Meeting at Connie's at 8am was  the first failing, it meant a 10.30am start up Pen-y-ghent which gave away over two hours of day light. The second, third, fourth and fifth mistakes were forgetting waterproof kit, to lube your butt, to take enough food and to take more than enough water - fundamental. In hindsight it might have been a little unsafe for the Penguins to have ventured further than the first peak when the weather turned from gale force winds to gale force winds with torrential rain. However, failing to complete the West Highland Way and the North Downs Way has been extremely frustrating [despite being arguably ridiculous challenges] and therefore there simply didn't seam to be a question as to whether to carry on.

The Penguins reached the peak of Pen-y-ghent within a couple of hours of starting and had done approximately 4 of the 26 miles that complete the circular route. Whernside, the Penguins' second, is a long walk from Pen-y-ghent across miles of bog. This section of the route seamed to take forever and the sun was down before they reached Whernside's top. However, spirits raised on the way down Whernside with Ingleborough in the moonlight, no more rain and vastly reduced wind speeds. The Penguins managed to reach the top of Ingleborough and complete the round in approximately ten hours. This success was extremely important, and duly celebrated with a few pints of Stones. It's doubtful that anyone else completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks that day. The conditions were truly ridiculous and the only walkers met were doing just Pen-y-ghent or backed out three quarters of the way up Whernside.

 
Hope Valley 

It took until midnight to finish the day's challenges after the Three Peaks: 150 mile drive through the Yorkshire Dales and Moors and then onto Sheffield topped the day off. The Hope Valley trek was therefore chosen as a relatively un-taxing day. The ridge walk between Hope, Mam Tor and Castleton has brilliant vistas across the peaks  but is just one of the delights of Peak District that you'll experience if you win the auction for the 'Lost Penguins Long Weekend'. 

'Lost Penguins Long Weekend' Auction

This is a stay in a cottage in the middle of the Peak District's Hope Valley(Smalldale).  The cottage sleeps up to eight and has incredible walking from the door, it is also 5 minutes from a local pub and 10 minutes walk from Bradwell.  See http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottages/1888.php for more information on the cottage.  

To enter the auction email info@lostpenguins.com.