Three Peaks are just a warm up!

Ben Nevis conquered, two more to go . . . Steve Hill (right) Shaun Knowles (left) and Steve Tupholme celebrate completing the first obstacle in their Three Peaks Challenge

Teacher uses gruelling climb as training for Mont Blanc

CONQUERING the nation’s three highest peaks is a goal worthy of praise, but for a Shaw schoolteacher it was merely a training exercise as he heads for greater heights.

Steve Hill roped in two of his friends and together they scaled the summits of Snowden, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike in 22 hours and 58 minutes.

They raised more than £1,000 for Help for Heroes and the BIRD charity (Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Development) and got another notch on the belt in Mr Hill’s fitness campaign.

The St Joseph Primary School deputy head is anxious to get as much climbing under his belt as possible before he sets out to scale Mont Blanc to raise money for the same two charities next month. The combined height of the three peaks conquered by the trio was 11,178 feet, which still falls some way short of Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s highest mountain at 15,780 feet.

Shaun Knowles and Steve Tupholme accompanied Mr Hill on the three peaks challenge, and he admitted it was a tough 24 hours.

Mr Hill said: “Shaun used to do lots of hiking, and when I decided to climb Kilimanjaro last year he helped me with my training.

“It continued this year with the Mont Blanc climb. We have done a lot of climbing and hiking around the Lake District and Peak District throughout the year, and Steve joined us.

“After some discussion, we decided to give ourselves something of a challenge in the build up to Mont Blanc, so we completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks, then went for the big one — the National Three Peaks Challenge.

“It was tough going, with very little sleep, if any, between climbs.

“The legs were certainly sore for a few days afterwards, but I’m sure it will put me in good stead for the Mont Blanc summit next month.”

Shaun’s wife, Cath, who is a teacher at St Joseph’s, acted as support driver for the trio, and Mr Hill’s Year 6 pupils are running a range of fund-raising events throughout the summer to add to the total.