Final update as this site shuts down on 8th June. With the two seperate sites that I am raising money on I am just a couple of hundred pounds short of my target so please do not put it off any longer and take this opportunity to sponsor me.

The Haute Route - Walking between France and Switzerland with skis on your feet up a series of mountains and skiing down the other side - should take between 6-8 days. It is perhaps the most famous ski-mountaineering itinerary in the Alps and justifiably so. For further info on the Haute Route, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_Route
                                                                                                                                                        To see some of the pictures, with me in them, take a look at http://picasaweb.google.com/matt1cade/MattSHauteRoutePics

There are two charities I would like to support, Shooting Star Children's Hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA). Donations on this page will go to Shooting Star so if you would prefer to donate to the MNDA please click on the following link  - http://www.justgiving.com/fatbloke-midlifecrisis

I have chosen the Shooting Star Children's Hospice because of the amazing support the charity gives to children with life-limiting conditions. The charity was brought to my attention by my mother who, as a retired person, supports this charity a great deal by giving over a great deal of time to fundraising and working in one of their shops. I, also, wanted to support a local charity. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Shooting Star Children's Hospice will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please be aware that donors, apparently, tend to follow suit so your donation is likely to set a trend. Therefore, I would kindly ask you to dig deep and sponsor me online. Many thanks for your support and please sponsor me now!

Well, he made it!

What a journey and taken out of my comfort zone in so many ways! But I made the 100km journey across the High Route over the Alps in six days and not everyone can say that. For me, this was a real adventure.

The practice day (07.04.07) was a little bit of a formality and in no way really prepared me for the experiences of day 1

Easter Sunday was a shock to the system; skiing on and down glaciers, the first kick-turn on the first climb (nightmare!), abseiling down cliff faces with crampons on, ice-axe in hand and skis strapped to your back and more ups than I care to remember. I was not the only one thinking that if every day was like this then there is absolutely no way I was going to make it. Fortunately, day 1 is a bit of an extreme experience.

Day 2, by contrast, is a bit of a doss but allows the body some recovery time. At the end of Day 2, we arrived at out hut on the edge of the Verbier ski system. Each day, the location of the overnight huts we stayed in was always very special. One of the huts, in particular, appeared to be glued on to the side of a mountain with a 700m vertical drop - the outside toilet experience at this hut has to be seen to be believed.

The sense of open space and wilderness was a major highlight of the trip. The scenery was breath taking, although not being able to breath properly may have simply been the fact that we were, on occasion, at 3800m (12000ft). The mountains, the glaciers and the related ice formations and seracs were truly beautiful. You also recognize that this journey could be very different as weather conditions change.

Each day we would get up in the dark and be on our skis at first light, with the moon still clearly visible and at the end of each day I felt exhausted. I say at the end of each day, but with the early starts we would have finished our days travelling by about 2.30pm in order to reduce the risk of avalanches.

Each day you were able to reflect ‘Well, I have never done that before’. For example, I have not fallen down a crevasse before and although I did not feel in any immediate danger and, in all honesty, the crevasse was not that big/deep but I felt reassured that I was roped up with my group. On the last day we actually started skiing down a glacier in the dark with our head torches on, yet another first.

The last day, which happened to be quite ominously Friday 13^th, was again a test with three major climbs to be completed. Although very tiring I found this much easier than day one, I was now used to the routines of changing equipment from ascent to descent and every step on that last day brought the finishing line closer so the motivation was different also. Having left the hut at 6am we arrived in Zermatt for our taxi back to Chamonix at just after 4pm.

Apparently, more people do not complete the full journey than do (generally due to the weather) so there is a real sense of accomplishment as you walk through the pedestrianised streets of Zermatt with your rucksack on your back and your skis over your shoulder. I had completed the Haute Route!