Cool FM Slieve Donard Live Broadcast
After an amazing Mourne Mountain Adventures with the Cool FM team Pete, Paulo & Rebecca, I felt it was an opportune moment to pen my inaugural blog post on our website (I can almost hear you say, “About time!”).
Now, let’s delve into how it all came about.
In celebration of their 10-year anniversary, the Cool FM team sought a special way to mark the occasion. Pete, Paulo, and Rebecca each presented their ideas, and the listeners had the final say through their votes.
Paulo, who already held a deep passion for the Mournes, proposed the concept of a live full broadcast from the summit of Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland’s highest point. And wouldn’t you know it, the listeners voted in favour!
With the decision made, Paulo reached out to us to explore the feasibility of making this plan a reality. Given our expertise, professional kit, and local connections, there was no doubt in our minds that we could make it happen.
As the week leading up to the event unfolded, the weather forecast appeared promising, with perfect conditions on the horizon. However, although certain forecasts were contradicting each other Paulo and I agreed on one thing, that there would be little to no wind (little did we know how inaccurate the long-term forecast would turn out to be).
Summer was meant to arrive with 21 – 25 degrees forecasted, light winds and sunshine but alas it just wasn’t meant to be, in fact as the days went by the forecast deteriorated to show wind, and cloud however there was a strong window showing we would be down off the mountain before the rain moved in.
As with all things media we had to lean on support from the National Trust as we had planned to broadcast from the summit, and with very little time they couldn’t have done any more to support us which we were grateful for.
Fortunately, my wife’s home house is on Slieve Muck in the Mournes so were able to contact a good friend of the family to gain landowners permission for an overnight camp even though we were only talking about a 4hr stop over.
With everything falling into place, we arranged to meet at the Bloody Bridge car park at 6:30 pm. Emma, the team’s social media expert arrived first, we had a good chuckle on what was about to happen.
Shortly afterwards the team arrived, we delivered the safety talks, confirmed our plan, and got the media posts done, and with that we set off on what promised to be an epic journey.
Challenge 1 – Hike with all the kit to base camp.
Now let’s not forget that we had to carry our wild camping kits, the additional summit tent and all of the radio equipment to basecamp, at this point I’d like to express how impressed I was with how fit the team was, as a mountain leader you are always assessing the situation as it unfolds with safety being the forefront of every decision and although the kits were heavy all three of them managed the first part of the challenge without any complaints.
In fact, quite the opposite, the craic was 90 as we took our time. The trail from the Bloody Bridge to the Mourne Wall provided good shelter from the wind, although the humidity posed some challenges. Nevertheless, all three team members coped well, and we reached our destination exactly as planned, at 23:00.
The first thing I did when we arrived at basecamp was to hand Rebecca a hot water bottle and cup of hot chocolate to attempt to bring the comfort of the Galgorm to her, haha nowhere close but a little goes a long way in the Mournes.
Rebecca truly is a laugh, she went to the toilet employing leave no trace principles only for the wind to shower her in the joys of the great outdoors, never a dull moment when she is about.
We threw up the tents in quite a wind-swept area with very little shelter, and around 12:30 we managed to zip up for the night (well at least for a few hours).
First part of the challenge – Success!!
Challenge 2 – The Overnight Sleep
Haha overnight quite possibly not, the alarm was set for 4am which meant a possible 3.5hrs sleep, with the wind constantly ruffling the tent I personally managed at most 2hrs drifting in and out of consciousness but thoroughly enjoying the experience. Sort of wished they had better conditions to enjoy the camp, but our top of the range kits provided as much comfort as possible whilst roughing it out in the Mournes.
I woke to the beautiful sounds of the alarm, packed up my tent and all my kit, and called the rest who were excited to hear my voice. Wake up it’s a beautiful morning, not lol, strong SW winds which were a good direction for the climb ahead, chill in the air and a radio broadcast to start at 6am the team didn’t have much time to think about what was going on.
A few breakfast bars the camp packed away, and we were ready to head for the summit (sounds like an Everest story, well it wasn’t that far away). I placed all of the camping equipment into a group shelter and left it at the campsite which was well out of the way from any other walkers, there was no need to bring this to the summit as we could collect it on the way down.
We loaded up with Thermarest sleeping mats, Rab Sleeping bags, safety equipment and the dreaded radio equipment which included a battery that weighed around 14kg.
Second part of the challenge – Success (if you can call 45min of sleep a success)
Challenge 3 – The Ascent
Whether you are an experienced hiker or attempting it for the first time, reaching the summit is no easy task, especially when dealing with limited rest and the pressure of a 6am broadcast. However, the team understood their responsibilities and remained focused, maintaining high spirits as they gradually made their way up the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland, Slieve Donard.
The sunrise breaking over the Mournes was breath-taking, with a rainbow appearing to bridge the gap between the team and the inspiring beauty surrounding them. The amazing view provided a much-needed lift during the most difficult part of the challenge.
Let’s remember the radio equipment was heavy so the team had to dig deep not to let the listeners down, our planning had to be on the money, as we had to make sure we were on the summit, internet speed checks completed, shelter put up and equipment set up all ready to kick off at 6am. Okay it was pressure for the team but I honestly can say their determination not to let people down was admirable, and they worked hard to stay on plan.
The airflow was riffling over the top of the summit and the higher we climbed the windier it got, the air was beautiful though, your heart and lungs were working, and I personally was loving every second of the challenge knowing that they would make it to the summit with no issues, we just progressed at a safe pace.
Finally, we hit the summit and of course it was covered in cloud, I presented them all with one of our Slieve Donard medals, gave them hug and congratulated them on being the highest people in N.Ireland at 5:30am on a Thursday morning.
We placed our Four Person North Face Summit tent next to the great cairn, which is an old Megalithic passage tomb, and got the kit set up ready to rock and roll.
Third part of the challenge – Success (The team’s determination really impressed me)
Challenge 4 – The Broadcast
Considering all factors, it is safe to say that everything went exceptionally well. Our first priority was to set up and ensure that all the equipment was functioning properly and that we could establish communication with Cool FM’s headquarters. With only 10 minutes to spare, we were relieved to see that our team’s efforts paid off.
My responsibility was to ensure the team’s protection from the elements. I had Rebecca wrapped up in a foil bivvy bag, two Rab 500 sleeping bags, and sitting on a Thermarest mat to provide warmth and comfort. Although it wasn’t the same as being at the Galgorm, I was satisfied knowing that everyone was safe, warm, and the conditions were favourable.
The broadcast itself was epic. Pete’s laughter brought a sense of warmth to the top of the mountain, Rebecca’s humour added to the atmosphere, and Paulo’s persistent belief in the idea made it all the more enjoyable on top of Northern Ireland’s highest peak.
To our knowledge, this was the first live broadcast from Northern Ireland’s highest peak. Despite the tent doing its best to blow off the summit, I remained vigilant giving the mountain the respect that it deserved ensuring the conditions and environment that we were working in remained safe throughout.
The chemistry between Cool FM’s team – Pete, Paulo, and Becks – was truly amazing to witness, both live and inside a tent (I can’t help but laugh as I write this, realising how ridiculous it may sound). They are not only great broadcasters but also incredible people.
We had a surprise visit from Simon, the owner of Lick Gelato, an amazing ice cream parlour located 850m below us in Newcastle. He not only climbed up to say hello in the early hours of Thursday morning but also brought some ice cream for us. At first, I couldn’t help but think, ice cream? My main focus was to keep everyone warm on the summit. However, by that time, the sun had broken through, and there was a bit of warmth, so we all enjoyed Lick Gelato’s incredible Honeycomb ice cream, thanks Simon!!
I’ll not lie as much as I was enjoying the broadcast, I was counting the hours down, keeping everyone safe during the process was the most important thing and although conditions were challenging our top of the range kit kept everyone comfortable and safe for the four hour stop on the summit.
Forth part of the challenge – Success (We did it!!!)
Challenge 5 – The Descent
This was going to be a difficult part of the challenge as the adrenalin and motivation of completing the broadcast was gone. The team were going to be tired and the descent is quite steep from the summit, so with the help of Simon from Lick Gelato we took some final ‘we made it’ photos and started the long descent down.
The Mourne Wall is an amazing feature in the Mournes, it provided us with shelter from the wind, and guidance as we handrailed it down to the bog of Donard. From here we followed the quarry path on our journey down, again the team impressed me, there was no question from the outset that they were all strong team members and truly a pleasure to be in the hills with.
Paulo’s passion for the Mournes was evident, Pete just loves life and adventure, as does Rebecca but unfortunately, I don’t believe that due to the pressures of time and the challenging conditions that we managed to convert Rebecca, but to be fair her humour and spirits remained high throughout, and it truly wouldn’t have been the same without her company during this amazing journey.
I’d just like to give a big shout out to the team at Cool FM for making it happen and choosing Mourne Mountain Adventures to look after them, the National Trust, and the local Farmers for letting it happen, Pete, Paulo & Becks for being such great sport, and to Cool FM’s amazing listeners for making it such a special occasion.
We truly had an amazing experience celebrating Cool FM’s 10 years at the Top!!
