Yorkshire. Land of the Yorkshire Pudding and Terry’s Chocolate Orange, birthplace of many cultural icons – and home to the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, funnily enough.
Usually attempted in under 12 hours (although it has been run in 2 hours 29 minutes and 39 seconds), the challenge involves hillwalking up anddown three peaks in the Pennine Range. The peaks in this challenge are Pen-y-Ghent (694m), Whernside (736m) and Ingleborough (723m).
Of these three peaks, Whernside is the highest in Yorkshire, Ingleborough is the second highest whilst Pen-y-Ghent is down in ninth. Although these peaks may seem easy, with ‘only’ 1585 metres of ascent, you have to remember that you need to walk between each peak.
This gives you a whopping 38.6km of walking. Considering the National Three Peaks involves 37km of walking, this gives you an idea of the challenge faced in undertaking the Yorkshire Three Peaks! Unlike the National Three Peaks Challenge, the beauty of this challenge is that you can complete it without the use of a car between each peak.
You can either drive or fetch the train to start this challenge. Parking is available in either of the two different starting points and the local train stations to aim for are either Horton-in-Ribblesdale or Ribblehead, but the favoured start point is Horton-in-Ribblesdale.
