Torrential Rain! We sat in the car for half an hour hoping it would stop. It got worse! Richard and Jeremy were keen to get going, the rest of us would have happily packed it in there and then. It was on with the waterproofs and 'once more unto the breach dear friends'. Jeremy set off at a gallop, head torch illuminating the way. We made reasonable progress up to the crossing point at Lingmell Gill. Jeremy, Richard, Tom and myself picked our way across the rocks, trying to avoid falling into the stream and waited for the other three at the far side. At that moment Martin and Marcus turned to go back down and Andy crossed over to join us. Andy explained that Marcus was feeling ill. This was definitely the low point in the Challenge. It was raining even harder, the wind was strong and the visibility was poor. The rest of the ascent and descent was hell. What made it worse was that Cerebral Palsy team passed us on their descent before we had made it half way up. Thoughts about completing the Challenge went out of the window and were replaced by simply getting up and down safely. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to be beaten by Scafell Pike, this was my third time on the peak and I had never had good weather. We made the summit and turned round immediately, Richard was feeling very cold, due to a lack of decent waterproofs. By the time we reached Lingmell Gill again, it had changed from a fast flowing stream to a raging torrent. We were all soaked through so decided to simply wade through and hope that we wouldn't be swept away. Andy was the last across and fell almost immediately, clutching his dodgy knee. Selfishly I thought that he might have waited until he got to the other side! Fortunately, it was only cramp and he was able to make it across and we finished the descent as fast as the conditions would allow. There was a welcome cup of coffee waiting at the bottom and a chance to change into clean dry clothes and to leave Wasdale Head as soon as possible. Scafell Pike was almost a disaster, it accounted for three members (Andy called it a day after completing the peak) of the team and over an hour more time than budgeted. As he was dry and had had some sleep, Martin drove the Galaxy to Snowdon, allowing the rest of the team to thaw out, doze and then prepare to jump out on reaching Snowdon. Roadworks in several places, slowed us down, as did the greater amount of traffic at this more civilised time of day. The A595/A590 heading to the M6 was dotted with slow moving vehicles, with few overtaking opportunities. Some time was picked up on the M6 and A55 (just as well). The A548 from Abergele proved a killer - very twisty and narrow. We had to keep going as rapidly as possible to make the 24 hour deadline - but this took it's toll on the brakes, which started billwing smoke at a set of roadworks! Fortunately, the road straightened, the brakes cooled, and we kept the pace up until reaching Llanberis pass.
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