Veterans scale 18,000 feet in 24 hours like it’s a walk in the park

The thing about veterans is they’re tough as anything and have hearts of gold. We hear stories about their superhuman conduct off the field all the time. The almost unreal “Snowdon Super Six” challenge became another one of these stories recently.

A team of eight men, former Royal Marines and Paratroopers, took on the challenge for charity. The soldiers decided to trek all six routes up and down Snowdon. And as if climbing up and down wasn’t hard enough, they did it all in 24 hours while carrying a 10kg load. No one has ever managed to cover Mount Snowdon in 24 hours, but our service personnel are known for managing the impossible.

They covered around 50 miles, and ascended a whopping 18,000 feet while doing so. The lads’ heroics helped them successfully managed to raise over £1,000 for the Royal Marines Charity and veterans’ charity Phoenix Heroes CIC.

These vets weren’t just out to conquer a mountain, they were also looking raise awareness about the growing number of soldiers who return to their country and become homeless. They also spoke about the mental health issues that most men and women bring back with them.

Event organiser Neil Davies said: “We are planning to do ultra endurance events on land and water on a regular basis and to set up events to continue to raise awareness. We hope we can encourage the public and other veterans to join us and help us improve the issues our veterans face daily.”

Talking about the men doing all the walking, he said: “None of the men had previously trekked the mountain. The only preparation they had was their military service and mental strength to make it through.”

Military veterans have given up so much of their lives to making the country feel safe, the least they should get in return is appreciation for all that they’ve done and help whenever they need it. Such events will probably bring to light so many of the issues that veterans have to face and help the rest of us understand how we can help resolve the situation.