Haz anyone here ever mountain biked Scafell, Mt. Snowdon or Ben Nevis and survived?

[Gizmo_says]

Aye up, maccaz!

Hey i wuz reading about the three peakz challenege and how sum peopl in it climb Scafell Pike , Mount Snowdon and Ben Nevis in one weekend.
Fro those non-mountain initiated, these are the three highest mountains in England, Wales and Scotland respectively.

Got me thinking about doing one (or two!)of them on a mountain bike.... do you fink this wuld be feasible and safe in the English October?

Has anyone done this before?
Did you hav any nasty scares on it?
And wuld you do it again??
Waz the climate a problem (cos winter wuld have brogut on snow and all sorts your way, and probably pretty unpredictable, especially up in the Scottish Highlandz? )

I wuld be interested to know if anyone has tried these 'ultimate UK winter downhills' and lived to tell the tales.....

 

[agf]

Hi,

I cycled down Ben Nevis and Snowdon with three friends in summer '87 or '88 - can't remember which - we spread them over a week instead of trying for the 24 hour trip. We attempted Scafell but the weather was just too bad.

I have also walked them in November - there was lots and lots of snow then, especially on Ben Nevis. 6ft or more - much much too deep to cycle.

Ben Nevis was the best biking descent - we went up and down the "tourist trail" (check a map). We had to carry the bikes all the way up but cycled the entire way down. The drop at the edge of the path keeps you alert - I managed to save going over the edge until I got to a spot with a ledge 10 ft below the path so escaped with just some bruising! It is about 7 miles of steep downhill/trials - I wore out a set of brake blocks but decided to destroy the rims rather than miss the ride. There were a couple of small snow patches at the top but that was all - oh yes, it rained as usual.

Snowdon - we climbed up the pig track with the bikes then cycled down the railway track with a gale behind us and heavy rain. It was very fast, very exciting and impossible to stop - which made the rocky bits entertaining!

Scafell - I have climbed this on foot twice and didn't find the top either time in the horrible sleet and snow. It is the hardest peak to find because of the terrain and difficult navigation. The weather was so bad when we were cycling (low cloud and rain) that we entertained ourselves by going up and down the mountain passes instead - just watch out for the slow cars!

A group of friends tried to do the three peaks on foot just a couple of weeks ago but had to abandon the attempt because they were so exhausted - if you are giving the 24 hour thing a go then make sure you have someone who is committed to doing nothing but driving. The climbers can sleep during the road trip and the driver sleeps while the climbers are going up the mountains.

We had the best bikes of the day - no sus. and a whole 15 gears - so you shouldn't have much trouble on a modern downhill bike.

Your biggest problem will be the weather but at least there won't be so many hikers getting in your way in October/Nov. Give it a go and be prepared to make changes to your plan if the weather is too bad. I'm sure you will have a memorable trip!

Andy

PS If James, Toby or Declan read this, then it would be really great to get in touch - please reply to this thread. James - do you still have the photos?