Hi all.

The challenge is now complete and was not without personal suffering.

The updated details are below.

We would like to say a big huge THANK YOU to all who have supported and sponsored us to help the Alzhiemer's society.

We are keeping this website open for a little bit longer for those who may still wish to make a donation.

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Debbie and David must be one sandwich short of a picnic.

We are challenging ourselves to climb THREE AND A HALF PEAKS in one month.

1st peak Snowdon. Highest mountain in Wales. @ 1086 metres. Week 22- 26 August 2011.

Completed on 23rd. Up and back in 3:59.

One down two to go.

2nd peak Ben Nevis(Mountain with it's head in the clouds). Highest mountain in the United Kingdom. @ 1344 metres. Week 5 -9 Sept 2011

6th September : After big boys breakfast off to mountain. The Nevis visitors centre's advise was "strong winds and hail made climb very difficult and not for the faint hearted". We set off up Nevis understanding that we had one more day to attempt the climb if it proved dangerous. After pushing on through high wind and sheet rain we arrived at just over 1700ft. The climb after 1700 is extremely exposed. We were faced with 70mph winds and driving hail which stung when it hit you. The wind was so strong it was hard to stand let alone negotiate a rocky climb. At this stage the wind ripped my waterproof cover off my back pack. (We think it is now being worn by a sheep).Obviously descretion being the better part of valor we headed back down for a lovely bowl of soup and a bath.

7th September: Nice big boys breakfast again: Visitors centre promised slightly improved conditions and sold me a nice new cover for my back pack. Off we set not quite as enthusiastically as we had already done half the mountain yesterday and our legs were not so fresh. The conditions were much improved and we only had to put up with rain and 30mph winds. At 2000ft the sun paid us a short visit. (No sign of the lost back pack cover or the sheep wearing it). At 3000ft we disappeared into the clouds and the temperature dropped lik a stone. We pressed on the hard climbing keeping our body temperature up. After flooging on over rough rocky terrain with very low visibility out of the mist came a small monolith WE HAD MADE IT although we wouldn't have known if it wasn't for the trig point as visibility was rubbish. We paused for our celebratery sandwich and promptly froze! Teeth chattering body shivering we slung on our back packs headed back down to warmer conditions. We came out of the clouds, the sun came out to greet us followed quickly after by the rain. The climb down seemed to have more steps than the climb up but at the end was a lovely hot chocolate followed by a bath. ( mmmmm !!) 

Completed on 7th. 10 miles Up and back in 5:45.

Two down One massive one to go.

 

 3rd and a half peak Kilimanjaro. Highest free standing mountain in the world. @ 5895 metres. Week 19 - 23 Sept 2011.

Kilimanjarocompleted. An account by Debbie & David

 

Day 1: Machame Route: 17 Sept 2011: Start 07:30: Distance 18km: Trek Time 5hrs

After getting to the national park gate we collected 70 porters and waited 1.5hrs for the African administration to authorise our climb.

At 09:42 we set off on the first leg.

We travelled through the Cloud (rain) Forest which was spooky and lived up to its reputation and rained on us all day.

The terrain was muddy but easy going and we trekked from 1800m to 3100m.

 

Day 2: Shira Caves: 18 Sept 2011: Start 07:30: Distance 9km: Trek Time 6hrs

Out of rain forest and on to rough and rocky terrain. Harder and slower but dry. Trekked from 3100m to 3800m. Feeling the effects of altitude today headache etc Deb and I ok but at least two of party suffering.

 

Day 3: Barranco: 19 Sept 2011: Start 07:50: Distance 15km: Trek Time 10hrs

Trek high, camp low that’s the theory. Heading up to 4600m over high moor land. Trek not to hard but altitude took its toll. Lot’s feeling effects. At 4460m Debbie suffered from sickness, headache, dizziness and vomited. At this stage we joined the group heading down to camp. This still took 4hrs which was tough for all not feeling well. After setting up camp Debbie took lots of tablets and went straight to bed.

 

Day 4: Karanga: 20 Sept 2011: Start 07:00: Distance 10Km: Trek Time 5hrs

Debbie woke feeling bright as a button which was good as today we had to climb the Barranco wall.

The climb was long, hard and steep in fact it was a full hands and knees climb with lots of helping each other up the rock face. The terrain is getting rockier and camping more and more difficult as there is no level ground and no space without rocks and boulders.

 

Day 5: Barafu: 21 Sept 2011: Start 08:45: Distance 10km: Trek Time 3hrs

Lie in this morning as tonight is the big push. Gentle trek across desolate scree slopes, no vegetation.

Arrive at 4600m and tried to rest. Camp set up on slope of 30deg. Rest difficult as sleeping bag slip’s down mountain. Start to gear up at 23:00 for 24:00 off. Camp left in place in case you have to be assisted down.

 

Day 6: Summit: 22 Sept 2011: Start 00:00 Distance 20km: Trek to summit Time 7.5hrs Trek to Camp 3hrs

Very hard climb over rocks and scree utilising head torch light. Temperature -12deg with wind chill -20deg.

Water camel backs froze after 2hrs had water from porters. Not many rest stops as too cold. At over 5000m Debbie was in drifting state (their but not really). I was totally wiped out. The sun was due to come up at 05:30 and the darkest time was definitely before the dawn. About 04:00 Debbie was checked by the trek leader as he was concerned and considered sending her down. At this point I would have been glad to have been sent down. Luckily it was decided to let her carry on. We were in hell but the sun came to help and the light and warmth gave us just enough to make it to Stella point 5750m. After a brief respite we pushed on to Uhura point 5896m THE SUMMIT. We both looked like death warmed up so after a very brief picture the doctor advised us to go straight down. We were hurried down along with a number of our group aided by some porters.

After arriving at camp we had half an hour rest and then had to eat and pack up camp in order to trek down to a lower camp at 3900m. This was another 2 hour stumble. Then Set up camp, eat and bed.

 

Day 7: Down: 23 Sept 2011: Start 08:30: Distance 10km Trek Time 2.5hrs

Decent took us back over some scree and into Cloud Forest which once again rained on us quite hard.

The steps and mud were fairly slippery but manageable. Arrived at gate, completed park formalities and had a beer still in a bit of a daze about the whole experience.        

We are often involved in events for charity. We don't usually ask for support, but this challenge is a monster.

20% of all who attempt Kilimanjaro never make the top, and even worse, Debbie won't be able to do her hair for a week !!!!  

We will be attempting this lunacy on behalf of the Alzheimer's Society so all those forgetful guys would be grateful for your donations.

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 donat