Back to the familiar environment of Horton in Ribblesdale and the Yorkshire Three Peaks, this time working for RAW Adventures, who had been hired to provide mountain safety by Action Challenge, who were staging the event for Macmillan, the cancer charity, for their fundraising.
We had fine hot sunny weather for the day, which is not actually prefect hiking weather: it was so hot and still that there was a serious risk of heat stroke, so we kept urging the participants to keep on drinking. Despite there being plenty of water available (laid on by Action Challenge), the extra litre I was carrying to give to thirsty participants was half gone before I had started the first mountain.
I helped a nervous particiant with no head for heights but plenty of courage up the steep face of Pen-y-Ghent, then strolled off with various participants I met on the way towards the Ribblehead Viaduct, where a very welcome lunch awaited me, my buddy Sally, and a struggling participant that she and I had been looking after. While we were eating, a call came on the radio for Sally and me to walk with the struggling participant via a low-level shortcut bypassing Whernside to the next checkpoint, at Philpin Farm: all in all, this seemed like a good idea.
At Philpin Farm transport was arranged to take the participant to the finish line, and Sally and I were assigned to a group that waiting to carry on to Ingleborough. We had a fine well-paced walk to the base of the final ascent to saddle on Ingleborough, then a good steady climb to where the route eases off, at which point Sally was assigned to stay, and I was assigned to walk to the finish line without going to the summit, and encourage any participants I found along the way, which I did.
My journey back to Horton was interrupted by an instruction to wait in the Sulber Nick area, then to walk back the way I come (back towards Ingleborough), to support the last participant off the mountain, who by then was coming across the plateau in the dark. In the end, there were five or six or us (Mountain Leaders) looking after her, making sure she made it back safely and in good cheer.
At the finish I wolfed down my supper, and as there wasn't time to go to the pub, I slipped into my tent and sent straight sleep, feeling good after a good day's work.
