Nurse Nicki takes on Three Peaks and raises £2,000 for charity

Nicki Teruel, a urology clinical nurse specialist at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), climbed 11,180 feet (3,408 metres) scaling Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon to raise money for the British Association of Urology Nurses (BAUN).

The hike up and down the highest mountains of Scotland, England and Wales was organised by line manager Clare Waymont, urology consultant nurse and president of BAUN, who joined Nicki climbing Ben Nevis.

BAUN is a charity which allows urology nurses to expand their knowledge and further their education to the benefit of their patients.

“I’m more of a runner than a mountaineer,” said mum-of-two Nicki, who took around 30 hours to climb the three mountains, including driving between them.

Setting out for Ben Nevis, Nicki - who has worked at New Cross Hospital since she started her nurse training in 2000 - and Clare started the climb with the weather in their favour, taking eight-and-a-half hours, two hours longer than planned. A friend, Abbie Matthews, joined them on the walk.

One of the group struggled which meant they took four-and-a-half hours to reach the top and most of the descent was in darkness.

Two of the party went on ahead but Nicki stayed with her companion.

Some unexpected drama followed, however.

“We lost the path – it was so scary. There was a waterfall and my logic was to follow the side of it, as it was going downhill,” said Nicki, who lives in Sedgley.

“But I didn’t realise there was a ravine and quite a drop – which I was heading for. The other two girls screamed I needed to go up.

“I scrambled to the top of a steep bank on my hands and knees and eventually found some rocks which led to the path. I was so relieved.”

At Scafell Pike, the group set off at 6am, taking around five hours to get up and down the mountain.

“There was only two of us climbing Scafell and I’m so glad we didn’t do that one in the dark,” said Nicki.

“But we had to traverse a waterfall and the terrain is very rocky. You think you’re almost at the top but there are about four or five false summits before you get there.”

Finally, it was on to Snowdon, and, fortified by a McDonald’s meal, Nicki made it to the top and back down in four-and-a-half hours.

“By this time, my thighs and toes were very sore,” admitted Nicki.

“We took the Miners’ Track, which is the shortest route, yet probably involves the most rock climbing.

“The views there were absolutely spectacular – definitely worth all the pain. But the descent was really steep, which put extra pressure on the legs.

“We did laugh though as the sheep were bleating what sounded like “Claaaarrre”! I think we were a bit delirious by this point.

“We may not have managed to do it in 24 hours, however we completed it, which is a major achievement for us.”

Nicki, who prepared for the trek by running the Great North Run – clocking two hours, 16 minutes, and raising £670 for Macmillan – was indebted to colleague Helen Heap, who chauffeured her for the whole 1,000-mile trip.

“I had no prior mountaineering experience, apart from climbing Snowdon as a training hike beforehand,” she added.

Nicki now has another challenge in her sights.

“Next year I may climb the Yorkshire Three Peaks in 12 hours, so watch this space,” she added.