Wales has 14 mountains over 3000 feet. Climbing all these in under 24 hours is described as one of the great endurance challenges in the UK, involving over 12,000 feet of vertical ascent in a distance of 31.5 miles. Phil Neame, the Trust’s Deputy Chairman, decided to see if his legs were still up for it, now that he qualifies for a free bus pass. It did take two attempts. On the first, towards the end, in the dark with thick fog and rain, his companion slipped in a boulder field and injured himself. They bivouacked until daylight, but that meant they took over 24 hours. A month later, at the beginning of July, Phil was back – this time the challenge was blistering heat. He set off at 4.15 a.m, ticking off the first peak at 6.15 a.m. At 11.15 p.m., by then dark, he was atop the fourteenth, and finally met up with his support team at 1.15 a.m. The picture shows Phil at the end, 21 hours after he started, celebrating with a bottle of ale - Shepherd Neame’s Spitfire, thoughtfully provided by his support team! His ‘mid-summer stroll’ raised £2500 for the Ulysses Trust, and our grateful thanks go to all his sponsors. His sponsors page is still open, if you want to retrospectively support his effort - http://www.bmycharity.com/PhilNeame2013.
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