High Point Ireland
  • Locations
  • The Championships
    • Individuals Championship
    • Clubs Championship
    • Counties Championship
    • Provinces Championship
    • Specialist Awards
  • Community
    • Social media
    • Individuals
    • Teams >
      • County Teams >
        • Team County Antrim
        • Team County Armagh
        • Team County Carlow
        • Team County Cavan
        • Team County Clare
        • Team County Cork
        • Team County Derry
        • Team County Donegal
        • Team County Down
        • Team County Dublin
        • Team County Fermanagh
        • Team County Galway
        • Team County Kerry
        • Team County Kildare
        • Team County Kilkenny
        • Team County Laois
        • Team County Leitrim
        • Team County Limerick
        • Team County Longford
        • Team County Louth
        • Team County Mayo
        • Team County Meath
        • Team County Monaghan
        • Team County Offaly
        • Team County Roscommon
        • Team County Sligo
        • Team County Tipperary
        • Team County Tyrone
        • Team County Waterford
        • Team County Westmeath
        • Team County Wexford
        • Team County Wicklow
      • Province Teams >
        • Team Connacht
        • Team Leinster
        • Team Munster
        • Team Ulster
    • Supporters
    • Charities
    • Partners
    • Walking information
    • Travel information >
      • Accommodation
      • Food & Drink
      • Shopping
      • Activities
      • Transport
  • Initiatives
    • The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships
    • Community Hillwalking Competitions
    • Irish Sport Hillwalking Awards >
      • Specialist Awards
    • Hillwalking Challenges >
      • High Point Challenges
      • Mountain Challenges
      • Other hillwalking challenges
      • Hillwalking Challenge Completion Form
    • Irish Sport Hillwalking Records
    • Youth Involvement
  • Extra
    • About us >
      • Contact us
      • Follow us >
        • Twitter
        • Facebook
      • Sport Hillwalking
      • Privacy policy
      • Terms & conditions >
        • Terms & conditions for advertisers
    • Being a Sport Hillwalker >
      • All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships
      • Hillwalking challenges
      • Sport Hillwalking locations
      • Point-score values
      • Using Peakhunter
      • General walking advice
    • Our news
    • Our other websites

Dillon Lynch: Highpointeer of the Year 2016

19/1/2017

0 Comments

 
In 2016, Dillon Lynch from County Cork became the youngest person to visit all the County Gribbons. Here, Patrick O’Brien tells us about his son’s follow-up challenge: to earn High Point Ireland's first-ever Highpointeer of the Year Gold Award.

On 11th September 2016, Dillon completed his 32 Counties High Point Challenge to become the youngest person to complete the County Gribbons. His efforts to accomplish the challenge have been acknowledged by High Point Ireland in the form of two Silver Award Certificates of Completion and a special Gold Award Certificate of Excellence.
 
When people heard about Dillon’s achievements, many of them asked, “What’s your next challenge?", Dillon’s reply was “Oh, just take it easy for a while”.
 
However, we had never expected High Point Ireland to present that next challenge to us so soon. Not only that, it had a deadline of 31st December 2016. The goal of the challenge was the Highpointeer of the Year 2016 Gold Award.

High Point Ireland's Highpointeer of the Year award category is based on a calendar year, so we could not score any points for the 8 County Gribbons we had visited in 2015. We suspected that Dillon was probably down on points compared to others who had visited all the County Gribbons during 2016.

Picture
Dillon at Arderin summit: the first Gribbon location he visited in 2016

Picture
Dillon completing his record-breaking round of the County Gribbons at Trostan summit

The rules for Highpointeer of the Year allows participants to earn points for up to 4 visits to each of the 186 Gribbon locations during the same calendar year (provided there are at least 5 whole days between the repeat visits). We identified the nearest Gribbon locations and set out a plan to fit in as many visits as possible before the end of December.

We started on the evening of 9th December 2016 by climbing Knocknaskagh the highest point in the Nagles Mountains (#Knocknaskagh427m). Over the following 22 days up to and including 31st December we had walks on 11 days comprising 15 visits to 7 different Gribbon locations totalling approximately 83km distance and 4,500m ascent. Most of these walks started early in the morning so we couls accommodate School, Karate, Coder Dojo and Christmas preparations. A measure of the commitment by Dillon here is the fact that he was on the summit of Galtymore Mountain 3 times in December, all before 9am (on one of those days he also climbed to the summit of Knockmealdown).

The additional walks he completed during December 2016 were:
  • 09 Dec 2016 Knocknaskagh (#Knocknaskagh427m) [5 Points]
  • 10 Dec 2016 Galtymore Mountain (#GaltymoreMountain918m) [19 Points]
  • 16 Dec 2016 Knocknaskagh (#Knocknaskagh427m) [5 Points]
  • 17 Dec 2016 Galtymore Mountain (#GaltymoreMountain918m) [19 Points]
  • 17 Dec 2016 Knockmealdown (#Knockmealdown793m) [12 Points]
  • 18 Dec 2016 Slievereagh (#Slievereagh465m) [3 Points]
  • 24 Dec 2016 Knocknaskagh (#Knocknaskagh427m) [5 Points]
  • 24 Dec 2016 Seefin Mountain (#SeefinMountain528m) [3 Points]
  • 27 Dec 2016 Mount Leinster (#MountLeinster794m) [17 Points]
  • 28 Dec 2016 Knockmealdown (#Knockmealdown793m) [12 Points]
  • 29 Dec 2016 Galtymore Mountain (#GaltymoreMountain918m) [19 Points]
  • 30 Dec 2016 Knocknaskagh (#Knocknaskagh427m) [5 Points]
  • 30 Dec 2016 Seefin Mountain (#SeefinMountain528m) [3 Points]
  • 30 Dec 2016 Slievereagh (#Slievereagh465m) [3 Points]
  • 31 Dec 2016 Arderin (#Arderin527m) [15 Points]
Arderin was where we resumed our CHP challenge in April of 2016 after the winter break so it was very fitting to finish the year there too.  

Picture
One of Dillon's visits to the summit of Seefin Mountain during December 2016

Picture
A return visit to Arderin summit: Dillon's final visit to a Gribbon location in 2016

In early January, High Point Ireland announced the winners. Dillon was thrilled with first place and delighted to receive another Gold certificate. This time, it was for the Highpointeer of the Year 2016 Gold Award.

Picture
Dillon with his Highpointeer of the Year 2016 Gold Award certificate

Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, I am sure we will have many more adventures on the hills and mountains of Ireland. Even though they are not too far from us, we have never been to the Comeragh Mountains. They are definitely on our visit list. We must climb Fauscoum while we are there. Further afield, who knows what other parts of Ireland we will visit for weekends away and Summer holidays. Wherever we decide to go, one thing is certain: the Gribbon list will be consulted.

Words and photos contributed by Patrick O'Brien.

Read about Dillon's earlier efforts to become the youngest person to visit all the County Gribbons

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Thank you for visiting the High Point Ireland blog: the  dedicated news feed of the High Point Ireland website. Feel free to get in touch if you would like to become a guest blogger.

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    2016
    Certificate Of Completion
    Certificate Of Excellence
    Competition
    County Gribbons
    Highpointeer Of The Year
    #HighPointIrelandPhoto
    Local Council Gribbons
    Range Gribbons
    Review
    Upcoming Event
    Walk Report

    RSS Feed


Our recent news


Connect with us




Home
About
High Points
Community
Initiatives
News Hub
Extra

Supporting good causes

Our supporters


Our partners


Disclaimer


If you are planning to visit any of the locations on the Irish High Point lists, please be aware that Highpointeering, rambling, hill-walking, hiking and mountaineering are risk activities. High Point Ireland and Donard Media (the website's publisher) accept no responsibility for any injury, loss or inconvenience sustained by anyone using this website. Personal safety is entirely the participant's own responsibility.
The inclusion of locations on the official list of Ireland's major geographical High Points is based entirely on each location's ability to meet the necessary criteria for at least one of the eight primary sub-lists contained on this website. It should not be assumed that access is permitted to any of the High Point locations on the list. High Point Ireland and Donard Media recommend that anyone planning to visit any of the High Point locations on the list should check for potential access restrictions and to request permission from the relevant landowner(s) in advance.

Copyright © Donard Media 2015 - 2022


The Ireland Walking Guide - www.theirelandwalkingguide.com
High Point Ireland - www.highpointireland.com
Ireland's County High Points: A Walking Guide
  • Locations
  • The Championships
    • Individuals Championship
    • Clubs Championship
    • Counties Championship
    • Provinces Championship
    • Specialist Awards
  • Community
    • Social media
    • Individuals
    • Teams >
      • County Teams >
        • Team County Antrim
        • Team County Armagh
        • Team County Carlow
        • Team County Cavan
        • Team County Clare
        • Team County Cork
        • Team County Derry
        • Team County Donegal
        • Team County Down
        • Team County Dublin
        • Team County Fermanagh
        • Team County Galway
        • Team County Kerry
        • Team County Kildare
        • Team County Kilkenny
        • Team County Laois
        • Team County Leitrim
        • Team County Limerick
        • Team County Longford
        • Team County Louth
        • Team County Mayo
        • Team County Meath
        • Team County Monaghan
        • Team County Offaly
        • Team County Roscommon
        • Team County Sligo
        • Team County Tipperary
        • Team County Tyrone
        • Team County Waterford
        • Team County Westmeath
        • Team County Wexford
        • Team County Wicklow
      • Province Teams >
        • Team Connacht
        • Team Leinster
        • Team Munster
        • Team Ulster
    • Supporters
    • Charities
    • Partners
    • Walking information
    • Travel information >
      • Accommodation
      • Food & Drink
      • Shopping
      • Activities
      • Transport
  • Initiatives
    • The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships
    • Community Hillwalking Competitions
    • Irish Sport Hillwalking Awards >
      • Specialist Awards
    • Hillwalking Challenges >
      • High Point Challenges
      • Mountain Challenges
      • Other hillwalking challenges
      • Hillwalking Challenge Completion Form
    • Irish Sport Hillwalking Records
    • Youth Involvement
  • Extra
    • About us >
      • Contact us
      • Follow us >
        • Twitter
        • Facebook
      • Sport Hillwalking
      • Privacy policy
      • Terms & conditions >
        • Terms & conditions for advertisers
    • Being a Sport Hillwalker >
      • All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships
      • Hillwalking challenges
      • Sport Hillwalking locations
      • Point-score values
      • Using Peakhunter
      • General walking advice
    • Our news
    • Our other websites