3 Peaks and 500 Miles
Lecture by Alasdair Robertson

written up by Chris Loy

In 2019, Alasdair was approaching the three-year anniversary of a bad rock-climbing accident he had suffered shortly after graduating from university. He fell 40ft (12m) down the Avon Gorge and broke his back and both feet. Once he had recovered enough, he decided to take on a challenge, not only by climbing Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, but also walking the 500-mile distance between them, to raise money for Spinal Research.

As part of our Reading lecture series, at the start of the second lockdown in November, Alasdair gave us a brilliant talk by Zoom of his accident - what led up to it, and his subsequent journey. It was a fascinating and honest account, made all the more engaging by Alasdair’s great sense of humour and apparently spontaneous style, as if we were the first people to whom he’d ever told the story.

It all began with Alasdair’s career in the University of Bristol Expeditions Society where he started out as a complete novice, not even having a proper waterproof jacket on his first trip. By his third year, however, he was one of the most experienced members of the club and regarded as a role model. This resulted one day in him seconding another club member who was learning to lead. Due partly to the other’s inexperience and problems with communication on the crag, Alasdair was not on belay when he lost his hold on the rock and therefore plummeted to the ground, thinking as he fell that he would probably not survive.

Well, fortunately he did survive and, in a remarkable turnaround given the seriousness of his injuries, over the course of about 18 months was able to return again to walking and even climbing. Alasdair reflected on how the rapid turnover of his student society may have warped his perception of what it means to be truly experienced in outdoor activities, and how this is something young climbers and mountaineers need to be wary of. He eventually began to consider taking on a challenge that would give him a new focus and put the accident behind him psychologically, as well helping change the outcome for sufferers of the kind of spinal injury that he only narrowly avoided. He thought of the Three Peaks of Great Britain but was aware of the negative impact that the conventional method – driving between each peak – had on the environment and on local people’s perceptions. That is where he got the idea of walking the 500-mile distance between the peaks as well as climbing them. As a habitual backpacker, he carried a heavy pack with him and wild-camped along much of the way.

Despite various trials and tribulations, Alasdair successfully completed the challenge in the remarkably fast time of just over four weeks, reaching the summit of Ben Nevis on Day 29 of his trip.

Alasdair has so far raised over £4,000 of his £5,000 target on Justgiving for Spinal Research. You can donate here . A detailed account of the trip can be found in Alasdair’s blog

Sunset over Windermere and Central Fells
Photos by by Alasdair Robertson

Alasdair in Lairigmor on West Highland Way

Alasdair on Summit of Ben Nevis

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