We competed in the PDG as planned on 21st April. I just wanted to say thanks again for the sponsorship, unfortunately about 400m below the top of Tete Blanche and between checkpoints one of my team mates became ill and we had to take him down to the closest checkpoint where he was taken to hospital by helicopter. Sounds more dramatic than it was and he is fine now. Me and my other teammate were allowed to continue but by the time we arrived at the top at 0600 it was too late to meet the 0630 deadline in Arollo so we had to stop in Arolla which was very frustrating but one of those things. It was always going to be very difficult to get to Arolla (half way) in 6h30m so with this problem it just wasn't possible.

Helen's team finished in 8hrs 39minutes, it was very hot and lots of teams had problems with heat exhaustion, so it made the race physically very draining, she was exhausted but very happy, it is a great achievment.

Thank you again for the sponsorship. It is a small charity and will benefit greatly from every donation.

Roger & Helen.

The Patrouille des Glaciers (PDG) is a ski mountaineering race which is organised every two years by the Swiss Army from Zermatt through Verbier to Arolla and takes around 16 hours to complete.   

We would like to use this opportunity to raise funds for a Kenyan based charity called the Ol Malo Trust  (www.olmalo.org) This trust is involved in helping the local Samburu people by organising various activities including medical projects to provide basic healthcare, eye camps to prevent blindness, building nurseries to educate the children and providing a clean reliable supply of water. 

Helen and I have paid all the costs for entering the race so therefore every penny donated goes to the trust. 

To give you an idea of what your donation could buy – the cost of purchasing 1 cooking pot for a school to fee 100 children will cost £13.50.  One eye operation costs £135.  One prosthetic limb costs £340.  The cost of tapping clean spring water costs £1,010.  So every donation will go towards helping the Samburu people who were caught up in the worst drought in living memory a few years ago when they lost most of their cattle and therefore the major part of their livelihood.

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.