Dear Friends
First of all, to those of you who sponsored us a huge thank you. It was a wall of money at our back supporting us on the ascent. The Prostate Cancer Charity will receive a significant amount. As I write, this amounts to around £13,000 (after including Gift Aid and deducting admin charges of justgiving) and the total continues to rise. It is an amazing achievement, and I am uncharacteristically at a loss for words … except to say thank you again to everyone - friends, relatives and colleagues.
The team – myself and Jamie, and Douglas, Jack and Billy Campbell – really enjoyed the climb and the experience of reaching the top of the highest peak in the UK. The whole expedition was made so much more enjoyable for Jamie and I by having the Campbells with us, and they have also helped to raise some of the sponsorship funds.
You will not be surprised to hear that we played safe and went up the “tourist” route which is a clearly marked path with man-made steps almost to the top. Starting around 9 am it took us just over 3 hours up. Our little team was not alone: there were probably more than a hundred others climbing that day of all ages, and quite a few dogs – I hate to think what it must be like at a weekend! Serene peacefulness was not a feature.
We started out in sunny weather, and mood, but throughout the day the weather was changeable and soon after we started to ascend the clouds came down, some rain, and the view disappeared. However, about an hour later as I plodded on head down, a shout from Jamie to “look!” and in an instant the clouds and mists had blown away to reveal a gorgeous view of the glen and surrounding hills.
Less than five minutes later it had gone. It was quite extraordinary how fast and completely the visibility changed. As we continued, Cadbury’s dairy milk, Dextro and Evian water played their part in keeping up our pace. (Product placement agents please note).
We approached the plateau and hit the first snow. Overhead the conditions also got a lot worse and, as we trudged through six inches of slush and new snow on the relatively steep final rise to the plateau, there was a sudden hailstorm. Luckily the wind was behind us – for those going down at that moment it was not so pleasant.
Once on the plateau it was cold (below zero) and pretty much a whiteout (see photos) but needless to say we were elated and broke out the sandwiches and some whisky from my large hip flask (Bailie Nicol Jarvie - “Age with Honour” is what it says on the bottle. My favourite blended whisky at the moment. If you want to try it you can buy it at Sainsbury and Waitrose, I believe). In a vain attempt to rid Scots (and Aberdonians in particular) of their reputation for meanness we offered a dram to a grateful Frenchman who had staggered towards us – so now we have complete use of a villa and yacht in the Med. Not.!
Coming down felt slower and in fact may have been. The knees take a pounding and one has to be careful not to put a foot wrong. As many told us, it is almost easier going up. Finally down, the next stage was clear. Just above the Visitor Centre and virtually on the path is the Ben Nevis Inn. A pint of Glenfinnan gold bitter (and a coke for Jamie) went down a lot easier and faster than we had.
Ben Nevis is not the most attractive Munro to climb. I have been up many and aesthetically it is pretty low on the list. The number of visitors on almost any day doesn’t improve the experience either. Yet, it is the highest and there is a real sense of achievement in getting to the top. Years ago, when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro – in a night-time blizzard and whiteout – I was so anxious to get off the top I didn’t wait for my friend to take a photo of me. I made no such mistake this time.
Did we feel stiff the next day? Actually, not really, and we went off for another walk and part climb with the family who were putting us up!
George
Thursday May 28th 2009
My orginal message - before the event!
Dear Friends
This is a rather serious message - not my usual joking self (although that’s also still very much alive!).
As many of you know, I was diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer in November last year. I am now on hormones, in remission (to use the jargon), and will be having radiation treatment at the end of this year for about five weeks. After that it’s just wait and hope and see. There is no satisfactory or clear prognosis for someone in my clinical situation.
Awareness of prostate cancer is still surprisingly low. There is an ongoing debate about screening because of the unreliability of the PSA blood test. However, based on my own experience, I would strongly urge all men to have the test annually after the age of 50, particularly if there is any history of cancer of any sort in the family.
Every year in the UK alone some 35,000 men are diagnosed with the disease. Although many older men die with it, rather than of it, nevertheless 10,000 – that’s one every hour – do die from it every year. It’s the most common cancer in men.
The Prostate Cancer Charity is not so well known as some of the other cancer charities but it has been doing an excellent job in terms of raising awareness, lobbying, supporting and encouraging research and offering advice to those who need it.
Anyway, I decided it might be a good time to do something myself to raise a bit of money for the charity. So Jamie (just turned 14) and I are going to climb Ben Nevis on May 26 – weather permitting – with a few friends. I have never climbed it before and for Jamie it will be his first ever Munro!
We would really appreciate it if you could support the charity by supporting our effort on May 26.
Of course, we will let you know how we get on. If, for whatever reason, we don’t make it to the top (4,409 feet!) I hope you will understand, and not demand your money back! Unlike some charity events, I can promise you that virtually every penny you give will go directly to the charity – apart from a very small admin fee charged by Justgiving there will be no deductions whatsoever.
I want to keep this short, so down to the nitty gritty.
Just follow the instructions on this website. (You can do it almost faster than an MP can claim his expenses!)
Your identity will not be visible to anyone other than myself although the amount you give will be.
Thank you, and apologies for the short notice, for email addresses which are out of date and if this is the first contact after a long time – I hope the end justifies all my misdemeanors!
George Collie
