Tim's story

My name is Tim Batstone and in 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 the top 10 oldest people full stop (according to google), who have reached the summit of Everest.

I am not completely deluded, having last month warmed up by climbing Aconcagua – at nearly 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 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 training has been challenging physically and has exposed one or two issues – I had an injection for an inflamed foot in November which had me walking on crutches for a couple of weeks and one of my knees is not playing ball at the moment. I guess it’s a reminder of why people my age generally don’t do this!

In any event, I feel that I am giving myself the best chance with the 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.

As well as fulfilling a lifelong ambition this project gives me a fantastic opportunity to raise money for great causes, something that 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 scrap of encouragement I can get.

As a former President, Trustee and very long time member of the Association I have a strong personal connection with BACTA and it would mean a great deal to me to be able to help raise money for the Charitable Trust with any sponsorships that members felt able to support me with..

Any contributions however small would be hugely appreciated… Further, if you have any friends or contacts who you think might also like to support the cause, then please do share the link.

Many thanks for taking the time to read about my project … and for any donation you feel able to give. Every penny will help encourage me to take that ‘one more step’.

Chomolungma here we come!