THE BIG MOURNE CHALLENGE - 40 MILES - 21 PEAKS - FOR MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY

 The Big Mourne Challenge - 40 Miles - 21 Peaks For Mental Health Charity

Well a mega challenge 40 miles and 21 summits just one short on what was planned. The Mournes 7 peaks challenge followed by the Mourne wall challenge two hard routes in the kingdom of Mourne Northern Ireland (google them) and what makes this harder is doing it at this time of year leaving from a tent that we stayed in as our base not from the comfort of home. It was completed in a day and a half. The challenge was as follows 7 peaks first done by Jason and myself and the second part the Mourne wall was all three of us. We done this challenge for Mental health UK. Just like to say thank you to all who donated. I want to make this clear this is no easy task and I do not advise it if you do not have the know how skill are kit because things can turn bad here in a blink of an eye and death is very possible. So please take caution in the mountains in winter. It’s very important to fuel well stay well hydrated during this challenge. The 7s challenge went reasonably well but wind rain and cold soon played a major part to this the very last mountain we had to ditch due to conditions worsening extremely high wind and driving rain with wind chill factors...I was not risking having anyone go down this day because help is a long time away and hypothermia is very fast mover...so we made along the Annalong valley which was a wet mucky track then we had to veer of for the saddle at Donard which isn’t pathed because I wanted the fastest route out of these hills and back to base camp...you could say we were in survival mode. Once back to camp Mark had a blazing fire lit not something I normally do but it was essential to warm up and dry clothes as we had a short rest period before moving again we also had kit to sort and replenish the rucksacks with fresh food 02.30 it was was now time for the Mourne wall challenge which all three of us was for doing...but first it was time to get well fed and coffee down the neck...I also had a quick talk over what was going to happen. This time the weather was better to us for most of the hike. The first mountain soon got my legs working again and it was down Donard and of for silent valley taking in the mountains involved following the wall....there was a brief stop for a few Ibuprofen. This challenge turned into a complete blur as we headed for Slieve Muck...the next few mountains were knocked out without hardly a word from anyone as it was brutal going ...but we were doing this clock wise which I think made it more brutal especially on Muck (I now hate that mountain) anyway we batters on mountain after mountain to big bad Slieve Bearnagh we were now exhausted but the goal was in sight we had to get this done ...there was a few slips and slides as we finished the last few mountains off but we made it we 🤬 nailed it. When back at camp we got food again and packed up camp leaving no trace ..but we know had 3 times the weight on our backs taking all the kit back down it was evil but we done it. So big thanks to the lads for coming along and taking on such a bitch of a challenge and nailing it. A massive thanks to those who donated to the charity. It was all about mental health and this challenge represented it well...because no matter how hard things are if you keep moving forward no matter how slow you will get through it. Remember it’s good to talk....it’s also good to get out there into nature go on give it ago ....you got this 👊👊 

A SPECIAL THANKS AND WELL DONE TO JASON AND MARK ON  THE BIG PUSH