Three Lakes Challenge

Rules

1. The time begins when the team leave the car park to walk to the Loch in Scotland, and finishes on arrival back at the car in Wales.

2. The team must park at the Visitors’ Centre Car Park at Loch an Eilein to walk to the Loch. For the Lake and Llyn the team can be dropped off wherever they choose.

3. Dives must be a minimum of 10 minutes, with complete immersion required for this period.

4. Divers must carry adequate air to complete the dive safely, and must dive in buddy pairs.

5. Divers must have some form of shore cover.

6. The Dive Team must carry at least 1 torch and 1 SMB and reel between them.

7. Divers must carry all their own equipment with no external assistance.

8. The dive team must consist of at least 2 divers.

9. The team must have at least one non-diver in support on the walk carrying the minimum safety equipment:

First Aid Kit
1 x sleeping bag in event of emergency
Means of Communication with Rescue Services
Emergency shelter (bivvy bag / safety bag)
Means of locating position (map/compass and/or GPS)

Other safety equipment is a matter of common sense and should reflect the current and potential conditions (e.g. warm, waterproof clothing, hot drinks in cooler/wetter conditions or water and a means of shade in warmer/drier conditions).

10. Teams contact the Rothiemurchus estate as a courtesy and to ensure no activities are occurring on the estate which may prohibit walking to the Loch.

12. Teams should give due consideration to minimising impact to the environment which includes taking all litter (including toilet paper) with you when you leave, using footpaths were possible.

13. Teams should be capable and appropriately equipped to navigating to and from the locations in the prevailing conditions, and be capable of dealing with any potential emergency.

14. In the interests of the ethos of the Challenge divers should attempt to raise as much money as possible for their chosen charity.

Driving
Ideally the driver(s) should not take part in the walking phase of the challenge, and therefore be well rested for the driving phases. This also means the divers / walkers can get some kip in the back of the wagon between sites.

Distances
Aviemore to Patterdale is 270 miles in 5 hours.
Patterdale to Capel Curig is 166 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Total is 436 miles in 8 hours 30 minutes.

Mistakes We Made
It generally went very smoothly for us – maybe slightly more training than a trot around the local woods would have been good. Aside from that the following points are useful:

1. Do have an area where you can sleep in the car whilst on the move. A transit van would be perfect for this challenge, as you could lay out a bed in the back and kip whilst the driver cracks on. You will definitely need the sleep.

2. Do train if you can. You’ll end up walking over rough terrain for upwards of 40 km carrying dive kit – you need to be reasonably prepared. We didn’t train at all, and despite our ex-military backgrounds we were knackered (obviously Andy more than me, as I’m a Marine and he’s a Para).

3. Eat shedloads of food throughout the challenge, and stay well hydrated.

4. Begin at midday on the Scotland leg. This means you miss most of the rush hours in the big cities whilst driving between the sites.

5. Enjoy. You are plainly barking mad to even think about doing this.

Useful Contacts
The best one is Andy Torbet, who pretty much single handedly put this challenge together.
His email is: andytorbet@blueyonder.co.uk
Failing that please try me on: info@montyhalls.co.uk

To see Monty and Andy in action, click here

Help For Heroes have also got information on this challenge.
Try them on: 0845 673 1760 or 01980 846 459

Roll of Honor – The Three Lakes Club:
Please contact us at info@montyhalls.co.uk as you complete the challenge, and we’ll add you to the Roll of Honor.