The Snowdon Challenge was inspired by Ghost Dog Jack, a rescued Greek dog, who village post lady, Sophie, met on her rounds. 

Having spent 3 years in the hell-hole of Lemnos Municipal Shelter,  Jack was severely traumatized. Since he was a puppy, he’d been incarcerated 24/7 in a tiny kennel with one other dog. With no contact or socialization with the outside world Jack was completely shut down. It took him 9 months to wag his tail. 

Jack came to the UK in 2019 and over 3 years Sophie watched as Jack slowly learned to let strangers into his life. With each milestone Sophie couldn’t forget  the reasons Jack was so traumatized. She knew she was powerless to change his past but was determined to do whatever she could do for the dogs left behind. 

In 2022 Sophie set her own challenge and on July 18th, on the hottest day on record, together with 6 friends, they set off at 1am to trek Snowdon 3 times in one day and raised a massive £10,687 for Jack’s old shelter. 

The money raised not only helped more dogs get out of the shelter it laid the foundations for huge improvements to the dogs’ living conditions with extended runs created for some of the bigger dogs who had been cooped up in solitary confinement for many years. 

On July 17th 2023 Sophie and friends will once again set out at 5am to trek Snowdon 3 times in one day – the equivalent of climbing Mount Olympus! The money raised will fund more dogs to find forever homes and improve the shelter conditions even more for those left behind. 

For 2024 we’re inviting more shelters to join us and send their own teams. Every penny raised will go direct to the shelters and travel companies are invited to sponsor a team from one of their destinations.