In the Feb 2018 issue of The Great Outdoors, Phoebe Smith spends a night on the summit of Ben Nevis. Here’s a photo diary from her most recent extreme sleep challenge…
In December 2017, Phoebe Smith slept on the summit of Ben Nevis yet again – and Snowdon and Scafell Pike too. Her mission was to raise money for the homeless charity Centrepoint by giving up her Christmas and spending three consecutive nights on each of the national Three Peaks. The venture was a success; to date she has raised over £6,000, and it’s still possible to donate.
Snowdon summit
Panorama from Snowdon
Getting up there before the crowds has its virtues!
A spectacular inversion from Snowdon’s summit
Ben Nevis summit looked less welcoming
Another chilly night on the Ben
Extract from Phoebe’s article in the February 2018 issue
Most people don’t know what it’s like to sleep inside a refrigerator. It was never my intention to be one of the few who might. However, at 2am in the early hours of a December morning, I experienced something very close. I was lying, cocooned within my sleeping bag, in the emergency shelter on top of the highest mountain in Britain.
Above me, every few minutes, a gathering globule of condensation would collect and slowly stretch until, finally and painfully, with the sting of an icicle, it pinged onto my head.
I tried to sleep, but every time I felt my eyelids grow heavy, another droplet would land on my nose or the back of my head and I’d be wide awake again, cold.
After Phoebe’s night on Ben Nevis
Pick up the February 2018 issue of The Great Outdoors, on sale now, to read the story of Phoebe’s night on the Ben from her mission to sleep at the extreme points of mainland Britain – including more photos.
All images © Phoebe Smith
