Would you let 16 year olds do the Three Peaks alone?

[lovetotravel1234]

My son wants to do the Three Peaks Challenge with two friends when they finish their GCSEs. They will be 16 and want to do this totally alone. I feel this is unsafe and they should go with a guide but they feel this ruins the fun of it. Apparently the father of one of them will drive but not hike. Am I being unreasonable?

I reckon they’d be fine if they can use maps and compasses. There’s also the OSMAPS app that uses GPS. I think if the weather is good as it is now and they’ve got D of E experience, they’ll be fine. I’m working my way through the Yorkshire ones (I’ve got Ingleborough in 2 weeks, did penyghent two days ago) and I’m not even going to try do a national peak before I’ve completed all 3 Yorkshire ones in one day. I’ve not got enough experience or kit as much as I love hiking in the hot weather. id say just don’t do it in the back end or start of the year and visibility should be fine. You can get more advice on the uk hiking subreddit and also loads of info pages online for what they’d need.

What type of terrain was their silver dofe in? Silver is normally 3 nights in pretty adventurous areas will limited supervision, normally just meeting at check points every few hours.

Based on my own experience, no. I did it as an adult with a large ish group. We did Scafell second during the dark, also got foggy. We had head torches and some of the group had done it before but it wasn’t fun for anyone. I was relieved when we got down. The daytime mountains were fine.

I would want a larger group of that age or an adult going with them.

When I finished my GCSEs I got stoned in the park.

So on that basis I’d say yes. It’s a constructive thing to do and will build their confidence. The dad will be there. And the main paths are busy routes.

My dd did the Yorkshire 3 peaks at that age, did the national one at 18, supported obviously as you need a driver

No, not without an adult guide. I did it as an adult and it was gruelling. Ben Nevis had different seasons as we climbed, started off nice and sunny at the bottom, then torrential rain, then snow and ice. We were a group of 16 adults, varied abilities, following a guide and one of us had to be rescued due to suffering an injury on the mountain. It’s extremely hard to see at the top and we were very close to the edge as we took a wrong turn and it could have been fatal.

16 year old boys would be totally out of their depth, however much they want to believe otherwise. A guide should definitely go with them, no question, especially if you want to see them all again safe and sound. Advise them it’s not a case that you don’t trust them, you don’t trust the unpredictability of the mountains and their ability to navigate those challenges in a live situation without any support.

As long as they do Scafell Pike during the day they should be fine.
the paths on the other two are wide enough to do in the dark.
are the aiming for 24/36 hours?

if they are used to walking and have equipment with them I would let them. I did a week of. Walking across Yorkshire dales in youth hostels with a group of 4 when I was 15

My 15yo has Silver DofE but not enough experience to navigate Scarfell Pike which is the most technical mountain. Ben Nevis and Snowdon are much simpler, but errors can still be made and more likely with the time pressure and tiredness of the challenge.

If there was an experienced adult walking with them separate to doing the driving that would be different, otherwise they'd need to have grown up with hiking in mountains and contributing to navigating which few 16yos have.

I'd allow them to do the yorkshire three peaks alone with a backup team but not the national three peaks. There are so many times you need to abort when the weather isn't on your side and I think it would be too tempting for 16 year olds to push on.

I've only done Scafell and I did it when I was not particularly fit. If they go in the day time and stick to the well trodden path then I would say it's almost impossible to get wrong!

if Snowdon and Ben Nevis have wider paths, to the point you could do it in the dark, as per pp - then yes I would absolutely let them.

Especially if there is an adult 'on site'.

Yorkshire 3 peaks yes. Not the national ones.

They’ll be fine with an adult waiting for them at the bottom. As long as they’re confident walkers, can navigate with a map and compass if the mist comes in, appropriate footwear and winter kit (hat, gloves, insulted layer and waterproofs - even in summer), plus high energy food and water. Plus a torch.

Although they should be self sufficient, having climbed them all separately (with my kids who are 10 and under) and done the 3 peaks in 24 hour challenge, regardless of weather there is always 100’s of other people around should they run into difficulties. Other than the plateau on the Ben Nevis summit all the paths are well defined in my opinion. That said they do need to be sensible enough to call it of the weather isn’t great. It took us 3 attempts to get a window suitable to do Ben Nevis.

Depending on what devices they have you can download all the routes and use live track (although be conscious this can drain batteries quickly).

There were lots of groups of young people doing Ben Nevis in May when we climbed it last. A lot of them far better equipped and fitter than some of the random groups of ‘tourists’ carrying bother but a single bottle of water and asking how far it was to the top when they were only a couple of miles in.

I walked the Dales Way at 16 and had a ball, but even so, Yorkshire Three Peaks, yes. National Three Peaks: no. Plenty of other good adventures to build up to the National Three Peaks

I’d let my DS do it with his scout friends.

I’d check what the plan is to ensure they are climbing in ok conditions etc, and that the dad is an experienced hillwalker and feels able to advise not going up.

he’ll be under two years from being an adult!

Ben Nevis is no walk in the park even on the touristy way up, I wouldn't want to do it in the dark, even the wider rocky paths have frequent large grooves for water to run through and once you hit the serpentine to the summit is very rocky and shaley.

The worry is that age, inexperience and immaturity might make them underestimate of just his long it takes to get up and down Ben Nevis alone and how unpredictable weather can be at the top. There can be snow at the top of Ben Nevis even in June and that snow can hide crevasses and steep drops. I went up there in the month of August in heatwave conditions and it was really warm all the way up but the dehydration was a nightmare. It was very exhausting and we hurt like hell the next day.

I remember when we were nearly back at the bottom at about 6.30pm that there was people heading up including a young guy in just his shorts and t shirt, sliders on his feet and a small bottle of water. He asked two passing hikers how far to the top and they said it'll be 9pm before you even get up there and you'll be coming down in the dark but undeterred off he went!

What I would also say is that whilst it's good that there's an adult at the bottom, they may not be much help if they go missing or someone gets hurt and phone signal is sketchy. That parent at the bottom won't know there's an issue until they are so many hours late past their expected return time so for example of the run into an issues just before getting to the top of Ben Nevis but can't make contact with a anyone, it could be another 3 or 4 hours before the person at the bottom starts to get alarmed.

If they have an adult on hand and they are suitably.prepared it sounds great. My 16 y o went on a 3 day Dartmoor expedition with pals last summer.
A guide to walk up either of the 3 Peaks would be over the top, imo.

If they’re experienced hikers, can read a map and use a compass, also have a digital map like OS maps premium and an adult
waiting at the bottom they will be absolutely fine. When the clag/fog comes in you can still see the path in front of you for a decent distance and walking with a head torch is fine. The daytime ones will be very busy so not an issue, night hiking isn’t as scary as you think. If at least two of them have a digital live map they’ll navigate these no bother. It would be a great experience for them and great for building confidence and responsibility.

and I agree with pp, a guide is absolute overkill for these hills. Not saying there’s no risk but they can be measured and mitigated no problem

I’ve done 3 peaks. I’m not sure I would have managed it at 16, but everyone’s different. Make sure they do the conventional routes in good conditions.