Janie Hawksworth
Janie Hawksworth
Fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
Story
Dear Friends and Family
Thank you for so generously donating to my Just Giving page - it is hugely appreciated by both me and the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign. My experience of climbing Mt Triglaw in Slovenia was more amazing than I expected and I have to say that I had a great sense of achievement once I completed the climb. Two weeks prior to the event I did not think I would be able to go having injured my knee whilst training in the Alps.
The morning of the climb I woke at 5.30 am having only had 1.5 hours sleep. To my relief the weather was great - the previous week the weather had been atrocious with snow at the summit. Two hours into the climb I had terrible nausea, knee pain and fatigue I could easily have given up but was propelled upwards by the amount of money I had raised. Matters were made worse by carrying a backpack containing 12 kg+ of safety equipment, clothing, food and water. I needed food for 'fuel' but had completely lost my appetite. If it were not for the lucozade shot and glucose tablets I am not sure that I would have been able to continue! By lunch time I was beginning to improve but compared to my fellow climbers was not well acclimatised to the altitude. Our final stop, before a more technical ascent on the Via Ferrata, was at a hut situated at 2,400 m. Sadly we were engulfed in cloud towards the summit but in a way it made the climb easier not being able to see the 500 m drops either side of the ridge. We spent 3 hours on the Via Ferrata (translation : scrambling on a ridge/cliff face wearing a harness, clipping yourself safely on to steel cables fastened to the rock). Always wearing a safety hamlet due to the danger of falling rocks! On reaching the summit we witnessed a local tradition of whipping! As you can imagine this was highly amusing to watch climbers being whipped with climbing ropes - we did not participate in this exercise! All day we were mindful of time as we had to reach our remote overnight hut by nightfall. 12 hours later we reached the Dolič hut situated at 2400 m - this was not what I had expected and turned out to be a lot of fun. We were the only 4 foreigners among 60+ male climbers. Dolič had no running water, no toilets and had run out of drinking water by night time.
The highlights of my climb were numerous. The one that tops my list was being able to call Ian on day two having not had any mobile signal for almost 24 hours! The incredibly varied and dramatic scenery - towards the summit it resembled a lunar landscape. Arriving on day two in the valley of the Seven Lakes was a very welcome sight after ascending and descending for hours on scree. Getting into my bunk bed after a gruelling 12 hours of trekking was a great feeling. Having a hot tub at the foot of the Julian Alps at the end of our climb was bliss.
I am already planning my next adventure!!!!!
With Best Wishes
Janie
How did it come about?
Whilst hiking in Slovenia last year I was asked by some friends to join them on a climb to the summit of Mt Triglav which is the highest peak in the country at 2,864 m. It is situated in the Julian Alps - a mountain range which lies on the border of both Austria and Slovenia.
Why?
Ever since attending school in British Columbia I have always had a passion for the mountains. I find them majestic, threatening, challenging and most of all I just want to climb them. I have scaled a few smaller mountains in my time but none as high as this beast!
The Climb!
I do suffer from altitude sickness but will be taking precautions to prevent that. We are a team of 10 attempting to Climb Mt Triglav on 11 September 2010. During the summer climbing season the temperatures range between -10°C and +30°C. A day may begin with a warm sunny morning and end with a thunderstorm, blizzard and frost! I will, therefore, be carrying a significant amount of equipment especially since we have to camp overnight.
The Charity
Family members have been effected by cancer over the years. The Royal Marsden Hospital was the first in the world dedicated to cancer treatment and research into the causes of cancer. Today the hospital with its academic partner, The Institute of Cancer Research, forms the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe with over 40,000 patients from the UK and abroad seen each year.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
With less than 6 weeks to go I would be very grateful for a donation!
Janie