Record Attempt: Brand Founder Laurie Crayston Attempting English Mountain Record

Having begun in Dartmoor on December 12th, Ascendancy Apparel founder Laurie Crayston is attempting to climb all the mountains of England in the fastest known time. To add some extra difficulty, he’s also trying to climb them all this winter!

The challenge involves climbing to the top of all 192 of Englands mountains. 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 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.’

The current record is unknown. While several people have completed the Nuttalls in under a year, no one appears to have gone under six months, and the Nuttalls list only includes 180 of Englands mountains, alongside 77 other ‘tops’.

If successful, Laurie will have hiked over 800km and climbed over 50,000 meters of ascent, he’s currently about 70% complete. He is hiking up to six days per week with daily distances ranging from 10km to 50km. He expects to finish the challenge in under ten weeks, ending on Black Combe around the 20th February.

You can follow Laurie’s journey on his Instagram or Strava.