On 11 October, a team of people with learning disabilities or mental health needs from Active Prospects, a charitable care provider based in Surrey and Sussex climbed Mount Snowdon with staff and their support workers.
On the morning of the climb, the team got up early, had a healthy breakfast and prepared themselves for the 10.1-mile trek up the mountain. Upon arrival to the starting point of the trek, the team were nervous, yet excited to work as a team to get the summit (and back). This trek was going to be one team, one challenge and no one was going to be left behind.
The start of the trek was tough, a steep incline uphill before even making it to the main path. However, once we got to the trekking path, a few team members felt relieved that the path was levelling out and we thought “This can’t be all bad, is climbing a mountain really that tough?” Well, it’s safe to say, yes it is.
About 2 hours 30 minutes in, the terrain started to get more turbulent underfoot as well as inclined after each step. Our hiking sticks really came into action at this point and helped us take on the well-known devils’ stairs. (The rocky, unstable stair-like path that takes you up to the summit). One step at a time, we all motivated each other, and I think we all, at this point, wanted to turn back. We spent another 2 hours on the devils’ stairs, which felt like a lifetime, but we could see the summit in sight, that only spurred us on that little further.
Getting to the summit felt like a HUGE achievement but for some of us, also a huge relief. Every one of us got to the top and although exhausted, we still had enough energy to jump for joy and celebrate….(we almost forgot we had to walk back!!).
The 2 hour 30-minute walk back wasn’t your usual ‘walk in the park’ per say, dodging slippery rocks and unstable ground, however, some of us found the walk back a lot easier. The trek took us a total of 6 hours and 30 minutes from start to finish and over 33,000 steps!
Matt who receives support from Active Prospects said “Climbing Mount Snowdon was an amazing experience to do and what a challenge. The part I liked best was seeing Wales up in the mountain and the views were stunning. And the other part I liked was coming back down again as it was easy coming down then going up. The difficult part was walking up the steep slopes. It was exhausting and tiring walking up the devil stairs, but we made it up to the summit!
The team was aiming to raise £3000 to fund activities for people with learning/physical disabilities, mental health needs and autistic people. With the support from the local community, suppliers and family and friends, the team raised over £4000! A fantastic result.
Active Prospects is so thankful for everyone’s generous support, especially during these uncertain times. If you haven’t yet donated or you would like to, please visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/active-prospects-snowdon.
