Dillon Lynch: Highpointeer of the Year 2016

19/1/2017

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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