On Saturday 6 July 2013, a team of supporters of Quest for Education (now Quest for Education Foundation) climbed Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the highest mountain in Wales, to raise funds for the schools we support with our partner, the Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF). It was our first Snowdon Summer Challenge.
From London to the trailhead
The team left Seven Kings, in east London, by shuttle bus early that morning and began walking from Pen-y-Pass on the Miner’s Track. The group ranged in age from 13 to 50 and included students, doctors and accountants. Some were inexperienced climbers, and every one of them completed the climb.
The team at the start of the walk, 6 July 2013.
The climb
The Miner’s Track runs beside the lakes below the summit and crosses a stone causeway before the steep final climb. Temperatures soared on the day, which made the going harder, but the climbers were rewarded at the top with a cool breeze and clear views. At 1,085 metres (3,560 feet), Snowdon is the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland.
Heading for the summit along the lakeside path, 6 July 2013.
Waving from the causeway on the Miner’s Track.
Mobeen Anwar on the path above the lakes below the summit.
At the summit and back down
The summit was busy with walkers in the sunshine, and a yellow rescue helicopter flew past while the team was there. On the way down, some of the group cooled off by paddling in a lake and skimming stones before the final descent in the evening sun.
The team celebrates at the summit of Snowdon, 6 July 2013. Mobeen Anwar is second from left.
A rescue helicopter flies past the busy summit.
Cooling off in the lake on the way down.
Over £3,000 raised
Each climber set out to raise at least £250 in sponsorship. The Ilford Recorder reported that, together, the team raised over £3,000 for children’s education in rural Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Where the money goes
Funds raised by QEF support the work of the Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF), which has run schools in the region since 1996. KEF’s schools include Pearl Valley Public School in Rawalakot, its first, established on 14 August 1996; Soan Valley Public School in Bassali, established in May 2005; and Banjosa Valley Public School, established in March 2009. Its college of teacher education at Bassali, which KEF started in 2001, trains women as primary teachers. Read about the schools we support.
Thank you to everyone who took part and donated, and to everyone who sponsored our climbers. If you would like to take on a challenge of your own, find out how to start fundraising.