What motivates somebody to climb every mountain in England? To answer that, you’re probably best asking someone who’s done it twice! Meet Laurie Crayston, a 32-year-old adventurer from Cumbria.
We spoke to Laurie during some downtime as he prepares to climb Mount Pico, Portugal’s highest peak in the volcanic Azures. What’s immediately obvious is that Laurie isn’t resting on his laurels after his fastest known time ascent of England’s 192 classified mountains.
What inspired you to climb all the mountains in England?
Laurie’s first attempt at climbing every English mountain came last winter when he summited all 192 peaks in one season. Why winter?
“I don’t generally like winter. I’m not a fan of the cold and I hate the short, dark days. Over the last few years I’ve studied stoicism and believe the stoic response to dealing with something that we don’t like, is to give yourself as much of it as possible - ‘the obstacle is the way’. So, with that in mind, I decided to spend as much of winter as I could experiencing it in the most barbaric way I could. Instead of being indoors waiting for summer, I wanted to be experiencing all the storms and the cold first hand, battling them until winter was over. In the end it worked perfectly. I finished my challenge on 27th February and saw the first lambs of the year on my very last hike. It felt like I’d defeated winter and I’d had the best winter of my life in the process”.
“Although I didn’t necessarily plan to do it, I’d realised while doing them in winter that I could do them much, much quicker in more favourable conditions and had wondered how fast that could be. I also wanted to experience the various landscapes in better weather and hoped to get some views - 90% of winter was spent in rain or snow, and clag/mist”.
True to his word, Laurie completed the set in less than a month. 25 days, 8 hours and 4 minutes to be exact. He stomped a total distance of over 850 kilometres and climbed over 50,000 metres, the equivalent of around five Mount Everest’s.
How long have you been climbing mountains?
“I’ve been adventuring since I was a child. I was very lucky to grow up on a small holding just a few miles from the Western edge of the Lake District so have been enjoying the outdoors my whole life. I don’t know if it was the location or something innate in me, but I’ve always had a curiosity for what’s ‘over there’ or ‘through there’. I always used to wonder what could be seen from the top of the mountains I could see around me, or what it looked like deep inside the woods that I was driven passed most weeks on my way to the supermarket with my mam. As I got older and was allowed to stay out for longer and roam a little further the adventures got bigger. I climbed a few mountains with my dad in my teens and then, once I was old enough to drive, I began to explore the Lakes solo.”
“The adventures have continued to get bigger and bigger ever since. I finally completed the Wainwrights in 2021, I’d guess 15-20 years since I started but I’m not entirely sure. Counting them wasn’t something I ever did until more recently, so I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d climbed some of them or not. In 2021 I climbed 150 in what at the time was a record for most Wainwrights climbed in a single, continuous, unsupported hike. After I’d done that I was able to work out with certainty the ones that I had never done and climbed all twelve in a 60km hike, starting with Green Crag and ending on Steeple.”
How did you battle the physical and mental side of the challenge?
“Really simply, I just kept moving, albeit bandaged up. That and a stubbornness to not quit. Eventually the body seems to adapt and a lot of the pain would subside after a few days, sometimes returning sometimes not. As the challenge went on I also noticeably put more and more weight through my sticks as my legs deteriorated.”
“I think the mental aspect will always be the most difficult. Although there is nearly always an awful lot of physical pain involved with these challenges, it’s ultimately the mind that has to cope with it. Whether that be coping with the immediate pain itself, or the thoughts that said pain is potentially going to continue for the duration of the challenge. When you’re on day five of twenty-five this can be hell for the mind.”
How did you manage your nutritional needs during the challenge?
“240 protein brownies. I was burning on average about 7000 calories a day during the challenge and I wasn’t able to eat anywhere near this - I usually managed between 4500-5000 calories a day. I knew I would lose quite a bit of weight so my priority was simply to get a minimum of 220g protein in per day and then just eat as much as I could on top of that. I focused on hitting this protein target for two reasons; I wanted my body to have all it needed to recovery and I wanted to prevent as much muscle loss as possible, as I have a physique competition later in the year.”
What kit did you rely on along the way?
“For this challenge I was pretty light on kit for the majority. As many of the days involved multiple, relatively short hikes, I was able to carry the bare minimum of kit. Waterproofs were often an essential, and gloves as there were many days of fairly bitey windchill.”
If you’re not afraid to fail then you don’t even need to believe in yourself. You just have to start.
How did you go about planning the logistics of the challenge?
“The logistics took time but were fairly straightforward. I was able to find a list of the mountains on the internet and marked their approx. location on a map of England. From there I was able to formulate and order and then I planned out each individual hike on the OS app. Once I had this I was able to tweak things a bit and then during the challenge itself, the recent one especially, I chopped and changed the order as I went along. This depended on a range of factors such as fatigue and weather. Towards the end of my challenge I wouldn’t know what mountains I was climbing until either the day before or even sometimes, the morning of.”
What made you choose to support The Cumbria Community Foundation and Samaritans during your challenge?
“The Cumbria Community Foundation do a variety of amazing work throughout the county. Having recently moved back to my home town in West Cumbria, I want to give back as much as I can to the area.”
“I called Samaritans a few years ago and will forever be in their debt. I had found myself in quite a deep depression following a string of events and felt completely trapped and unable to talk to anyone or seek help. I was embarrassed as on the face of it my life was going well, so I didn’t feel like it was ok to feel the way I did, which made it feel even worse. Eventually after having a meltdown on a drive, I decided to ring Samaritans. The first five minutes of the call was largely just me crying, but after that the lovely lady on the other end allowed me to talk through things and I instantly felt a release and reassurance, that it was ok to feel that way. This phone call gave me the confidence to talk to my friends and family and seek therapy. I’ve never looked back, and it all came from that one phone call.”
Laurie admits that spending time in the outdoors has been a positive factor in his battle to overcome his mental health struggles.
“The outdoors has always had a positive impact on my mental health. If I complete a challenge, however big or small, I feel accomplished and if the challenge is long enough, I’ve usually had lots of time to think about or process a whole variety of things in my mind. A seemingly aimless wander or a more laid-back hike has the same effect. And, hiking with friends has a really positive impact on my mental health too. It’s socialising, but with epic views!”
What is your advice for someone looking to set their own challenge?
“Don’t be afraid to fail, and break everything down into small chunks. I hiked over 800km climbing England’s mountains but that distance was entirely irrelevant. All I cared about was hiking 30-40km on day 1, and then day 2 once that was done, and so on. I hadn’t trained for this challenge and the decision to do it was very last minute. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be able to complete it, but I knew that I’d give it my best shot. If you’re not afraid to fail then you don’t even need to believe in yourself. You just have to start.”
Are there any more challenges on your calendar?
“There’ll always be something else! I’m currently in the Azores to climb Portugal’s highest mountain and also compete in my first 50km trail race. My plan is to then spend the majority of summer exploring and doing smaller challenges, before looking to attempt something else of size in the winter.”
You can follow Laurie on his upcoming challenges on his Instagram page.
