Halima Nawaz on the Scafell Pike Climb: April 30th 2016

“Britain set for FREEZING WEEKEND as Arctic winds blast in sending temperature tumbling”, “Snow warning as Arctic blast blows in” and “Cumbria faces sleet and snow…” were just a few of the weather headlines in the week leading up to our Scafell Pike climb!

Despite being quite an active person, I’ll confess to being somewhat apprehensive about hiking in sleet and snow. On a previous climb of Mount Snowdon, I’d endured an unrelenting downpour of rain throughout a 7-hour roundtrip and the memories of my supposedly “waterproof” boots squelching in the terrain with every step hadn’t quite faded away. Even waterproof boots have their limits!

However, having conquered Snowdon again on a more recent occasion, I knew that under much fairer, crisp and clear weather conditions, a seemingly difficult climb could yield significant visual rewards. The day before our climb, we were informed that weather conditions would be clear, there would be a limited chance of snow but local reports were overall confident that it would be a safe and clear day to hike up to Scafell Pike.

Undeterred by the headlines and comforted to some extent by assurances from local weather guides, we embarked upon our 2.5-hour drive to Cumbria and reached at 9am to graciously clear skies!

Upon arrival, we indulged in a short break to freshen up, enjoy a hot cup of tea and chocolate crepe generously provided for all by the organisers. Huddled together with our teas and crepes, the lead guides, Saima Akram and her husband gave us a briefing on group pace, taking breaks along the way and gave us their hiking tips, do’s and don’ts.

Without further ado, we began our ascent. The first hour or so of our hike was lush green and the view of the lake behind us looked breathtakingly beautiful from higher ground. Whilst the valley below looked like a postcard of Summer, we could see a steep snow covered wintery path lay ahead.

As we climbed further up, we began walking through fresh snow and there were plenty of early birds coming down the mountain as we ascended. All of them giving us nods of confidence and motivation – if others had conquered the snow covered mountain, then surely we could too! In some places the snow was a good two feet deep but thankfully it wasn’t icy and if we were to fall, say half a dozen times(!) we could be sure that our landing would be cushioned with the soft white fluffy stuff!

Whilst the climb was very challenging with its steep incline in the snow, the views were out of this world and definitely helped keep us all going. The snow seemed to make it all look that much more beautiful and aside from a brief spell of hail and snow, we were blessed with clear skies throughout.

After a hard 3-hour incline, we reached the summit of Scafell Pike and I would hasten to add that we were all completely dry despite walking on occasions on slushy wet rocks and constantly walking in snow covered paths – waterproofing success! We enjoyed our lunch and some snacks and a photo op at the top for half an hour before beginning our descent.

The descent was much harder than we’d anticipated as we had to tread more carefully and for those of us unwittingly without walking sticks it was quite a bit trickier coming down without any support on a snowy, rocky and steep path. Our guides were ever supportive and giving us helpful tips on coming down safely.

A sum total of 6 hours after the start, we made it back to Wasdale Car Park victorious as we basked in the glorious summer sunshine with well-deserved ice creams all round!

Thank you to the IKCA team for making this an unforgettable trip and special thanks to our guides for their patience, support and encouragement. We would not have managed to scale the snowy heights without them!

I’m proud to support IKCA in helping cancer patients overcome their challenges and hope that money raised from this hike will help save the lives of those less fortunate.

If you’d like to take part in the 3PC challenge this year, sign up now for the IKCA Snowden and/or Ben Nevis trek.