CARE 3 Peaks Challenge Spain post-event report

On arrival at Malaga airport the 30 degree heat was a welcome relief to the English ‘summer’ we’d left behind, the jovial mood was only broken momentarily when our guide, James, broke the news that we may have to cycle our large expedition packs up to the mountain refuge. Mentally we all started to remove the non essentials from our kit until James rescued us with the news that our luggage would make it up the hill in a 4x4 rather than with pedal power.

The crisp, thin mountain air and sudden shower of rain were a sharp awakening to the challenge that lay ahead. We had all the kit (padded shorts and all) and fantastic bikes to help us on our way, a huge sense of achievement (or relief!) was felt all round at completing stage one ready to settle down for a cosy night in the mountain refuge. 
 
After a rather restless night, the team were suited and booted for a long days hiking, taking in the first two of our three peaks to conquer; Mulhacen 3,482m, Alcazaba 3,364m. We soon learnt that when James and Tim (our guides) say that a track is ‘undulating’ or the peak is ‘just around the corner’ they are in fact lying, not maliciously but more to keep our spirits up. Having conquered some steep ascents to reach the summit of Mulhacen we were rewarded with fantastic views, including that of the valley we would have to reach for lunch and the climb we faced to reach the second peak.
 
It seemed the idea of a lunch stop proved attractive to all and the group made speedy progress down to the mountain lake, the fresh mountain water provided a cool relief to the Spanish sunshine. The ascent to Alcazaba was hard work and steep, but a mixture of Ray’s jokes and cereal bars kept us all going. Reaching our second goal on day two was a huge achievement and the views over the Sierra Nevada were stunning.
 
Our achievement was swiftly followed by the realisation that we still had to get back off the mountain and home to the refuge which our guide, Tim, informed us included three steep climbs (this was not in the small print). However, having completed two of the three highest peaks in Spain the short climb home was nothing in comparison and a well earned beer on the steps of the hostel in the evening sun was a deserving reward.
 
A little stiff from the previous days exercise the team saddled up and began the climb to Veleta 3,392m where we cycled to within 15 meters of the summit. Finally all our efforts of slow but steady uphill progress on the bikes were rewarded with an adrenalin filled decent to Granada stopping only to enjoy lunch at one of the mountain restaurants. The long smooth ride to Granada was interrupted by a short off-road section where a not so friendly local dog decided to join the ride and there was a short wait for a local farmer to herd his goats upstream before we could cycle across the river.

A warm reception party greeted us at the finish for what was a truly remarkable event and huge achievement by all!

You can view and download pictures from this Challenge here, kindly provided (along with this report) by Lydia Gibson.