Taking a Peak (or two)
A
James Forrest on walking to mend our mountains
re you insane? What is wrong with you? Have you
completely lost the plot this time? These are some of
the responses I’ve received from my ‘normal’, non-
outdoorsy friends when I tell them about my grand plans
for this summer. Perhaps I am being foolish?
My self-appointed mission is to climb every mountain in
England and Wales in just six months – the fastest ever time (as
far as I know) to complete the peak-bagging feat. I’ll walk more
than 1,000 miles, wild camp for 100 nights and ascend five times
the height of Everest in my bid to summit all 446 peaks* over
2,000ft in the two countries. Oh, and I’ll be doing it while also
holding down my three-days-a-week job with the Lake District
National Park. It’s going to be a busy summer.
But I’m incredibly excited too about Challenge446, as I’ve
nicknamed it. I love the freedom and sense of adventure of
heading out into the hills, sleeping under the stars and exploring
our glorious mountainous regions – so I can’t wait. I walked
all 214 Wainwrights a few years ago and I thrived on having a
structured goal to aim for – it pushed me to explore new places
and inspired me to keep going. This challenge will hopefully do
the same. I’ve never done anything on this scale before and I
know the going will get tough. However I’m confident I’ll get
through it and I’m looking forward to the adventure of a lifetime.
My challenge will be raising money for the British
Mountaineering Council’s Mend Our Mountains campaign, which
funds upland path repairs on mountains across the UK. Fingers
crossed I can hit my target of £4,460 – that’s £10 for each peak
summitted. Donate online at www.justgiving.com/challenge446.
You can also follow my adventures at www.jamesmforrest.com or
on social media.
* For any of you mountain geeks out there, I’m basing my definition of a mountain on
The Mountains of England & Wales by fellow guild members John and Anne Nuttall,
which defines a qualifying peak as 2,000ft (610m) high with a relative of height of at
least 15m.
summer 2017 | Outdoor focus 11