The National Three Peaks Challenge, a complete guide

The National Three Peaks is the big one: the highest mountain in Scotland, England and Wales, one after another, inside a day. It is as much a logistics challenge as a physical one, and the difference between making 24 hours and missing it usually comes down to organisation rather than fitness.

We have run it for charity groups and corporate teams since 2007: more than 150 departures and over 3,000 people signed up, from teams of five to a charity group of 56. This guide is built from our leaders' logs and planning documents, including the summit times of real groups.

How the day runs

Most challenges start with an afternoon pick-up, a food shop and an overnight in Fort William, with an early start on Ben Nevis the next morning.

There is one proper hot-food stop, usually mid-afternoon on the drive south, and everything else is eaten on the move or on the bus.

The three mountains

Each mountain drawn to the same scale from our leaders' route files, up and back down.

Ben Nevis, 1,345 m

We climb the main path, often called the Pony Track or Tourist Track, from Glen Nevis. It is about 15.7 km there and back with around 1,330 metres of climbing. Allow about 5 hours 30 minutes. Our leaders check pace early: by the Half Way Lochan you know how the day is going to go.

Scafell Pike, 978 m

From Wasdale Head, about 8.5 km with around 900 metres of climbing, and about 4 hours for the round trip. This is the peak most groups underestimate. The crossing of Lingmell Gill is awkward in the dark or after rain, the path fades and splits below the summit, and the summit cairns can mislead you in poor visibility. Our leaders on this peak have all walked it at night before.

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), 1,085 m

Up the Pyg Track from Pen-y-Pass and down the Llanberis Path, about 12 to 13.5 km with around 875 metres of climbing. By now legs are tired and the descent takes longer than people expect. Do not plan on the train to come down: it may not be running.

What real groups achieve

The timetable above is the plan. Here is what actually happened on some of our recent events.

• June 2025. Summit of Ben Nevis at 9.24am and back at the bus by 12.05pm, which our leader called "bang on 24 hour pace". About 30 minutes was lost on each drive to traffic. All fourteen walkers summited Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike, and eleven went on to summit Snowdon.
• May 2025, two groups. The first walkers were back down Ben Nevis in 4 hours 49 minutes. A closure on the M6 cost 30 minutes. Ten of twelve reached the top of Snowdon, eight of them inside 24 hours, and the two who missed did so by 6 and 15 minutes.
• August 2024, two groups. Both off Scafell Pike just after midnight. One group of seven reached the top of Snowdon in 1 hour 24 minutes, the other made it with minutes to spare.
• May 2026. Snow was lying above about 1,200 metres on Ben Nevis. Nine walkers went on to the snowline and four were turned round for safety. The group finished Snowdon at around 25 and a half hours.

• September 2026. Winds of 45 to 55 mph and heavy rain. One group turned below the top of Ben Nevis and another turned on the summit ridge of Scafell Pike because of the wind. A small group summited all three and finished Snowdon in 23 hours 44 minutes.

• 2007, our early records. Of six groups we timed that season, three finished inside 24 hours. The quickest took 23 hours 31 minutes.

The honest summary: a trained group with good weather will usually make it, and the weather and the roads decide the rest.

Our turnaround rules

We set checkpoint times on every mountain. If walkers are behind the cut-off, the slowest are brought down with a rear leader so the rest of the group can carry on. At the summit cut-off, everyone turns around.

Scafell Pike has the tightest rules because the minibus driver can only work a set number of hours. If the group overruns on Scafell, the driver cannot legally complete the journey to Snowdon. Your leaders will push hard on this peak, and anyone who has not trained may be asked to sit it out for the sake of the group.

Where time gets lost

• Changeovers. There are four transitions between bus and mountain. Lose fifteen minutes at each and you have lost an hour. Have your boots, pack and head torch ready before the bus stops.
• The pace on Ben Nevis. It sets the whole day. Going out too fast is almost as costly as going too slowly.
• The descent. It is more often the way down than the way up that decides the challenge, especially on Snowdon when knees and ankles are tired.
• Taking the wrong path. On Snowdon we have seen walkers come down the wrong path in the dark, which cost a lot of time to put right. Stay with your leader.
• Traffic and roadworks. Motorway closures and diversions happen on most events. They are the one thing nobody can train for.

How to train

We give every walker a 6 or 12 week plan. By the end you should be able to:

• Walk for five hours covering about 19 km with 550 to 700 metres of climbing, and later six hours covering 23 to 26 km with 700 to 800 metres.
• Climb 300 metres of height over about 2 km in around 40 minutes.
• Walk downhill for long periods without your knees complaining.

Train on hills, not flat paths, and do some of it in the dark with a head torch. Practise eating and drinking on the move.

The Yorkshire Three Peaks makes a good training day: about 39 km and over 1,700 metres of climbing in one go.

What to take

Food

Budget about £40 for food and plan for about 5 litres of water over the whole challenge. Eat before you are hungry. The favourites on our buses are scotch eggs, bagels with cream cheese, pasta pots, pork pies, flapjacks and jelly babies. There is one hot meal stop, so bring plenty.

When to do it

The season runs from May to September. Early in the season there can still be snow on the summit plateau of Ben Nevis, and hard snow or ice means we turn round. Midsummer gives the longest daylight, which makes the night section on Scafell Pike shorter and safer.

How we keep groups safe

• A qualified Mountain Leader sets the pace at the front on each mountain and a trek manager holds the back, with all leaders first aid trained. Our leaders meet the group at the foot of each peak.
• We staff at roughly one leader to every ten to twelve walkers, and carry radios, a group shelter and emergency kit.
• We never leave anyone alone on a mountain.
• We follow the Met Office warnings: yellow means we continue with care, amber means we change the plan, red means we cancel. Winds over 50 mph mean an alternative route, and at the first sign of thunder we come down.
• We have planned low-level alternatives for every mountain, so a bad forecast changes the route rather than ending the challenge.

Common questions