Laurie Sets New Record For Climbing All England’s Mountains!

Ascendancy founder, Laurie Crayston, has set a new record for climbing all the mountains of England in the fastest known time - 77 days and 3 hours!

Having begun in Dartmoor on December 12th, the challenge involved climbing to the top of all 192 of England's mountains. He has also become the first person to climb them all in a single winter!

Mostly alone and self-supported, Laurie hiked a total of 881km with 51407m of ascent, all around working full-time. Battling brutal winter weather he hiked up to six days a week.

To be recognised as a mountain, peaks must meet the consensus height threshold for a mountain, namely 600 metres (1,969 ft) height and a prominence of at least 30 metres (98 ft), as per the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation ranking system. These mountains are commonly known as Simms.

The term ‘Simm’ was first introduced by Alan Dawson in June 2010, who noted that a Simm was the "broadest credible definition of what could be objectively conceived as a mountain in Britain".

Laurie, who set and briefly held the record for the most Wainwrights climbed in an unsupported continuous hike (150) last year, says, ‘The idea for this first crossed my mind a little over a year ago but I wasn’t able to attempt it last year because of lockdowns and then preparations for the Wainwrights took over. During my Wainwrights record I got an unexpected taste for winter and how ridiculously cruel it can be, and I loved the barbarity of it! I’ve had my sights set on a winter challenge since and this fitted perfectly.’

Laurie, who finished his challenge on Black Combe said on his Instagram, 

‘I’m not sure I can actually believe I’ve done it. It’s so odd to think that I won’t have to get up and hike tomorrow. My body and brain are both absolutely fried, but I’m chuffed to bits! It’s been an unreal adventure and an amazing way to spend winter!’