Incredible video shows Three Peaks Challenge walkers struggling through flooded Dales river

Walkers attempting the Three Peaks Challenge have been filmed struggling to keep their footing in a swollen river along the route.
WhernsideWhernside
Whernside

Thomas Beresford filmed the group wading through the flooded River Ribble at Nether Lodge in Horton-in-Ribblesdale today in stormy conditions.

Why 'Yorkshire's Everest' is ideal for winter hill climbingOne man even loses his balance and falls into the knee-deep water in the footage. Nether Lodge is on the approach to Whernside, the second peak on the route.

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Yorkshire has been battered by high winds and heavy rain for several days now and Met Office weather warnings are in place.

In 2018 a crowdfunding campaign was set up to help replace a badly eroded footpath on Whernside, the highest of the Three Peaks. The main descent route from the summit needs around £46,000 of repair work and the charity Mend Our Mountains asked the public to donate £20,000 towards the cost of flying in 150 tonnes of hand-picked stone.

The Bruntscar route was last re-surfaced in 2003, but poor weather has led to further erosion and the path is now difficult to use. Walkers seeking alternative ways down the mountain have widened the damaged area. Whernside is part of the 26-mile Three Peaks Challenge route, which also includes Pen-y-Ghent and Ingleborough. Around 100,000 people climb the mountain every year. Mend Our Mountains - who work to preserve National Parks across the country - plan to create a new 200-metre section of stone-pitched path on the steepest part of the route, and landscape adjacent eroded areas.