In February 2018, along with a team of fifteen others, I’ll be attempting an extreme alpine challenge: Everest in the Alps, raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity. This will be the second 'Everest' ascent. The last one, in 2015, raised a whopping £3M for The Brain Tumour Charity and its Everest Research Centre.

We will be ascending 8,848 metres – the height of the world's largest mountain – on skis over a period of four days. That’s a total of 32 hours climbing (twenty different ascents), with only three hours of downhill skiing over the entire challenge. Each day we will burn over 10,000 calories, the equivalent to running three marathons back to back per day, for four days . . .

When Robert Ritchie (a great friend who I met some 35 years ago) asked me if I would participate in this event some 10 months ago, I didn't hesitate in saying "yes", in offering my support.  Rob's son, Toby, was diagnosed with a low grade brain tumour at the age of five. Despite surgery and gruelling chemotherapy, the position of the tumour on Toby’s brain stem means that it cannot be fully removed.  For me to spend several months in preparation to undertake this challenge (something I've never even tried before), is nothing in comparison with the challenge that Toby has faced, and continues to face every day of his life.  The least I can do is try and support him, Robert and the rest of the family, as well as many others, who are themselves experiencing, a comparable situation.

Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. What's more, they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 2% of total cancer research funding goes to this area and little is known about causes, which means treatment remains inadequate. So come February, I’ll be taking part in The Everest in the Alps Challenge: The Second Ascent to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity. We want to raise money to fund vital research planned by the Everest Research Centre.

This challenge is self-funded, so please rest assured any money raised will go towards the research fund. You can see my team mates’ Just Giving pages at the 'Everest in The Alps Challenge: The Second Ascent' link at the top of the page. As a group, we’re aiming to raise £350,000.