Mountain Marathons, Adventure Racing, and Mountain Tours

Abstract

This chapter first defines mountain marathons, adventure racing, and mountain tours and gives examples of a range of such activities and events. It then briefly discusses the history and diversity of mountain marathon, adventure racing, and high mountain tours and safety/legal issues before presenting recent data on user numbers. The final part of the chapter focuses on specific environmental impacts associated with particular events such as the UK’s National Three Peaks Challenge and the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and highlights the need for more research. The final section considers the management of these activities and gives some examples of education initiatives that have been used in management attempts.

FormalPara Chapter Summary

This chapter first defines mountain marathons, adventure racing, and mountain tours and gives examples of a range of such activities and events. It then briefly discusses the history and diversity of mountain marathon, adventure racing, and high mountain tours and safety/legal issues before presenting recent data on user numbers. The final part of the chapter focuses on specific environmental impacts associated with particular events such as the UK’s National Three Peaks Challenge and the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and highlights the need for more research. The final section considers the management of these activities and gives some examples of education initiatives that have been used in management attempts.

3.1 Definitions

3.1.1 Mountain Marathon

Mountain marathon is an extended form of fell running . Races usually take place over two days and often have a strong element of orienteering (i.e. competitors must plan their own route and navigate using map and compass). Competitors usually participate in teams of two and have to carry their own food and tent. There are various classes of event (e.g. for the Original Mountain Marathon—Elite, A, B, C, D and Long, Medium, and Short Score).

Some of the more well-known events include:

• The Original Mountain Marathon (OMM—formerly the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon/KIMM) held in a UK hill or mountain area in the last weekend in October (www.theomm.com).

• The Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon (SLMM) held in or near the Lake District in early July.

• The Swiss International Mountain Marathon (since 1976: formerly the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon/KIMM Switzerland/Mammut International Mountain Marathon/MIMM Switzerland/R’adys Mountain Marathon) held in Switzerland in mid-August.

• Marmot Dark Mountains held on the last weekend of January each year.

• The Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon (LAMM) held in the Scottish Highlands in June.

• The Mourne Mountain Marathon held in Mourne Mountains, County Down, Northern Ireland, in September.

• The ROC Mountain Marathon held on the last weekend of September each year.

• The SCOTT Snowdonia Trail Marathon, which is a challenge in every sense of the word. Ascending 1685 metres over 26 miles of iconic and spectacular trails, this epic race circumnavigates and eventually climbs Wales’ highest peak—Snowdon.

• The Longmynd Hike—a 50-mile competition hike open to anyone aged 18 or over—which takes place over the first weekend of October every year.

• Starting and finishing at Church Stretton, the hike follows a set figure-of-eight route over the rugged countryside of South Shropshire and the Welsh Marches, with about 8000 ft of climbing covering eight summits.

There are also newer events springing up and attracting increasing numbers, including the Highlander Mountain Marathon which began in 2007 and is held in April at a Scottish location within a two-hour drive of Inverness.

3.1.2 Adventure or Expedition Racing

Adventure racing has been characterised as a new “lifestyle sport”: “a non-stop, self-sufficient, multi-day, multidiscipline, mixed gender endurance competition that takes place in the wilderness over a designated but unmarked course” (Kay and Laberge 2002, p. 25).

Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo competition as well. The principle disciplines in adventure racing include trekking, mountain biking (Fig. 3.1), and paddling although races can incorporate a multitude of other disciplines including climbing, abseiling, horse riding, skiing, and white-water rafting. Teams generally vary in gender mix and in size from two to five competitors. The most popular format is generally a mixed-gender team of four racers. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.

Fig. 3.1

Competitor on a cycling leg of an adventure race in the English Lake District. Photo by Tim Stott

3.1.3 High Mountain Tours

A high mountain tour (German: Hochtour) is a mountain tour that takes place in the zone that is covered by ice all year round, the nival zone, above a height of about 3000 metres (High Alps) where many mountains are at least partly glaciated (Fig. 3.2). Important historic milestones in the development of high mountain touring in the Alps were the first ascents of the Ankogel (3262 m) in 1762, Mont Blanc (4810 m) in 1786, the Großglockner (3798 m) in 1800, and the Ortler (3905 m) in 1804 as well as the conquest of many high western Alpine summits during the golden age of Alpinism around the middle of the nineteenth century. In other parts of the world, the term may be misleading. For example, in many non-Alpine areas, such as the polar regions, much lower mountains are glaciated. On the other hand, the summits of much higher peaks in the tropics are not always in the nival zone. As a result, their ascent cannot automatically be described as a high mountain tour using the Alpine definition, even if they share some of the features of Alpinism, such as requiring acclimatisation. Mountaineering expeditions in which elevation plays a particularly important role, especially those from about 7000 m, are no longer referred to as high mountain tours but tend to be described by the term high-altitude mountaineering.

Fig. 3.2

The start of the high mountain tour at the end of the eighteenth century: contemporary portrait of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure on Mont Blanc in 1787. Source: By Marquard Wocher—www.unil.ch/webdav/site/viaticalpes/users/dvaj/public/colloqueprojet/Vaj_Viaticalpes.pdf

Other forms of mountain tours might be known by the term “peak bagging.” Examples include:

• The Seven Summits: the Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. Summiting all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass who summited Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Kosciuszko, and Vinson. However, there are other versions of the list which depend on how one defines the continents, so sometimes Puncak Jaya (also known as “Carstensz Pyramid”) and Mont Blanc are included. The Seven Summits achievement has become noted as an exploration and mountaineering accomplishment.

• The eight-thousanders: these are the 14 independent mountains on Earth that are more than 8000 metres (26,247 ft) high above sea level. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia. Their summits are in the death zone. The first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders was the Italian Reinhold Messner, who completed this feat on 16 October 1986.

The mountains and hills of Great Britain, and to a lesser extent Ireland, are the subject of a considerable number of lists that categorise them by height, topographic prominence, or other criteria. They are commonly used as a basis for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt to reach all the summits on a given list. The oldest and best known of these lists is that of the Munros, mountains in Scotland over 3000 ft (914.4 m); other well-known lists include, for example, the Corbetts, Wainwrights, and Marilyns.

• The Scottish Munros: the Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3000 ft (914 m) named after Sir Hugh Munro, who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munro’s Tables, in 1891. The publication of the original list is usually considered to be the epoch event of modern peak bagging. The list has been the subject of subsequent variation. The 2012 revision, published by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, has 282 Munros and 227 subsidiary tops. “Munro bagging” is the activity of climbing all the listed Munros. They present challenging conditions to walkers, particularly in winter. As of 2017, more than 6000 people had reported completing a round. The first continuous round was completed by Hamish Brown in 1974, whilst the record for the fastest continuous round is currently held by Stephen Pyke, who completed a round in just under 40 days in 2010.

• The Corbetts: these are peaks in Scotland that are between 2500 and 3000 ft (762.0 and 914.4 m) high with a prominence of at least 500 ft (152.4 m). There are currently 222 Corbetts.

• The Grahams: these are mountains in Scotland between 2000 and 2499 ft (610 and 762 metres) high, with a drop of at least 150 metres (490 ft) all round. There are currently 221 hills in this list.

• The Donalds: these are mountains in the Scottish Lowlands over 2000 ft (610 m). A mountain with a prominence of at least 30 metres (98 ft) is automatically a Donald, but one with a relative height of 15 metres (49 ft) may be one if it is of sufficient topographic interest. There are 140 Donalds, comprising 89 mountains and 51 tops.

• The Furths: these are those mountains in Great Britain and Ireland Furth of (i.e. “outside”) Scotland that would otherwise qualify as Munros or Munro Tops. They are sometimes referred to as the Irish, English, or Welsh Munros. There are 34 Furths: 15 in Wales, 13 in Ireland, and 6 in England. The highest is Snowdon.

• The Hewitts: these are hills in England, Wales, and Ireland over 2000 feet (609.6 m), with a relative height of at least 30 metres (98 ft). There are 528 Hewitts in total: 179 in England, 138 in Wales, and 211 in Ireland. The current TACit booklets contain 525 mountains, with Black Mountain being counted in both England and Wales.

• The Nuttalls: these are mountains in England and Wales over 2000 ft (610 m) with a relative height of at least 15 metres (49 ft). There are 444 Nuttalls in total (254 in England and 190 in Wales).

• The Wainwrights: these are mountains or hills (locally known as fells) in the English Lake District National Park that have a chapter in one of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 in the seven guides. There are no qualifications for inclusion other than an implied requirement of being at least 1000 ft (300 m) high, to which Castle Crag in Borrowdale is the sole exception. A further 116 summits were included in the supplementary guide, The Outlying Fells of Lakeland.

• The Birketts: these are all the fell tops over 1000 ft high (about 305 m) within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park. Height and location, but not prominence, are the criteria. There are 541 of these tops.

• The Marilyns: these are mountains and hills in the British Isles that have a prominence of at least 150 metres (490 ft), regardless of absolute height or other merits. There are currently 1556 Marilyns in Great Britain: 1217 in Scotland, 176 in England, 158 in Wales, and 5 on the Isle of Man (Black Mountain, on the England-Wales border, is counted as being in Wales). There are a further 454 Marilyns in Ireland.

In the English Lake District especially, there is a tradition of finding the maximum number of tops, including all the major summits, which can be visited in a 24-hour period. This usually requires fell running and a support team. The pre-war record, set by Bob Graham, of 42 tops, has become a standard round, which has been repeated by over 1000 people. In 1975 Joss Naylor, the famous English fell runner, and a sheep farmer, born in the English Lake District, ran over 72 peaks, claimed to involve over 100 miles and about 38,000 ft of ascent in 23h20m, a record which stood unbroken for 13 years.

In Wales, Joss Naylor also completed the Welsh 3000s—the 14 peaks of Snowdonia in 1973 in another record-breaking time of 4 h 46 m, which stood until 1988 when Colin Donnelly set his, still-standing, record for the traverse of the Welsh 3000s with a time of 4 h 19 m.

These “lists” and “rounds” or tours can be done continuously (as in these past examples), or they may be completed over a lifetime. However, in terms of environmental damage, they do not see the huge numbers of participants at one time which modern events (discussed hereafter) bring. It is the huge influx or masses of participants which create the biggest impacts on the environment, and so the rest of this chapter tends to focus on such events.

3.2 History, Diversity, and Participation Numbers

3.2.1 Mountain Marathons

The OMM, formerly known as the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon (or KIMM), and initially simply The Karrimor, is a two-day mountain event, held in a different region across the UK every year. It was first held in 1968 and continues today. The full-length KIMM course is a double marathon in length. The team must carry all their gear, including equipment for an overnight camp. The course is not disclosed until the race begins, so each team must have good navigation skills since it is not possible to practice running the course beforehand. Some have called the KIMM the forerunner of modern adventure racing. For its first eight years, the event was known as “The Karrimor.” In addition to the “Elite category” double marathon, other course lengths have been added over the years to suit a greater variety of competitors. In 2004 the event became known as the OMM after Karrimor’s sponsorship was withdrawn. In 2013, the organisers of the OMM revealed plans for a summer version of the event, along with a mountain biking marathon.

The SLMM is a two-day mountain marathon held in the English Lake District (“or its environs,” such as the adjoining Howgill Fells) in early July. It was founded by Robert Saunders, a long-time UK manufacturer of lightweight tents. The SLMM has been held annually since 1978, apart from 2001, when the Lakeland Fells were closed because of the foot and mouth crisis. 2018 will therefore be the 40th event. It is usually considered to be less tough than the slightly older OMM, since the weather is often mild, the courses are slightly shorter, and the overnight camp is often found to be within walking distance of a pub. The event comprises eight courses of which six are solely for pairs of runners, one is exclusively for solo competitors, and one course is open for both pairs and solo entrants. The organisers encourage young competitors, with lower entry fees for under 25s, and there is a specific, handicapped class for parent and child (age 14+). Because of the popularity of the Lakes, courses are usually set to run “across the grain” of the country, away from popular paths, so as to minimise erosion due to the race.

3.2.2 Adventure Racing

The roots of adventure racing are deep, and people debate the origin of the modern adventure race. Some point to the two-day KIMM, first held in 1968 as the birth of modern adventure racing. The Karrimor Marathon required two-person teams to traverse mountainous terrain while carrying all the supplies required to support themselves through the double-length marathon run.

The Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) is a number of expedition-length adventure races that push the world’s best endurance athletes to their limits in a season of competition that tests their skills in a range of disciplines including navigation, trekking, mountain biking, paddling, and climbing. Mixed-gender teams of four competitors compete in a series of up to a dozen races held in locations spread across the globe. These races culminate in the staging of the Adventure Racing World Championships, the winners of which earn the title of World Champions. The competition’s format ensures that each of the individual events of the World Series functions as a qualifier for the World Championships. The actual World Championship race rotates each year. One of the qualifying events is singled out and designated as the World Championship event, and this event provides a dramatic conclusion to the end of the World Series racing season.

The first World Series event was held in Switzerland in 2001; there was a gap of two years, and it has been held every year since 2004.

In 1980, the Alpine Ironman was held in New Zealand. Individual competitors ran, paddled, and skied to a distant finish line. Later that year, the Alpine Ironman’s creator launched the better-known Coast to Coast race, which involved most of the elements of modern adventure racing: trail running, cycling, and paddling. Independently, a North American race, the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic started in 1982 and involved six days of unsupported wilderness racing (carry all food and equipment, no roads, no support) over a 150-mile course. It continues today, changing courses every three years.

In 1989, the modern era of adventure racing began with the launch of the Raid Gauloises in New Zealand. This is an expanded expedition-style race in which competitors rely on their own strengths and abilities to traverse big and challenging terrain. The race incorporates all the modern elements of adventure racing, including mixed-gender teams competing in a multi-day 400+ mile race. The United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) was formed in 1998 and was the first national governing body for the sport of adventure racing which arose from the need for safety standards, insurance, and to promote the growth of adventure racing in the USA. The USARA has added national rankings, a national championship, and ecological standards to the list of benefits provided for the sport of adventure racing. The USARA National Championship has been held on the first weekend in October since 2000 and is considered the premier adventure race in the USA. The USARA Adventure Racing National Championship has continued each year drawing the best US teams for a chance at earning the title of national champion.

In 2001, the inaugural World Championships were held in Switzerland with Team Nokia Adventure crossing the finishing line first. The concept of a world championship lay dormant until it was revived in 2004, with Canada’s Raid the North Extreme serving as the AR World Championship event in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Adventure Racing World Series and its penultimate event, the AR World Championships, have been held every year since. In 2002, the first major expedition length race to be held exclusively in the USA was launched. Primal Quest has become the premier US expedition race, being held each year since its launch. In 2004, the death of veteran racer Nigel Aylott overshadowed the race and raised debates about the nature of Primal Quest and adventure racing.

In 2004, a professional geologist Stjepan Pavicic organised the first Patagonian Expedition Race at the bottom tip of the American continent, in the Chilean Tierra del Fuego. Truly demanding routes through rough terrain of often more than 600 km soon made it be known as “the last wild race.” In 2010, the German Adventure Race Series was held for the first time in three different locations all over Germany. Since then the popularity of the sport in Germany has grown every year. More races and venues have joined the series, and the number of competitors is still growing from year to year. In 2012, Commander Forer of the Royal Navy organised the first sea-land navigation discipline race The Solent Amphibious Challenge. The race demanded the competitors to split up between sailing, running, and cycling in parts of the race and rendezvous at the end and sail the yacht to the finish line.

In the USA, during the 2016 calendar year, a total of 24,134 online interviews were carried out with a nationwide sample of individuals and households from the US Online Panel of over one million people operated by Synovate/IPSOS (Outdoor Foundation 2017). A total of 11,453 individual and 12,681 household surveys were completed. The total panel is maintained to be representative of the US population for people aged six and older. Oversampling of ethnic groups took place to boost response from typically under responding groups. The 2016 participation survey sample size of 24,134 completed interviews provides a high degree of statistical accuracy.

Table 3.1 shows that participation numbers in adventure racing rose from 725,000 in 2006 to 2,999,000 (almost 3 million) in 2016, showing a three-year change of 35.5%. Of all the activities surveyed by the Outdoor Foundation (2017) shown in Table 3.1, only BMX biking, cross-country skiing, and stand-up paddleboarding showed higher three-year changes.

Table 3.1 Outdoor participation by activity in the USA, 2006–2016 (The Outdoor Foundation, 2017, p. 8)

3.2.3 High Mountain Tours

The classic high mountain tours require sure-footedness, a head for heights, and the ability to handle greater technical difficulty in rock and ice climbing as well as mixed climbing in combined rock and ice terrain. In glaciated terrain the risk of crevasses means that even technically easy walks require the use of rope, crampons, and ice axes as well as knowledge of safety and rescue techniques. Walking with a rope requires a roped team to be formed and makes trekking alone dangerous. In addition, a certain level of fitness and height acclimatisation is usually necessary. For mountain tours in high mountains such as the Himalayas, the Karakorum, or the Andes, which reach elevations of over 6000 m above sea level, one or two weeks should be allowed for acclimatisation. Low temperatures may also be an important factor. The dangers and problems presented by high mountain touring, as in sports climbing, are caused less by the actual technical difficulty of climbing than by the (often rapidly changing) external conditions. The description of the requirements of a tour with the aid of climbing grade scales is therefore problematic. As a result, such scales attempt to take into account to a greater extent as the severity of a route or its fitness requirements. An example of an established rating system for Alpinism is the SAC Mountain and High Mountain Tour Scale (Table 3.2).

Table 3.2 The EXCEDO hiking difficulty scale based on the classification of the Swiss Alpine Club

Map reading and the ability to read the weather may also be important in high mountain touring. When snow falls, a knowledge of avalanche behaviour is necessary, even in the summer months. High Alpine terrain is currently subject to a particularly high degree of change in terms of glacier retreat and climate change, which can both increase or decrease the difficulty and dangers of high mountain touring.

NB. A serious misunderstanding, which can lead to tricky situations, is the belief that hiking stops where the Alpine Climb Scale begins. In reality, an alpine hike in the upper range of the T5 and T6 difficulty is usually significantly more demanding than, for example, an “F” rated Alpine Climb. A major difference, as compared to an easy Alpine Climb, for example, is that in case of a T5 and T6 hike, one can rarely or almost never use protective gear such as a rope or other equipment, meaning that the terrain must be perfectly mastered. Often this requires high technical as well as psychological skills. Typical examples are extremely steep grassy slopes, scree, pathless steep slopes with jagged rocks, or very exposed ridges. Due to their different characteristics, a typical Alpine Climb and a typical extreme hike can hardly be compared, but one can assume that a T6 hiking route requires a similar set of skills and experience as an Alpine Climb up to F.

3.3 Safety and Legal Regulation

The 2008 OMM was abandoned, for the first time in the race’s history, due to ill-informed media coverage which suggested that the very challenging weather conditions (100 mph winds and extremely heavy rain) placed competitors and potential rescuers in danger. Reference was made to “1700 people unaccounted for in the hills” though in fact all of these were still competing and unaware that anyone was concerned for them; as usual a significant number of competitors were current or former mountain rescue team members.

The USARA was formed in 1998 and was the first national governing body for the sport of adventure racing which arose from the need for safety standards, insurance, and to promote the growth of adventure racing in the USA. Race organisers have developed event rules (see Table 3.2 for an example) which are there to ensure the safety of the competitors, spectators, and, to some degree, the environment (see Table 3.3, points 5, 6, 7).

Table 3.3 Example of adventure race event rules from Marmot Dark Mountains

3.4 Environmental Impact, Management, and Education

3.4.1 Research Needs

There appear to be no complete systematic scientific studies of the full impact of particular mountain marathons/tours or adventure races on the environment. However, there is a growing body of research associated with the various impacts of walking, running, mountain biking, horse riding, camping, abseiling-climbing, canyoning, white-water rafting, and swimming on the environment (Liddle 1997; Newsome et al. 2002; Buckley 2004; Turton 2005; Pickering and Hill 2007; Monz et al. 2010; Pickering et al. 2010a) which are all commonly undertaken in adventure racing (see Table 3.4).

Table 3.4 General reviews, recent Australian research, and activity-specific issues/impacts associated with activities that are often part of adventure races

Newsome (2014) raises awareness about the potential environmental impacts of such activities and sporting events taking place in protected areas (such as national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Adventure racing participants are most likely focused on risky, thrill-seeking activities where the overall goal is to complete the event in as fast a time as possible. Newsome argues that such a philosophical standpoint and competitive attitude towards the environment is therefore likely to be suboptimal in terms of such visitors appreciating the natural values and conservation function of a protected area.

The rapid increase of adventure racing and its possible impacts on the environment as well as social aspects are thus in need of further research and policy development. Newsome’s analysis demonstrated that there was a lack of data concerning the impacts of adventure racing on conservation values, environmental resilience, wildlife disturbance, and ecotourism importance where sporting activities take place in protected areas. Because protected areas, such as national parks, play an important role for conservation and other (more passive) kinds of recreation, the issue of appropriate use of such lands is a cause for concern. Newsome calls for a research agenda that explores the approval process for these events so that park managers can assess the capacity along with existing recreational impacts. There is an urgent need for policy guidelines that can assist managers in making the best environmental decisions.

Next we look at some examples from the UK which seem to generate quite a bit of controversy and debate. One which triggers emotion widely is the National Three Peaks Challenge which takes place in the UK, normally during the summer months and often centred around the third weekend in June which is closest to the longest day of the year (21 June) so maximising the amount of daylight in which to complete the route.

3.4.2 The National Three Peaks Challenge

The National Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England, and Wales, often within 24 hours. The total walking distance is 23 miles (37 km), and the total ascent is 3064 metres (10,052 ft). The total driving distance is 462 miles. People can take part in the challenge in two ways—as a self-organised group or a professionally organised event. Self-organised events are the cheapest way to take part, but many groups will hire professional mountain guides. The three mountains are Snowdon, in Wales (1085 m); Scafell Pike, in England (978 m); and Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1345 m). A popular misconception is that the three mountains that form the challenge are the three tallest on the British mainland. Rather, they are the tallest mountains within each representative country: Scafell Pike is the tallest in England, Snowdon the tallest in Wales, and Ben Nevis the tallest in Scotland—over 100 peaks in Scotland are higher than Scafell Pike and 56 higher than Snowdon.

James Keen’s article “The Big Debate” in The Great Outdoors magazine, January 2009, which can be viewed at http://www.mountainadventures.co.uk/documents/TGO041028_002.pdf illustrates how there are a number of direct criticisms concerning the National Three Peaks Challenge, many of which can be prevented with a bit of consideration and planning.

• Lack of support for local businesses. While many participants will spend time in Fort William and Llanberis before and after their challenge, Wasdale Head can be seen to miss out somewhat as groups rush through. The growing popularity of the Three Peaks Challenge over three days helps this matter somewhat.

• Large groups taking over mountain paths. While the recommendation is that challenge groups should be kept to an appropriate size, to be considerate to others using the mountains, this is not always adhered to.

• Walkers don’t always stay on the mountain paths (which on these popular routes have been largely paved to manage erosion caused in the past). Walking off the paths on scree can cause loose rock to be displaced (or even fall on others), and trampled vegetation can quickly be destroyed resulting in additional damage the mountain environment.

• Reliance on mountain rescue teams. Ill-prepared and inexperienced groups which are not proficient in mountain navigation and safety can result in unnecessary call-outs for the voluntary mountain rescue teams.

• Littering. Walkers or runners who are competitive can be thoughtless and inadvertently drop litter which gets blown around the mountains or left on roadsides to be cleared up by locals after the event.

• Driving over the speed limit to complete the challenge within the 24-hour time has been witnessed; driving through the night is also necessary and needs to be planned in advance.

• Noise. Groups passing through isolated farms, hamlets, or small settlements in the dead of night can be disruptive to local residents.

• Pollution. Groups from Southern England attempting the challenge will travel nearly 1500 miles in total. This has a carbon cost as it is not possible to complete the challenge in the 24-hour time by public transport.

Table 3.5 summarises the arguments for and against the UK’s National Three Peaks Challenge.

Table 3.5 The National Three Peaks Challenge: Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon—for or against?

The Institute of Fundraising’s Outdoor Events Code of Practice includes some specific guidelines on the Three Peaks Challenge. The code of practice does not apply to privately organised challenges, so does not affect most groups. Applicable only to challenges organised by charities directly, the Code of Practice sets out guidelines to ensure that the potential negative effects of the Three Peaks Challenge are minimised (Table 3.6).

Table 3.6 Three Peaks Challenge Code of Practice

Many protagonists of the National Three Peaks Challenge do admit that it’s time for a radical rethink to ensure that its environmental impact is kept to a tolerable level. To ensure a long-term future, future revisions to the Code of Practice for Outdoor Fundraising in the UK (Table 3.6) should reflect the event’s popularity and incorporate a registration system so that organisers can submit applications in accordance with a predetermined standard. This should look at scaling down from the current recommended maximum of 200 participants. If a registration system were adopted which required some kind of prior approval by, for example, a national park authority or alternative designated body, it would mean some kind of control over numbers. Then, organisations who have hitherto subscribed to such mass challenge events would have to address their inherent problems and adhere to codes of conduct which would be kinder to the environment.

Other practical measures which can help might be if organisers offered alternative and/or mid-week and off-peak events, sensible routing, and planned start times to minimise impact on local communities and a responsible attitude to litter, ensuring that all waste remained in vehicles and was disposed of outside the national parks. Perhaps the best we can hope for is responsible self-regulation on the part of organisers.

In addition to the National Three Peaks Challenge, there are two other “Three Peak Challenges” in the UK: (1) the Welsh Three Peaks Challenge, lesser known than the National or Yorkshire Challenges, takes in the three peaks of Wales—Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) in the North, Cadair Idris in mid-Wales, and Pen y Fan in the South. The Welsh Three Peaks Challenge includes a total walking distance of 17 miles (27.4 km) and an ascent of 2334 m (7657 ft), usually in less than 24 hours; and (2) the Yorkshire Three Peaks is 24 miles (39 km) and includes the summits of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Gent.

3.4.3 The Yorkshire Three Peaks

The Yorkshire Three Peaks Route is about 24 miles (39 km) in length and involves 5000 ft (1600 m) of vertical ascent taking in the summits of Pen-y-ghent (694 m), Whernside (736 m), and Ingleborough (723 m). The terrain underfoot is varied and includes mountain paths, grassy slopes, farm tracks, short sections of steep rocky scrambling, and a bit of tarmac. The organisers have a section of the website about environmental concerns (Table 3.7).

Table 3.7 The Annual Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge: environmental concerns

3.4.4 Management Approaches to Minimise Damage

As we have seen, approaches to managing the environmental damage resulting from mountain marathons/tours and adventure racing are still evolving. Event organisers are taking some responsibility through publicising codes of conduct (such as seen in Table 3.4) to participants via entry information and their websites. However, the Institute of Fundraising’s Outdoor Events Code of Practice does not apply to privately organised challenges, so does not affect most groups. These codes are still voluntary, and there are no penalties (as far as we are aware) for breaching them. There is some discussion about some kind of registration system so that organisers would be required to submit applications in accordance with a predetermined standard. This system might look at negotiating (and limiting) the number of participants who could take part in a particular event. Event organisations which have previously organised mass challenge events would, hopefully, have to address their inherent problems and adhere to codes of conduct which would be kinder to the environment.

Other practical measures which might help alleviate pressure might be for event organisers to offer alternative and/or mid-week and off-peak events, sensible routing, and planned start times. For example, the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge website on environmental concerns (Table 3.7) suggests that in settlement areas, arrival or departure ought not to be between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00 to minimise impact on local communities.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is responsible self-regulation on the part of the organisers.

Conclusions

• 1. Mountain marathon is an extended form of fell running. Races usually take place over two days and often have a strong element of orienteering. Well-known events include the OMM, the SLMM, the Swiss International Mountain Marathon, Marmot Dark Mountains, the LAMM, the Mourne Mountain Marathon, the ROC Mountain Marathon, the SCOTT Snowdonia Trail Marathon, and the Longmynd Hike. The first OMM was held in 1968, and the size and number of events annually have grown since then.

• 2. Adventure racing (or expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length and often include trekking, mountain biking, and paddling although races can incorporate a multitude of other disciplines including climbing, abseiling, horse riding, skiing, and white-water rafting. The first Adventure Racing World Series event was held in Switzerland in 2001.

• 3. According to the Outdoor Foundation (2017) survey, in the USA participation numbers in adventure racing rose from 725,000 in 2006 to 2,999,000 (almost 3 million) in 2016, showing a three-year change of 35.5%, with only BMX biking, cross-country skiing, and stand-up paddleboarding showing higher three-year changes in a list of over 40 outdoor activities.

• 4. Mountain tours are more difficult to define. They began in the European Alps in the 1700s and take place in the zone that is covered by ice all year round (above a height of about 3000 metres) where mountains are at least partly glaciated. Modern mountain tours may include the Seven Summits; the eight-thousanders; the Scottish Munros; Corbetts, Grahams, and Donalds; and the Furths, Hewitts, Nuttalls, Wainwrights, Birketts, and Marylins. Challenges like the Bob Graham Round and Welsh 3000s are still popular races for some or personal challenges undertaken over a lifetime for others.

• 5. The rapid growth of mountain marathons (since the 1960s) and adventure racing (since 2001) means that there is still a lack of research and evolving policy development on the environmental and social impacts of such events.

• 6. Most large events today have codes of conduct and environmental guidelines for participants, but these codes are still voluntary. There appears to be a need to undertake more research and develop policies further.