Sunday 24 February 2013

Ben Nevis

Since deciding Brazil was going to be how we spent 2014 we came up with some fundraising ideas to help us reach our target. Michael decided that Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the British Isles) would be ideal because "we might as well try the hardest" and we set a date of 9 February 2013. Now we do not go mountain walking that often despite living close to the Lake District, never mind attempting Ben Nevis, so to decide to tackle it during the winter was quite possibly the worst thing we could have done. A quick search and temperatures would be around -5 degrees, 90% chance of snow and wind chill could mean temperatures plummeting to around -20 degrees. We decided we could not do this alone so we got some friends involved in our personal challenge for support and also they could help by fundraising for us.

We ended up with a team of 5 who ranged from did a bit of mountain walking to complete novice who did not own walking boots. One of the group would be raising money towards her own project through University so it became a joint challenge. We left Newcastle on the Friday with all the kit we would require and after 5 1/2 hours we reached our hostel in Glen Nevis (just outside of Fort William). We got settled in, visited the only pub within walking distance and had our last supper. Prior to leaving we had both had a couple of jokes or comments along the lines of 'are you stupid?' and 'do you know how dangerous it is?' so we thought it might lighten the mood. Throughout the meal it reminded us of a scene from the film 'Wrong Turn' as the menu seemed to be expanding the longer we remained with a late addition of minute steaks. Perhaps that was the last group ho attempted the challenge?!

We got back to the hostel and one of the team members set his alarm for 6am so he could have a look early on as he would be the group leader. Now we probably could have done with checking when the sun would rise because when 6am came around it was pitch black...great start. This also after a 2.30am wake up by someone smashing the windows closed because it was freezing. We got up around 7am, got ready and then made our way to get some breakfast. We explained to the lady at the pub what we were doing and then she looked like we had told her one of Michael's jokes. She wished us look because we would need it as visibility was poor just 100m up. We started the challenge at 9am after some debate about our #NewcastletoBrazil banner before delegating who would carry it on the way up.

Ben Nevis took us 7 and 1/2 hours to complete, however the truth is there were a couple of points were I thought the risk might be too great. Would it be worthwhile to risk people injuring themselves for £2? The main risk was at the half way point as we attempted to cross a waterfall which had frozen over and if one of the team was to slip or fall they would fall about 200m (probably to their death). We had a discussion about safety just as the only girl in our group tried to make her way over the waterfall. It was quite interesting as when she nearly made it to the edge she slipped, but managed to grip to the snow instead of sliding down the mountain. We all managed to scramble across and then we reached the zig zags where the climb began to get steep which caused issues for the calf muscles. As we got to about 900m the problems with visibility began as we could only see about 20m around us and then had to follow the stones and the bearings we got off a random German man called Herzig.

The summit was freezing, probably because we had stopped walking, but also we were 4409ft above sea level. We were joined by another group of about 10 before getting a couple of photographs we needed as evidence and some food. We also had a chat about the 'toilet' which one of the group thought was quite a cool addition after a hard incline, but in actual fact this was the observatory so when we explained she felt a little embarrassed and thankfully did not use it as a toilet. There was also a moment of brilliance as one of the other group rang someone to explain he was the highest man in the British Isles, only for one of the Polish guys from our hostel to jump above him mid conversation #FURIOUS. We followed the other group down which saved a little time as we literally slid down the mountain to reach the last zig zag before struggling to climb down the other 700m. Everytime we had a little break our legs would continue to shake as the wear and tear on our knees began to take its toll. We reached the bottom and went straight to the hostel to tell Jeremy that we had completed the challenge. We then got into our room before collapsing to the floor although the smell was quite appalling.

The evening was spent in Fort William for some food and then a couple of beers in the hostel to celebrate our achievement. We even managed to get hold of a new alarm system that woke the group up wth 82 text messages and a phone call about kebabs. It all makes the trip! All equipment was packed up and then set off back to Newcastle the next morning. Thankfully I had brought a pillow which meant it was a bit easier to drive back as my legs were still aching from the climb. A selection of photographs are below, but we have more on our Facebook page. Our final amount once all the money is collected will be £1500 which is a good start with more events coming up soon. A huge thank you to those that have supported us so far and those who made the effort to complete the challenge with us. Everything is appreciated! If you would like to donate you can at www.justgiving.com/projectcuritiba