The climb was in memory of my wife Jen, a passionate mountaineer who died last year aged 87. I went with my son Philip and daughter-in-law Hilary, plus their children Sam (16) Zoe (15) and Eva(12). Philip succumbed to altitude sickness, but the rest of us all got to the top. My appeal was for the Willen Hospice (near ), that worthiest of all institutions, and people were most generous, (see this website). But it was only based on my intention to try it, so now that I have actually done it, maybe we can manage another round of contributions?
In the mountain’s Visitors’ Book I found no other three-generation party, or one with a 70-year age gap between the oldest and the youngest, so that’s two more records looking for someone to break them, and I don’t suppose it will happen very soon. It’s the highest free-standing mountain in the world: we took six days up and two days down, and on the peak day we were on our feet for 14 hours. Everyone suffered from headaches and nausea. There’s no technical difficulty, but it is not a doddle. I’ve never done anything like it before – but neither have I been this old before. It’s taken me weeks to get back to normal.
