We did it - 3 Peaks in 23 hours and 31 mins!

On one of the hottest weekends this year Team Syngenta successfully completed the 3 Peaks Challenge. It was an awesome achievement for us all personally and it is still sinking in!




Jim, Teresa, Noman, Fil, Paul, Farooq and Phil









Ben Nevis summit 1344m
Ascent/descent 5 hours 12 mins







Scafell Pike summit 978m
Ascent/descent 4 hours 13 mins








Snowdon summit 1085m
Ascent/descent 4 hours 6 mins






It was by no means an easy feat as our blisters, sprains, aches, pains and fatigue will show! Of the 10 teams that took part only two teams did it in less than 24 hours and of those two we were the quickest by a fair margin. This was down to our unbelievable team work, organisational skills and determination. A special mention has to go to our drivers and base camp team of Teresa and Jim Povey - without them driving us to the 3 mountains, organising our kit, accommodation, food and water we simply would not have achieved our challenge.

We would like to thank all of you who have supported us, donated, bought ice creams and raffle tickets and helped us raise over £5200 for the National Deaf Children's Society.

3 Peaks Raffle

Thursday 13th July 2006
Thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and colleagues we managed to sell loads of raffle tickets for our grand raffle!


Lorraine (our independent adjudicator) picking the winners









1st Prize - hp digital camera won by Judith









2nd Prize - ipod nano won by Gemma






3rd Prize - signed England shirt won by Nigel

Final training walks

Thursday 6th July 2006 - Kinder Part 3
The final training run for the team (minus Noman who was still feeling the effects of the Snowdon walk). We headed back to Kinder Scout and really pushed ourselves and did it in 2 hours 45mins - taking 45 mins off our previous best












Sunday 3rd July 2006 - Snowdon
On a blisteringly hot day Phil, Noman and Mike headed up Mount Snowdon. They followed one of the hardest routes up and the views at the top were well worth it

Micro Direct donates £1000!

Micro Direct have pulled out all the stops and have donated a massive £1000 to Team Syngenta. We can't thank the guys at Micro Direct enough for their generosity!


This donation takes us a big step towards our £5000 target.

Full team outing at Kinder Scout

Weds 28th June 2006
Our first outing as a full team took us back to Kinder Scout.
The weather was perfect - warm and sunny with a cooling breeze.
We set off after work and arrived at around 5.30pm and finished
just after 9pm.

L-R Noman, Phil, Fil, Paul and Farooq










A tough start!










Getting our poles sorted..








View of Kinder Reservoir









Sorting out Paul's rucksack









Noman points the way forward







Tea break!








Phil checking out the view






























Fil on a hill




















Top of the world!

Mountain climbing in Trefyn, Wales

Sunday 25th June 2006
It was an early start for us - we set off from Manchester at 8.30am to go to Trefyn in Snowdonia National Park Our mountain guide Mike had a challenging route planned for us. Little did we know waht was in store for us...



The team (Fil, Phil and Mike)







The side profile of our
route up Trefyn. Truly awesome!







Mike giving a team talk
"Whatever you do, don't look down!"
















Phil hanging on for dear life










Some massive rocks











The guys taking a well
deserved break on half way up








Lunch with a mountain goat
(on the left!)











"Peanut butter!"


















These two rocks are known as Adam and Eve.
Legend has it is if you jump over them you will get married
within 5 years. Listen out for them wedding bells!













In total it took us 5 hours - the route was a mix of scrambling, climbing and walking. It was a truly great experience!


Afterwards we found a pub in Bangor and watched England beat Ecuador 1-0 in the World Cup. Beckham with a trademark free-kick!

Kinder Scout Training Session

Saturday 17th June 2006
Until now only Noman had been going into the hills training - he'd already been to Snowdon and Scafell in previous weekends. So Fil (who needed the exercise!) joined him and his mountain guide Mike in a jaunt up Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Peak District.
We got to base camp at 10:30am and went for a 3.5 hour walk taking in various different types of terrain. The weather was sunny and warm with a very welcome light breeze..




Mike and Noman at the first checkpoint


















Left: Noman, chillin'
Right: Kinder Reservoir












Left: Noman and Mike at the peak
Right: Noman and Fil at the peak






Fil trying to eat lunch






Ram not taking no for an answer!








Mike showing Fil how to use the poles








Right: Noman and Mike during a pit stop before the final descent









The final descent!