The final reckoning

Andy Nelson, leader of Glen Coe Mountain Rescue, said over a glass of wine in the shadow of The Matterhorn, “There are three aims in mountaineering. First: get back safely. Second: make friends. Third: summit if you are lucky.”

Whilst at the point of turning round at a height of around 4,100metres, roughly 400 from the summit, I was extremely disappointed; those words provided huge comfort, coming from someone who knows after all!

So it was that Guy and I failed to reach the summit of The Matterhorn, which was, after all, our ultimate aim. 

Preparation days

We had a great week building up to our attempt. 

Arriving in Chamonix in the rain and dark did not bode well and gave no indication of what was to follow. What we awoke to frankly took our breath away. Steepling snow-capped mountains surrounded us on every side and with one cable car station which looked as though it had come straight from a James Bond film with Jaws expected to jump at any moment.

James Thacker, our primary guide for the week arrived and informed us that the forecast was not great so we would be heading to Italy to begin our acclimatisation. The first remarkable experience was actually going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, what an amazing feat of engineering 11 and a half kilometers of  tunnel driving through the heart of the mountain connecting France and Italy. From there it was a cable car to the top and our first experience of glaciers, followed by a climb to the top of Punta Helbronner. 

That certainly gave me a lot of confidence as it was probably the spikiest piece of rock I had ever seen far less experienced climbing. Having summited that at around 3,500mt it was time for some r&r in the fantastically situated café at the cable car station to get used to the altitude.

Friday saw us begin what felt like proper adventure.  James had researched the weather and it didn’t look good for Saturday afternoon, so we had to be a little less ambitious and headed for Cabane des Vignettes with the idea being to summiting Pigne d'Arolla before the weather set in, rather than a more challenging ridge route. In addition we would be sleeping at altitude for the first time.

The walk to the glacier was superb, leaving the stereotypical Swiss valley village up through Alpine forests to the snout when it was suddenly crampons on and high alert for crevasses! 

It was a testing slog up to the hut, but largely uneventful. However, arriving at the hut it was like something out of “Where Eagles Dare”, perched on the side of a very precipitous drop. For those who haven’t been to The Alps, huts are quite a thing. Used to provide shelter and accommodation, run by Alpine Climbing clubs in the main, they provide access to the highest routes and passes and essentially “open up” The Alps. It wasn’t long before dinner was served, and hat’s off to the chef for his remarkable vegetable soup in particular. Then bed by 9 as breakfast was served between 5 and 5:30!

I had a reasonable night’s sleep but hardly undisturbed and as a man of a certain age, the mid sleep visits took on a whole new twist as Alpine winds swept into different crevices!!!!

So an early start saw us head out on to the glacier adorned with head torches, crampons and ice-axes heading for the summit. Having negotiated a couple of interesting crevices we were rewarded on the summit with some stunning views including across to our ultimate objective, The Matterhorn. 

We also saw quite clearly the looming weather front that was predicted and so we didn’t hang around and found ourselves back at the hut before 10am. What followed could only be described as tedium. I was grateful that I had packed a luxury item in the shape of a book, but once finished I sought solace in the pictures of French and German books on site, a quest (unsuccessful) for a complete set of cards or dominos, an impossible cryptic crossword in a week old Guardian and for the first time in my life completed said paper’s Sudoku – it was a VERY long day with only us and the staff for company. I have NEVER drunk so much tea in my life!!!

Just before dinner a father and daughter arrived to rattle around in the hut with us (it can hold around 80 guests), the surprise, for me at least, was all of us in the same dorm – sad for her as by this time Guy and I were a bit ripe, neither of the showers working and packing minimally!

Next morning saw another early start as we headed into the valley to pick up the car and head to Zermatt to get ready for the big one.

Summit attempt

A two hour drive saw us arrive in Tasch to meet Andy and take the short train ride to Zermatt (no cars allowed there!) where The Matterhorn was superbly revealed. After a bit of refuelling it was time to take the lift up to Schwarse and a walk into our base, The Hornli Hut. The approach was stunning, but incredibly hot, so we were grateful to arrive and get some extra water.

A 4am rise in prospect for the next day drove us to our room to grab some rest (I was going to write nap, but no one was sleeping) then a bit of reconnaissance mission at the start of the climb to experience the early stages of the climb in daylight – the climb itself starts in pitch black! It soon became clear why the practice was important as the start is a bottle-neck and any marginal gain on the day would be repaid.

The atmosphere around the hut as we waited for dinner was a strange mix of excitement and apprehension as everyone apart from staff had the same objective. Bedtime again was early and it was not the best time for me to have my worst night of sleep since arriving – I was lucky if I got an hour! None of my usual breathing techniques worked, I was either too hot or too cold and add the adrenaline …..

Boom! 4am arrived and suddenly the head torches were on (no lights before 4:30) climbing gear was adorned and a big queue for ablutions. A meager breakfast was served and consumed before doors were opened and the rush began at 4:50.

We were towards the back of the queue which didn’t cause me a particular problem, but people were soon trying to barge past as a line of lights headed up the mountainside. After two hours the aim is to be at the Solway Hut at 4,003Mts and after that length of time I was still appreciably short of that.

Once at that hut it was clear, 3 hours after starting, we were behind schedule and probably fatally so. The wind was very strong and felt, if anything, getting stronger as we began to move out onto even more exposed ground. It was at this point that safety took precedence and the decision was made to turn back.

Morning after the night before (well almost)

I can’t lie, I was bitterly disappointed to turn round (Guy followed soon afterwards). Even now, back in the UK after a night in the Schwarse hotel with the guides and some R&R in Zermatt and Geneva, I feel a bit down about it, despite some truly overwhelming support from people on Twitter, some of whom I know and some I don’t (that aspect has been truly humbling). Consolation is definitely found in the fact that I have raised sufficient funds to get a defibrillator for the club in memory of Harry Faulkner (please don't donate to that element now) and as I type raised a few quid towards C-R-Y too - feel free to donate there!

Guy and I agreed not to discuss a return attempt until we have both got over the emotions of the trip, and at the very earliest after I return from a week in Scotland with my family. Clearly my incredibly supportive wife knows me best and one of the first questions she asked was, “When are you going back to try again?”  I genuinely don’t know the answer to that, or if I will, what I do know is that I am absolutely clear on what I need to do to increase the chances of a successful summit, from lighter boots and other gear (“Every Ounce Counts”) to brighter clothing which keeps you cooler amongst other things.

The guides James and Andy were superb, I truly cannot commend them highly enough and a little doff of the cap to Max Hunter for recommending them.

I will sign off my final piece on this adventure (I am expecting to post Guy’s reflections at some point and maybe James’s too) by saying thanks to all my supporters, too many to mention, but some I really ought to:

Gary Nisbet for making me the strongest I have ever been.

Nick Matthew and Mark Campbell for sharing the bike routines and some fabulous publicity.

England Squash and Active Luton for their publicity efforts too.

And finally my family. Debs, Eilish, Lily and Natalie for being so supportive of my efforts, on the Sunday I am not ashamed to say I got a little emotional knowing the risks of what I was about to take on.

My final comment is a reminder that the fundraising effort was all to raise sufficient money to buy a defibrillator as a practical legacy in memory of my late club mate, Harry Faulkner, taken from us at only 18, still sadly missed – may he Rest In Peace!

Sweetness and Sadness

Well this time in two weeks I hope to be heading down after successfully reaching the summit of The Matterhorn. However, it would be wrong of me to gloss over the tragic events of the weekend described here. The thoughts of myself and Guy are with their families, but perhaps underline the scale of the task we are undertaking. Recently there has been a lot of coverage about Pippa Middleton's successful summit and a double amputee which has led to some gentle p*ss taking, it's all stopped rather abruptly!

For those taking the trouble to read this I would add that we are going with a highly qualified guide who is under no illusion from my wife that wants me back safe and sound! (Lily wants a Swiss Army knife whereas Nat wants the biggest Toblerone I can carry!!!)

Speaking of my daughters, they came with me to the gym recently to video me doing a Nick Matthew bike routine and so here it is.

It's very sweet, as well as sweaty. Just a couple more of those and two S&C sessions and it's time to taper down!

Two weeks to go

Well it's the home straight as far as preparation, publicity and fundraising goes.

As far as preparation goes I have upped the CV work in the absence of squash (see prior post) and am reliant on three times World Squash Champion's bike routines.

Below is the pool of sweat I had to clear up after a particularly tough one of 5 mins on, 1 min off, 4 mins on, 1 min off, 3 mins on, 1 min off, 2 mins on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 1 min off, 30 secs on 1 min off, then return back to 5 minutes - I did it all at resistance 8 and covered 25Km

As far as publicity goes, I have upped the ante in social media and that has paid dividends in the form of a great piece in todays' Luton News.

In addition England Squash did me proud with this piece.

Finally the fundraising has gathered pace, thanks everyone who has donated so far, I am just awaiting the treasurer telling me what the total to date raised is.

Uveitis returns

Just a quick update as yesterday I thought the expedition was going to be over before it began as my Uveitis flared up again.

I was first diagnosed with the condition in my right eye around 4 years ago and it flares up every now and again, prompting a visit to the rather marvelous team at Moorfields Eye hospital. For most of the time it lies dormant and I go on with day to day life.

Every now and again it flares up prompting a series of drops and creams to be taken, starting off hourly and tapering off. During the time that the drops are active I can't wear my contact lenses or see properly out of my right eye as the pupil is dilated to absorb the drugs. (The first time I was diagnosed the drops didn't work which meant I had to have injections into my eye - I'm not ashamed to admit I passed out!). Given that I will need to wear my lenses and see where I am going on The Matterhorn it was a serious problem, however, the timing was lucky in that I will be down to twice a day by then and can apply the drop well before I set off on any given day and last thing at night when I dispose of them.

A very close call, a week later and it would have been over before it began

Out of the mouths of Babes

With just over 4 weeks to go until we fly out to The Matterhorn it's all getting rather serious.

Having said that there was a moment of extreme amusement as well as crudeness at the weekend as Guy, myself and Lily, my daughter walked from Lewes to Alfriston. It was late into a very hot afternoon on the South Downs, with heavy packs and sweaty bodies that after yet another expulsion of wind to dilute the pleasantly cooling sea breeze that Lily asked, "Is that all you two do? Walk and fart!"

Bang to rights she had us!

Better to do that out in the open than in the confines of the tent we were sharing is my only defence.

All in all another good weekend of walking, this time with a very heavy load, tomorrow it's back to the gym!

8 outta 10 ain't bad

I was going to title this blog, “Move along, nothing to see here!” but as will become apparent later that wouldn’t have been quite true. So I plagiarised a Meatloaf song instead – for those of a certain age, and mindset, you will appreciate that I did rather better than Meatloaf did!!!!

The aim of this training session was to REALLY test myself over a prolonged period, so Guy and I returned to the Mamores with a different strategy to last time. My aim was to tackle the whole ridge travelling light, whereas Guy was going to tackle a shorter section having recently completed the hundred miles of The South Downs Way recently.

Flying out of Luton to Glasgow on the Friday night to pick up a car and drive through to Fort William seems like a good plan, until there are delays. I won’t bore you with the detail, but arriving around half past midnight when you aim to be on the mountain by 6:00 is not ideal. A very truncated sleep followed; including a suggestion by a wide awake me to get going at 4:30, rejected by a tired Guy.

On the hill at 6:15 wasn’t a bad effort but thick cloud on the summits had been forecast and so it proved. It took a little over 2 hours to make the first summit, a route I remembered well from last year’s expedition and the broken stake where Jim tried to climb the fence remained. I have to be truthful and say if I don’t see that ascent again I wouldn’t be too disappointed.  With nothing to see I cracked on through the cloud, grateful for the assistance of my GPS app.

To be honest ticking off the first summits, having been there before in better conditions, was at best perfunctory. The aim was to spend at least 12 hours on my feet, so I took a decision to miss out Sgurr a'Mhaim because I had done it before in our last attempt and it was out and retrace steps and would gain me nothing. And so onwards to Am Bodach, as far as we got last time around.  As I approached the summit there was the vaguest essence of watery sunshine trying to peak through the gloom. On the summit I could see the vague outlines of the summits I had just done, but not much more. Suddenly I turned to leave and was greeted by this:

Arguably one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Crystal clear peaking above the clouds Bidean nam Bian, what a sight, the snow patches on the summit making it look like a killer whale surfacing in the ocean.

Sadly there was no time to be lost, so back into the cloud I went bagging summit after summit until An Garbhanach, where I saw the first people of the day, two fell runners, sadly for me I couldn’t locate the route to An Gearanch, despite map and GPS, so rather than dally (it was another out and back on the ridge) I took the decision to return another day.

Shortly after this whom should I meet but Guy on his way down from what he thought was the summit of Na Gruagaichean. The reason for his error was easy to see when I arrived at what he thought was the summit and was confronted by this:

Quite surreal, however, the real summit was a few hundred metres higher up. Guy could probably feel his ears burn as I cursed having to haul myself through a horrid boulder field.

As I mentioned, in the cloud I was having to rely very heavily on my map and GPS and the route I was following is one which isn’t so widely used and thus often there were no paths. Leaving the summit I have to say that for a good half hour to an hour, I was worried that I was way off-piste, considering a call so that someone could check my location using my phone. Thankfully I had no signal so was forced to trust my instincts and as if by magic I was back on a path – phew! There I met 4 lads from Notts who were keen to get back for the football – no idea why?!?!?

As I left the summit I met the last people I would all day in circumstances which showed how poor visibility was. They were less than 10 metres away, but clearly hadn’t seen me and I heard them more than saw them as they discussed where the path I was on ought to be. To their surprise a voice from the gloom pointing them in the right direction must have been quite un-nerving!

At 18:30 I made the final summit, 12 hours and 15 minutes after starting, now all that remained was the long slog back to where Guy would either be waiting or else where I would text as soon as I got a signal. By this time I was pretty tired and the descent involved a lot of slips and slides which I could have done without and then having to take socks and shoes off to wade across a river. It was a boggy trudge back I can tell you. Then when I got to the car park unsurprisingly Guy wasn’t there, watching the football I was sure, but no phone signal so I had some walking on tarmac to do until I picked up a signal. Whilst it was still light I didn’t expect anyone to be around at 21:00 so when a minibus approached I hoped for a lift and was terribly disappointed when I was passed without acknowledgement on the tiny single track road – clearly not a native or REAL outdoor enthusiast!

After a mile or so my phone exploded with incoming messages and texts and after much fumbling managed to get a pleading text out to Guy, who came and collected me at 21:45 (perhaps it was serendipitous that Russia should equalise then!!!!)

As a graphic illustration of how out of sorts I was, I couldn’t even eat half of my haggis and chips and I only had two pints whilst watching the highlights in our room – an epic day, proving that I am certainly fit enough to do The Matterhorn. Now the only things that will stop me are the weather and how I react to altitude, none of which I can control. Someone more erudite said, “all you can do is control the controllables”, so now after a few days off it will be back to the usual training regime with just over two months until departure.

Thanks for reading

Support from the stars

Well it's a little more than a month since my last update, but that doesn't mean nothing has been happening.

Firstly in order to raise the profile of the causes I am supporting I had some t-shirts made which point people towards the summary website www.mainsersmatterhorn.com which is a simple way to see how to sponsor me.

First up to model them was my eldest daughter Lily who proudly wore it for her senior team debut for our squash club, Luton and Dunstable.

However, I think she would concede that she was trumped with the awesome support of my favourite Australian squash player Cameron Pilley who wore it during his warm up in the semi-final of the Canary Wharf Classic, broadcast live on TV

I was in the audience cheering him on, but my wife Debbie managed to catch this screenshot, I cannot thank him enough for his support and kind words.

As for my preparations I am continuing to work with Gary Nisbet My current weekly routine is as follows:

Warm-up - Round the clock lunges one without weight, other with 20Kg, 2 sets

Squats 6 Reps at 70Kg 3 sets

Single Leg Deadlift 6 Reps each leg at 40Kg 3 sets

Turkish get up 6 each arm 9Kg

Bench Press 8 x 18Kg, followed by low row pulley 8 x 30Kg 4 sets

Then alternate to the following 48 hours later

Same warm up

Squat press 6 reps at 40Kg 3 sets

Deadlift 6 reps at 80kg 3 sets

Glute ham raises 6 reps 3 sets

and finish with an attempt to do 8 pull-ups followed immediately by 20 press ups, 4 sets (I haven't managed a complete set of pull ups yet in all honesty.

Then back to the original. 

This weekend sees my final progression with Gary so I await with slight nervousness for what's in store.

For a long time I was quite dispirited by my lack of ability at pull-ups, however, recently I saw a well sculpted man in the gym doing narrow pull-ups with a weight between his ankles and felt suitably inadequate until I asked if he could do wide ones with no weight as I do, I cannot begin to explain the feeling tantamount to adulation I felt when he barely managed 4, certainly gave me a boost to keep pushing.

In addition to the S&C work I have been doing some extra CV work in addition to my squash, principally bike intervals kindly supplied by Nick Matthew - they certainly work up a sweat.

I will finish for now on a blog piece written on the BBC which highlights graphically why defibrillators are so important and why I want to raise enough funds to buy one for the club

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zc2fg82

Thanks for reading.

A word from Guy

I asked Guy to give me a few thoughts on the expedition for the blog:

About fifteen years ago, Paul invited me to join a party attempting a few of the gentler Munros. For a man whose experiences of Scotland were the familiar urban tourist traps of Glasgow and Edinburgh, I anticipated something akin to the Lake District or the Yorkshire Moors.  Standing atop my first Munro, with the beginner’s luck of a rare cloudless day,  I marvelled at the seemingly endless wilderness and wondered whether, halfway up the ridge, I had climbed through the back of some Highland wardrobe and into another country. England had nothing on this. No distant rumble of the M6, no gift shops selling pointless knick-knacks,  no queues, no people, no nothing. I was hooked.

Fast forward ten years: Paul and I had kept our annual date with the Highlands with a dwindling and changing bunch of companions. I’d trudged, slithered, scrambled and sweated my way up and down thirty or so Munros with midge bites and blisters to prove it. Whilst not exactly smug, I was pretty pleased with myself. I was no Kenton Cool but had at least ascended to some comfortable mental base camp. Then Paul, whose concept of a challenge extends beyond a fun run or a dry January, upped the ante.

‘I’m 50 in 2016. I want to climb the Matterhorn and I want you to come with me.’ Before I could think of the hundred sensible reasons to say no, I said yes.

And so began the process of courses at climbing walls, the purchasing of ropes, helmets and ice axes, winter training, lessons in navigation and more ambitious forays into Skye, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. Paul took to it all like a duck to water, increasing his fitness, changing his body shape dramatically and working through technical challenges with an Aberdonian determination befitting a man from the Granite City. 

Like Ringo or Jamie Murray, I play my part. For a man with arthritic knees, knot dyslexia and a thigh circumference about fifty per cent that of Paul, the sight of him receding into the distance as we tackle a steep incline or bone-jarring descent has become a familiar one.  I have experienced anxiety, fear, pain and fatigue in varying degrees and sometimes simultaneously.

So why do I do it? Because, when suspended on the TD Gap on Skye or tracing my boot along the Inaccessible Pinnacle in search of a foothold, there is nothing in life that matters more.  My inbox, an impending meeting,  the irritation of an unexpected bill.  It’s the only time that none of these distractions is in my head.  The most extreme moments are the ones of greatest clarity.

One day I won’t be able to any of this. Ten years? I’ll be 62. Who knows when the niggles, aches and pains become something more debilitating and where the descent from life’s physical pinnacle reaches the lowlands of old age.  What I do know is that, whenever it happens, no achievements currently surpass traversing the Black Cuillin ridge or climbing Twisting Gully in winter.  A successful attempt on the Matterhorn would form the front cover of my personal scrapbook.

Being in such wilderness can often be a time of introspection, soul-searching and personal challenges.  All of this ignores the single, most important reason why I do it – the companionship. Last August,  I joined Paul on his family holiday in Assynt. One evening, Paul, his daughter Lily and I tramped to a bothy within sight of Suilven, a ridge beautiful even in the context of its stunning surroundings.   Paul had surpassed his high standard of preparation by carrying firewood in his rucksack, so we could light a fire in the small grate. With Lily snug in her sleeping bag, Paul and I poured a generous dram into plastic cups and sat back. For a wordless hour, we watched the sun cast its last shadows over the mountain, as the sky changed from mid to deep, star-pricked blue. The only sound was the occasional spit from an ember.  Conversation, or anything else, was unnecessary. This was life as it should be lived. 

Dodgy weather and dodgy knees

As my national bard said more eloquently than I, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley"!

So it was for my Scottish winter mountain training expedition on the weekend of 5th Feb.

First of all the sleeper was late into Glasgow, the weather forecast had been grim all week in the run up so maximising time on the hill in reasonable weather was a priority. So after throwing down some breakfast we went to collect the hire car only to find it wasn't going to be available for another hour. So what should have been an 8am departure from Glasgow turned into a 10am one. That will be the last time I use Sixt I have to say.

As we drove north it became clear that our initial plan of climbing Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime was simply not possible, especially in the dire weather. So after a reassessment we decided to head straight for Glencoe and do a reconnaissance on our ultimate target of Stob Coire nan Lochan. The idea was to walk up into the corrie bowl and have a look at conditions ahead of Saturday's assault.

The snow level was a lot higher than last year and it was clear that conditions in the crags higher up were, as one climber we met put it, "thin".

However, the forecast for Saturday was for colder weather and further snowfall so all was not lost yet, so we returned to the car grateful at least to have got out albeit we were pretty soggy and windswept by the time we checked in at The Clachaig.

There followed a very pleasant evening spent with a Paris based couple who were touring the area, one originally from the Black Isle and the other an American where we enjoyed a few of the numerous beers on offer.

So off we set on Saturday in reasonable weather with it forecast to deteriorate. The first thing that struck me arriving at the car park was how busy it was - we got the last space and it wasn't even 9am! All tooled up, with ropes and other gear we set off passing a few people on the way and seeing climbers well into the distance. After an hour or so it was clear to me that Guy was struggling, despite making better time than the day before. As I caught up with a group who were putting on their crampons and harnesses I took the opportunity of the last bit of shelter from the biting wind to wait for Guy. When he arrived my suspicions were well founded and we agreed to tackle the final slope before the corrie bowl to assess what we might do. On arrival it was the mountain equivalent of Piccadilly Circus!

Guy declared that he couldn't do any climbing at that point, a mixture of pain and loss of confidence faced with the crags and the clear deterioration in the weather conditions, and said he would make his way down on his own. I couldn't let him do that after what happened to Jim last summer so the decision was taken to abort for the day.

The forecast for Sunday was atrocious with gusts of wind at the summit in excess of 80mph and heavy snow. When we awoke the wind was definitely stronger, and sure enough snow was coming down in the Glen. We agreed to head south and revisit our Friday objectives. As we headed across Rannoch Moor the snow started getting very heavy and several times I nearly lost the car despite doing very modest speeds. (grainy pic taken by passenger Guy!)

In all honesty I was grateful to get to Bridge of Orchy without leaving the road. By then the snow had turned to rain but it was hosing down, so we stopped at a nice cafe in Inveruglas and assess the situation. The wind was getting stronger and the Met Office hourly forecast indicated no improvement until 4pm, so we abandoned all thoughts of mountain activity and instead spent the afternoon "date-style" at the Glasgow Modern Art Museum, followed by the rather brilliant, if harrowing Spotlight followed by a curry in the rather marvellous Koh-I-Noor restaurant, before heading back to catch the sleeper back south.

My abiding principle in all my expeditions is that a key element of success is getting home safely and it hit us profoundly as we discovered in the dining car, enjoying a Laphroig, that there had been an avalanche that day, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt!

All in all somewhat disappointing as far as training and practice goes, however, I still feel confident that I am on schedule to reach the summit of The Matterhorn in August.

Fundraising has now started in earnest and details of how to sponsor me can be found on www.MainsersMatterhorn.com

Thanks for your support

Paul

No going back now

Well here it is 2016 and the year I tackle the might of The Matterhorn.

Form here on in I will be posting at least monthly to update progress and bore you all into submission.

During the October half term last year I went with the family to Skye for a week which was fabulous and whilst I didn't do any serious climbing it was good to get out into the hills and enjoy some great weather, including getting sunburned! (Yes you did read that right)

Anyway the festive period is well and truly over and preparations are beginning in earnest. Key dates this year are 1st of Feb (Happy Birthday to me!) when the fundraising launch happens at Lewsey Sports Park to coincide with the 1sts v 2nds of Luton and Dunstable Squash Club. The captains have indulged me with a rather fabulous gift by allowing Lily and Natalie to play in either side at 5th string.

5th Feb 3 days in Glencoe hopefully getting some winter climbing in. Potentially Guy and my first foray into doing it for ourselves so to speak!

Then it's into 10th June where I am going to do the whole Mamore traverse in one hit travelling light.

Finally departure date for Geneva is 17th August and flights are booked and second and penultimate installment has been paid to James our guide, with summit attempts scheduled for either 23rd or 24th!

It's suddenly all very real.

As mentioned elsewhere the whole purpose of this effort is to raise funds for a defibrillator in our club at Lewsey and any surplus going to C-R-Y in memory of Harry Faulkner.

Donations to the former can be made via here when the target of £2,000 is reached then please go here

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank two people who have contributed hugely in kind to the cause with their support. Gary Nisbet of Unique Fitness Solutions for transforming me from a weakling into being complimented as being "strong" by a young woman at the gym which caused me to blush like a teenage virgin. Mohammed Azam who has designed and created this rather fabulous website which has a considerably sexier name than this blog and has facilitated me being able to design a suitable t-shirt