On the 13th July 2024,16-year-old Sophie Mackenney will embark on the arduous 3 Peaks Challenge in support of her Air Cadet squadron, 1064 (Honiton) in East Devon. Under the patronage of renowned explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes Bt OBE, and with support from Bear Grylls, among others, Sophie aims to climb the highest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales, in under 24 hours! Â
AST Networks is proud to sponsor Sophie by providing an Iridium 9575 Extreme satellite phone and airtime, ensuring she remains connected during her journey. This advanced technology will allow Sophie to communicate efficiently with her support team and stay safe in remote locations or challenging weather conditions.
Having recently been promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and already a recipient of her Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s award, Sophie is no stranger to pushing herself, but this challenge is on another level. Starting at the foot of the highest mountain in Wales at 08:00 on the morning of Saturday 13th July, Sophie’s first challenge will be to climb and descend the 3,600-foot peak of Snowdon in just four hours. This involves trekking seven miles over difficult terrain consisting of large boulders and scree slopes, before returning to her awaiting support driver to take her to the next leg of her challenge.
With 205 miles to cover, and only five hours available to make their way across Snowdonia National Park to Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, Sophie must start her climb by 17:00 in order to safely return before sunset. Any delay in reaching the foot of the mountain will make the ascent even more challenging as navigating over barren and featureless landscape in the dark will add considerable risk to the challenge.
Conquering Scafell Pike involves a six-mile hike and a 3,300-foot peak to climb, but having been on the go since 08:00, Sophie will no doubt start to tire. On completion of the second peak, Sophie will return to her support vehicle to face a 260-mile drive through the night to reach Scotland and the foot of Ben Nevis for a 03:00 arrival in the morning.
Saving the most difficult climb to the last, Sophie will now need to draw on all her willpower to climb the 4,400-foot mountain, the highest in the United Kingdom, before the 24-hour clock stops! With Windchill temperatures known to drop to –10C in July, this final peak cannot be taken lightly, and expedition clothing and survival equipment, such as the Iridium 9757 Extreme satellite phone and airtime provided by AST Networks, must be carried to be ready for the worst.
If all goes to plan, Sophie will summit Ben Nevis by 08:00 on Sunday morning, 14th July, having successfully completed the gruelling 3 Peaks Challenge. To support Sophie in her aim to raise £2,000 for her squadron, please donate through the official just giving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sophie-mackenney?utm_term=Kaz2XJE36
You can follow Sophie’s journey here: https://cf.yb.tl/sophiemac3peaks2024
