The handl Group 3 Peaks Challenge

In just 24 hours on the 27th September 2025, 25 people across the handl Group will be taking on the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales to raise money for two important charities. Climbing a total of 10,052, this brave team will be climbing Wales’ Yr Wyddfa (aka Snowdon), England’s Scafell Pike and Scotland’s Ben Nevis. Any donations made can go to either The Children’s Society or Maggie’s Centre, or both charities, and help raise the funds that they so urgently need.

Donate here

The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society is a national charity working to transform the hopes and happiness of young people facing abuse, exploitation and neglect. The charity supports them through their most serious life challenges and campaigns tirelessly for the big social changes that will improve the lives of those who need hope most.

Maggie’s Centre

Maggie’s Centres are warm and welcoming places built alongside NHS hospitals that provide the support that people with cancer and their family and friends need.

Corporé’s Representative

Joining the team is Corporé’s very own Compliance Manager, Sam Adam. We’ll be keeping up with Sam’s training progress on this page, where you can also find a link to donate.

Entry 25th August 2025 – Yorkshire 3 Peaks – “The biggest challenge of my preparation so far!”

In probably the biggest challenge of my preparation so far, last weekend I took on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks – a gruelling 24-mile circuit with three climbs, including a tricky scramble up to Ingleborough from Chapel-le-Dale, which will give me nightmares for weeks! I started at 7.45 am from Horton-in-Ribblesdale, tackled Pen-y-Ghent and its steady ascent with a bit of a scramble at the top quickly, and was then on the long trek to Whernside. Whernside was a long, steady climb, but the descent was a test of concentration and tough on the knees, as it was basically a giant, uneven staircase down. I then started towards Chapel-le-Dale, and had a quick 20-minute pit-stop before heading on towards Ingleborough. Most of the climb is quite steady, but the last section to get up to Simon Fell is steep, and zig zags up before the final mile up to the summit. The descent is fairly straightforward, and long parts of the descent back to Horton are gradual – which is very welcome after the day of hiking! The route takes you back over the railway, and I completed it in under 9 hours (including stops), which was a fair bit shorter than my target time of 10 hours. This meant I had a fair bit of time for a well-earned alcoholic beverage from the volunteer-staffed café at the station!

The training must be paying off, because I was up early again on Sunday to get absolutely drenched walking around the Makers Market on the Albert Dock with minimal complaining!!

Entry 23rd August 2025 – Snowdon – “The most challenging part of the training so far!”

Snowdon was the most challenging part of the training plan so far, with a route of 28km and total ascent of 1.75km. With two separate ascents to the summit in one day of hiking and a total moving time of just under 8h30, it was a great day of walking in some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK.

To make sure I got a full day of climbing in, I camped in Llanberis to make sure I could be up and walking early. The first ascent was along the Llanberis path to the summit, followed by a descent down the Miner’s Track, then lunch at Pen-y-Pass. The second ascent was along the Pyg Track to the summit, and our final descent was down the Snowdon Ranger Path before turning back to Llanberis for a well-earned pie and a pint! The main aim of the day was to get familiar with the Pyg Track ascent and Miner’s Track descent as these are the most likely routes for the actual challenge; the extra climb and descent were to get extra miles in the legs and attempt to simulate how the first 2 climbs might feel when we get to Snowdon on the day of the challenge itself – although I doubt anything can properly simulate that!

The second ascent was straightforward until the Pyg Track merged with the Miner’s Track and the climb got steep. At this point, the 17km in the legs started to take its toll. Nothing a packet of crisps and some Skittles couldn’t take care of! Probably the biggest challenge of the weekend was keeping some rowdy chickens away from my burger the night before!

Some parts of the climb were more of a ‘climb’ which felt very satisfying, and I’m now more excited than ever for the actual day. The idea of climbing the Pyg Track in the dark feels a little daunting, but if it is in the dark, it’ll mean we’re making good time against the overall 24h challenge, which would be a great motivator.

Entry 2nd August 2025 – Scafell Pike – “The summit was spectacular!”

I ascended Scafell Pike by following a pretty well-established path which made the hike a bit easier, but it was still a bit of a slog – I started way too fast and had to ease off the pace as I realised it was such a long, consistent incline. I took the clearer route, which curves round the left of the col and approaches the summit from the North West. It flattens out a bit approaching from this side, but the trail starts turning into rocky/large stones so it slows you down as you pick a path over the tricky terrain. Definitely glad to be fairly tall, it looked hard having to properly scramble over some of the larger rocks.

The summit was spectacular! It was a clear day so once I reached the large cairn structure at the summit, I could see many of the other peaks across the Lake District, as far as Windermere to the south east and the Irish Sea to the west.

The climb back down was slow to start, retracing the way over boulders and rocks, and mainly avoiding rolling my ankles! Once past that bit and towards Hollow Stones, it became much quicker to get down, only slowed by the traffic on the trail. The last half / third was quick, the main hazard was tiredness – the rocks are flat and worn so a couple of times I took a step too close to the edge was close to losing my footing. Finally reaching the bottom, there was an ice cream van in the National Trust carpark, a Twister (lots of other ice creams were available) has never tasted so good!

Overall, minus 5-10 minutes on the top admiring the view and taking some quick photos, it took us 3 hours and 40 minutes from start to finish. With some better pacing to start we might have shaved a bit of time off on the way up, but the biggest obstacle really was slower moving traffic on the trail. However, it was pretty clear that on a rainy day, Scafell Pike would be a significantly more difficult challenge and take a fair bit longer.