Story
A quick update we did! it I managed to climb all the way to the top of Ben Nevis and down again! It was my 1st real mountain trek so really pleased to be able to complete it. It was a mammoth day and one that will long live in memory! We started the day just after breakfast around 7am on Saturday 26th August and I got back to base camp (which was the Ben Nevis Youth Hostel that we had booked out for a few days) at 11PM – So a total of 16 hours (I spent probably around 3 hours at the summit and at various stops too) The climb up went fairly smoothly and I started with a few light layers but and ended up discarding them as it got warmer. The further up I went I could start to feel the strain in my legs but soldiered on at my own pace, at this point in time the group (around 50 in total) was split and we were scattered up and down the mountain at various points. One of our group was a runner who completed the whole trek within 3hours but only because he stopped to check in with everyone on his way down and theirs up! The last hour or so was the hardest and every time someone went past they were like ‘not long to go only about 30mins’ I don’t know if they were trying to be encouraging and motivate people but I think they are all Liars!! When I finally got to the summit I forgot about the leg pains and the views were fantastic and it was great to see so many people up there many of whom like us were doing this for some charity or other I then had some well earned sandwiches before waiting for my wife and daughter. Finally, we set back on the trek down and I found myself way ahead of my Wife, daughter and my cousin so after finishing my water bottles and refilling them at the waterfall I decided to wait but nature (midges) had other plans and I spent the next hour or 2 being attacked by the dreaded things.
When they finally caught up we slowly started to move down together and they were very tired so we slowed down considerably and thanks to a slight shower the rocks had become very slippery so our slow pace become a snails pace.
At this point it was starting to get dark and the group kept on ringing from base camp to see where we were and thanks to bad signals and dead batteries it didn’t obstruct us to much. (when you are tired and suffering from the elements the last thing you want is someone telling you to be quick and asking how long you will be, especially when you don't know) We carried on further and about 30 mins away we met my uncle who was suffering from Jelly knees so we clubbed together and carried on slowly (at this point Mountain rescue had already been contacted but due to bad signals we weren’t able to confirm our locations).
As daylight diminished we started to use torches to see the now slippery path and finally reached back just after 11PM. So yes we did it and yes (I’m crazy) I would do it again!
________________________________________________________
This summer me and my family along with around 90 others are making the trek up Ben Nevis In order to raise funds for the RSVP UK's Nana Hospital in Rander, Surat, India.
The hospital trust was established to serve the needs of the community and provide free and low cost healthcare for people In the locality.
Alhamdulillah the hospital and trust has been running for a number of years and the running costs are funded by well wishers like you so please take a few minutes to donate what you can.
India doesn't have a healthcare system like the NHS and the costs for treatment and medications can easily run into the equivalent of hundreds of pounds so it's really important we have establishments like this to help those in need.
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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.