On the 25th June 2010 I will be joining a group of guys from England who are doing the five peaks challenge for charity, the hard part being they have to do all five in forty eight hours. The challenge consists of the five highest peaks in Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I know one of the guys (Scott) from our trip together in Nepal and it was there he told me about his five peaks challenge. He asked if I would be interested in leading them up Carrauntoohil as they are unfamiliar with the mountain themselves.
I am not a mountain leader (yet) but I instantly decided that it is something I wanted to do, I had to wait to confirm with Scott however as the same old doubts in my mind haunted me for a few weeks, what happens if we get lost? you have never been there yourself so what makes you think you can lead a group? I need to learn to have more confidence in my own abilities. Once I decide on a course of action however my confidence returns and I commit to it whole heartedly. Now I am in the planning phase where I will plan the route, route card, backup route on the GPS (just in case) and any other prudent safety measures.
I am excited about the challenge of climbing Ireland's highest mountain, it is something I have wanted to do for over a year now and finally I am going to do it. I have been left with the task of picking the best route for us up and down the mountain, the challenge being to get up and down as quickly as possible for the guys and as safely as possible for all of us. This is the first of their five peaks and so problems or setbacks here could jeopardise their entire effort. This will also be their longest summit, I estimate a six hour round trip.
The route I have chosen is the Caher route (follow link for more info) which I think will be the safest and easiest choice. I think it best to avoid the Devils ladder route which has become badly eroded and as a result dangerous, as well as the the Brother O' Shea's Gully route which requires some scrambling in places. As a side bonus we will also summit Caher, Ireland's third highest mountain so that is another two mountains to tick off the list.
Come back soon for more information and an update on the climb.
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