The sky’s the limit for Truro’s peak performers

Two courageous members of Bishop Fleming’s Truro office have scaled the heights of endurance in their successful attempt to climb a trio of mountain peaks in the space of just 24 hours to help keep Cornwall’s Air Ambulance flying over the county’s skies.

[Pictured left to right: Robert Bailey and Ben Rance on Snowden]

Their pride was at stake as they were following in the brave footsteps of two of their colleagues who successfully completed the Three Peaks Challenge last year.

Tax Director Robert Bailey and Audit Executive Ben Rance, who work in Bishop Fleming’s Newham Road office in the city, scaled Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in the Lake District and Snowdon in Wales in just under 24 hours, raising a combined total of more than £2,800 for Cornwall Air Ambulance.

The two intrepid mountaineers left Cornwall Air Ambulance HQ on Friday 7 September and flew to Glasgow to climb Ben Nevis. They then travelled by minibus to Scafell Pike, which they climbed whilst battling through rain and winds. And still with some energy left, they then drove to Snowdon to complete the final climb.

That was a combined walk of over 40 kilometres and a climb of over 3,000 metres in the space of a day. Over 2,000 miles were travelled in total (from Cornwall to Glasgow to Fort William to the Lake District to Snowdonia back to Cornwall).

Ben completed the challenge in 23 hours and 45 minutes, and Bob did it in 23 hours and 59 minutes – just a minute to spare!

After completing the challenge, an exhausted Robert commented: “I cannot say I enjoyed the walking but I’m really glad I did it. Climbing Scafell Pike in bad weather was the hardest thing I have ever done. However, the sense of achievement on reaching Snowdon summit within the time was fantastic. But that’s it for this grumpy old man, no more challenges, and my future walks will be slow ones with my wife and just for fun.”

Ben commented: “The Three Peaks Challenge was hugely rewarding. Everybody came together as a team and achieved something great; both personally in climbing the three mountains and collectively in raising awareness and funds for Cornwall Air Ambulance. Just don’t make me do it again anytime soon!”

There is still time to donate; the Just Giving page closes at the end of the month –

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/robert-bailey10

or

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-rance

Robert has been writing a blog on his progress up to the date of the climb which can be read at www.sagomith.wordpress.com. He describes himself as a “grumpy old man” being sent into the hills, compared to the much younger Ben, who was awarded the prestigious Cornwall 30 under 30 Award by Cornwall Chamber of Commerce in 2016.

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