Fun, a bit scary, proud and lucky !!

"Come on Dad" said Adam early this morning. There isn't much snow let's go and do some Kilimanjaro training !!!

Adam is my 9 year old son and my sometimes training partner. So at 9.30am this morning, with just a few millimetres of snow on the ground, we set off to Aldbury for a three hour walk in the winter air. Whilst there were some signs of snow in the sky, the air was crisp and clear, the temperature was not too bad and we were ready for a nice long training walk.

Well everything started off fine......................and we made great progress for the first hour or so. 

And then all hell broke loose. We were about 600 feet up on an exposed plain when the mother of all snow storms swept in and literally blanketed the area to about 6 inches deep in a matter of 60 minutes. For sure one of the most incredible things I think I've ever seen. Visibility was down to literally in front of your face.

Even though we were initially quite calm about things and just carried on, we soon realised we couldn't actually see which way we were going, which way was back and in fact where we were !

"What a great adventure Dad" came the pearl of wisdom as my fearless boy fell into heaps of laughter about not being able to see.

Faced with a real white-out, do discretion over-ruled our Gladiatorial heads and we turned around and retraced our footsteps. I took several photos of what it was like but even with the decent camera I had with me they didn't come out. 

The two below however taken at the end of the 2 hours we did manage show just how much things changed in about 60 minutes. It was fun and a little scary. What I did learn however is that my supreme-climber of a son is someone I am just incredibly proud of. He didn't panic, he kept our spirits up and just got on with it. 

Well done mate!

Cold but great

Well the weather is almost Kili like at the moment so I thought I'd get in some cold weather practice.

It was -3 as I started out on a walk in Ashridge, climbing up to a modest 800 feet around Ivinghoe Beacon. It was (with wind cill) -5 at the top and was extremely windy. 

The beauty of this walk is that it is long (about 3 hours) and it includes the "monster hill" that is optional half way along the walk. The good news is that 3 months ago I struggled to do it but today I did it twice so something's working !

On the way back the cloud formations were just fantastic with the beginning of sunset contrasting with the remnants of a "blue sky day" all fighting with dark dark clouds rolling in from the hills. T'was a great sight.

Australia rules !!

Even though they obviously can't play rugby any more - and soon they'll be humbled in the Ashes too.............regardless the Australians still know how to raise money and throw a great party!

Shannon Millar is a customer services supervisor for Sportingbet in Darwin in North west Australia and is part of the Kili climbing team. 

Shannon organised an outdoor party in Darwin to raise funds for Australian Breast Cancer Care as part of her fundraising effort.  

The party was well attended, supported by plenty of Sportingbet staff, friends and local businesses and a great time was had by all. 

And to top it all Shannon raised nearly £2,000! Brilliant effort bringing the total raised to over £16,500 now.

Lake District Training weekend

The weekend of the 13th and 14th November saw 14 of the Kili team (Michael and Shannon couldn't make it) set off for the Lake District for a training and briefing weekend. 

Maximum Adventure who are organising our trek up Kili, had arranged for us to stay at the Briery Wood Hotel just outside Windermere and it was first class in every regard. Most people arrived at the hotel at around 6pm on Friday evening, save for George who had decided to buy his kit on Friday afternoon and - having entered Blacks in Oxford at 2.30pm, was still there at nearly 7pm emptying the shop of one of just about everything. George eventually blessed us with his presence at about 11.15pm! 

In keeping with everything we have seen from Maximum Adventure so far, the weekend was perfectly organised and we went through a thoroughly professional and comprehensive briefing on what lay ahead, the fitness levels required, equipment, altitude sickness, the route we were taking and much more too. To a man and woman we were all really impressed and delighted too that we had such a competent leader for the climb in Jaz Baughan.

On saturday afternoon we went on a 3 hour trek up to about about 1,500 feet. Although the climb up was quite steep and relentless in its ascent, everyone took it at a modest pace and coped with the ascent well with few if indeed any issues. Everyone really enjoyed it which all bodes well for February. Jaz reported back that the level of fitness of the group was good and that by February everyone should be very well prepared.

At the top the views were spectacular as the series of photos below should testify. It was sunny (on the way up anyway) though it got increasingly cold as we neared the summit of the climb. Fortunately we avoided the rather menacing rain storm that was lurking in the area and remained dry throughout.

 

Whilst the climb up had not presented any real issue to anyone, it was a different story on the way down where far more care was required to navigate the steep and somewhat slippery steps and rocks. No major mishaps however and we all arrived at the bottom in good health - and just in time to see a blanket of thick mist descend over exactly where we had just come from. Perfect timing !

  

On Saturday evening we had an excellent three course dinner and bonded well as a team. The group dynamic was self-evidently working well and there was genuine camaraderie building. Brian and George took away the prize as the weekend's perfect couple however and we all look forward to more crucial decisions (Brahms or Beethoven in the tent?) as we approach February.

Sunday continued where Saturday had left off. After another excellent breakfast we received a further briefing from Maximum Adventure and then walked again for about an hour and a half. 


This time, although the walk was shorter in duration, it was conducted at a fast pace and everyone certainly felt it at the top. 

Regardless, again everyone coped well. The views at the top were great and many photos were taken by an increasingly fit and happy team.

Around 1230 we all made our way back home, some by car some by train and plane after what had been a first class weekend where we had met and made new friends, bonded as a team, eaten and exercised well and learnt a great deal about what was ahead in February.

Roll on February.

Training on Ben Nevis

On Saturday 23rd October, 5 of the Kili team (Brian, Grant, Tony, Lisa and Nigel) climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland as part of their training. The weather was cool and crisp - thank god no rain!

The climb was to be honest brilliant and everyone ascended with relative ease. For my part I was just so impressed with the self-evident training that everyone had been doing. After about half way, the temperature dropped below freezing and snow gradually sprinkled the ground. Slowly but surely the depth increased such that by the time we reached the summit (in a pretty good 3 hours 40 minutes) we were 6 to 9 inches deep.

Whilst the going up was pretty straight forward, we all struggled though with the descent over the Kilimanjaro-like rocks and paid for it for the next few days with aching limbs. Memo to everyone - train downhill as well as uphill! There is just no substitute for real training in a real live environment!