QUINTIN’S SEATO-SUMMIT ROUTES

START/FINISH: Fort William Distance: 25km

Ascent: 1524m

Duration: 15 hours (in winter conditions)

Difficulty: Grade 1 scramble/ Grade I winter mountaineering route

START/ FINISH: Caernarfon Distance: 40km

Ascent: 1780m

Duration: 17 hours

START: Ravenglass FINISH: Wasdale YHA Distance: 31km Ascent: 1525m Duration: 16 hours

All the climbs of the ‘three peaks’ Quintin describes in this feature were sea -to-summit journeys that started at the coast, as part of Quintin’s five-year project to walk the entire coastline of Britain. While all these peaks are relatively close to the coast, attempting any of them from the sea in a single day can still be a huge undertaking. Quintin approached Snowdon as a loop from accommodation in Caernarfon and Ben Nevis from accommodation in

Fort William. For Scafell Pike, he slept at Wasdale YHA as a loop from the sea was too far to accomplish in a single day. These are long mountain days (15-17 hours including breaks), so they’re certainly not recommended as first ascents of Ben Nevis, Snowdon or Scafell Pike. He adds: “All these routes would also lend themselves to a much more civilised two-day walk with an overnight wild camp in one of the corries en route. The challenge of trying to do them in one day was entirely self-imposed!”

Even so, if you’re an experienced hillwalking who has previously made the classic ascents and wants to give these journeys a try in a day, start early, take plenty of morale-boosting food and drink, and make sure the weather is on your side. You’ll be rewarded with a much better sense of how these mountains relate to the wider landscape and the coast.