Tim's story

My name is Tim Batstone and on 20 April, I am leaving the comforts of my Oxfordshire home and heading to the Himalayas to attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth – sometime in May.

Nothing too remarkable about that, other than that I am not exactly a spring chicken. I am going to be 67 years old (with a body showing a commensurate amount of wear and tear).

If I succeed (note carefully the word if) then I will be one of only two British old age pensioners and in and around the top 10 oldest people to have reached the summit of Everest.

I don’t think I am completely deluded, having last month warmed up by climbing Aconcagua – at 7,000m the highest mountain in the Andes during which, by the way, I discovered that spending freezing nights close to the jet stream is not fun – unless of course you enjoy having your tent flipped upside down by the wind (whilst you are trying to sleep).

(Mindless) endurance challenges have always appealed to me – for example some 40 years ago I spent 70 days circumnavigating Britain on a windsurfer (earning a little mention in the Guinness Book of Records) and have since done various swimming, running, cycling and mountaineering challenges too. Everest has long been on my to do list and I am excited to have finally got round to tackling it.

Full disclosure, the preparation has been challenging physically and has exposed one or two issues – I had an injection for an inflamed ankle in November which had me on crutches for a couple of weeks and I have a meniscal tear in my knee from coming down Aconcagua (too quickly), for which I have just had (and don’t recommend!) an injection under my kneecap. I guess it’s all a reminder of why people my age don’t generally do this.

To complete the tale of woe (and the list of excuses should this go horribly wrong) a few years ago I began collapsing without warning and what started as occasional episode escalated into an almost daily occurrence. During these incidents my heart would stop so I was fitted with a pacemaker, but the problems persisted. It was only after being prescribed epilepsy medication that my seizures miraculously stopped and I haven’t had an epileptic episode for over two years now.

What better to do with a new lease of life than climb the world’s highest mountain!

Health issues aside, I am definitely giving myself the best chance of a safe and successful expedition with guide Kenton Cool – 19 Everest summits to his (apt) name – in my corner, and by the way you can follow our progress through Kenton’s Instagram account.

I shall also be taking along an extra guest – ‘HB bear’ (a reference to my company’s 100th anniversary this year). Many of you in the industry may recall my five-year legal battle with regulators over prize gaming rules, a case that ultimately reached the House of Lords. So, he is a fitting companion and will be auctioned off after the challenge to raise additional funds for the Charitable Trust.

Raising money for good causes is something I am passionate about and it has been a huge motivator in my various sporting endeavours over the years – and this will for sure be a challenge for which I will need every ounce of encouragement that I can get.

So, if anybody would like to donate something, however small, to support the great work done by the bacta Charitable Trust, I would be absolutely thrilled. It would be an additional spur to take that ‘one more little step’.

Many thanks for taking the time to read about my project… and for any contribution you may feel able to make.

Chomolungma here we come!