Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On 8th October 2010 my brother-in-law (Andy Dixon) and I fly out to Nepal to climb Mera Peak. Here are a few facts and figures:

Location   In the Hinku valley, south of Everest

Summit elevation   6,476 metres (21,246 feet)

Estimated duration of climb   14 days to reach the summit from when we first put our boots on

Estimated summit day   23rd October 2010 (depending on general fitness and the weather!)

Although the route we shall be following is a graded ice climb (albeit at the "easier" end of the scale), the greatest obstacle to overcome will be the altitude. At the summit there will be less than 10% oxygen, compared with the usual 21% experienced at sea level.

This is going to be the most demanding physical challenge I will ever have undertaken and I'm already in the midst of an intensive training regime. I believe it also provides an ideal opportunity to raise funds for a very worthwhile cause - Cancer Research UK. One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage, so this is a disease that affects all of us, either directly or indirectly.

Regrettably I have learned from the experience of others that, when visiting a JustGiving site, people will often say "I must remember to make a donation", but the general chaos of daily life then takes over and they promptly forget to do so.  Consequently, if you do want to make a donation, please don't wait - press the "DONATE NOW" button as soon as you've read this. This will make it a lot easier for me to assess how quickly I'm reaching my target and will also mean your monies can be applied that much sooner to valuable cancer research.

Thank you so much for your support - it means a lot to me!

Kindest regards,

Dave