***UPDATE 23rd May 2010***
It's on. Charlie and I are going up the Midi at 1630 this afternoon, overnighting in the Cosmiques hut tonight, then heading up in the early hours of tomorrow (Monday). Again, thank-you so much for donating, and cross your fingers for us! -Charlie & Tom
***UPDATE 4th May 2010***
First up, thanks to you, a lot of lives are going to change down at Great Ormond Street. Our target is in tatters, smashed to bits by the overwhelming generosity of our contributors. From our hearts - thanks!
Next up, if you live in Chamonix, you'll see that the weather sucks. This is bad because cloudy, cold and windy does not make mountains any easier - or safer - to cimb. So having taken the advice of our guide Lars, we've moved our window to 16th-22nd May. We'll do Mont Blanc at some point during that time. So for the next fortnight, we'll keep up our fitness and stand an even better chance of making it to the top and snowboarding off the summit.
Thanks for bearing with us! Charlie & Tom
We are two regular guys. Not pro snowboarders, not mountaineers. We've lived in Chamonix for a few years, and have always looked at Mont Blanc thinking "What If..?".
Now What If has become Why Not, and we're climbing Western Europe's highest peak to raise money for Great Ormond Street hospital.
There's plenty of things that could go wrong for us at 4810m - serac falls, crevasses, altitude sickness, avalanches - but if we do it right, there's plenty of things that will start to go more right for the kids at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital. That's where you and your credit card come in! Even a pound or two will make a difference, and every little helps.
Naturally, all our expedition costs (guide fee, hut fees, equipment costs etc) are being paid for by us, out of our personal savings. Everything that you donate, goes straight to charity.
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 - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
Large version of flyer here.
EXPEDITION NOTES
- Mont Blanc ascent via the Cosmiques Refuge, Mont Blanc du Tacul & Mont Maudit. Estimated time 10 hours, leaving the Cosmiques at 2am and walking through the night by headtorch.
- We are paying the guide fee (750€), refuge fees (100€) and equipment purchase (crampons, harness, ice axe, snowshoes, total 600€) ourselves. No donation money will fund these expenses.
- Snowboard descent via North Face of Mont Blanc and Mulets Refuge late morning.
- Weather window during week starting 30th April 2010
- Supported by Mountain Penguins Guiding, Zero G Snowboards, Charlie Davies Photography, Chamonix Snow Report.
