Well folks this is it, i have come to the end, the culmination of a years work and training, I still cant believe its over and gone. feels a little like Christmas, a huge amount of preparation, and bang its gone!! Strange but in a strange way I miss it. ( have I just written that in black and white!!) well they the men in whites coats will be hammering on the door in a moment! So I am going to try and tell about the last couple of days, the last climb and the most ridiculous thing I have ever done, well apart from not being able to decide which colour car I wanted so I bought both! We got to the last camp before the summit late morning, seemed like we were perched on the edge of a cliff, Laura and Gigantic John had what seemed to be the Penthouse, making Laura the Queen of all she surveyed!! We were to have lunch, then talk about our kit that nights summit trek, to be honest the thought terrified me and if someone had said, oh look a lovely Helicopter i would of whipped out my gold card and hoped on!! It seems like always AJ would tell us what we needed to carry along with what to wear, warmth seemed to be order of the day, along with of course our Windy Breaker Trousers!! Which had become standard joke and standard wear, inner gloves, outer gloves, long johns which by day 3 seemed to of welded them selves to my body, plus inner socks and yes you guessed outer socks, balaclava, hat with ear muffs, scarf 2 jackets, fleece, zip up fleece, ruck sack, another bloody 3 litres of water, a head torch, the obligatory snacks and yes my walking poles, which of course I would need because I looked like a Marsh Mallow and in fact could barely move, oh all this joy to come once we got up for breakfast at 11 p.m yes seriously porridge at 11 pm, that would take some doing. So into our tents we went i decided that going to bed pretty much fully dressed would actually be the way forward. I did sleep in fits but I guess I was nervous, well to be frank I was crapping myself, the thought of getting my lets be honest less than fully operational legs. Stuart on the other hand did sleep, and so did the mystery snorer. 11 pm on the side of a bloody mountain I can tell you its bloody cold, as we all emerged for breakfast, all having it seems the same expression, that of a slightly bewildered zombie,It appears the days had taken there toll and the once glamorous group and looking more like Stig of the Dump we dragged our sorry backsides in for breakfast only to find a chirpy AJ and the boys, this was the point I could of squarely punched him in the chops!! I am not violent in fact the only time I used force was the prize a very determined laddies fingers from around a pair of Jimmys in Selfridges, I did her a favour that day. Hannah and Catherine had been feeling rough as so I was thrilled to see them both, even if I did get a withering look from Catherine. All the boys seemed keen to get cracking, Tam, Stuart, Mark, Chris, Andrew, Phil, John and Rory, still with amazing hair. The girls a little more reserved, the sister Rachel and Vicky, the girls Georgia and Keira, Laura, Olivia and George, Rachel look fairly Glam, Tina was quiet, and of course Cat and Kristina were still cracking jokes. We set off in the dark looking like an illuminated snake winding its way up the mountain. Unfortunately we lost Hannah to vile sickness about quarter the way up, and she was forced to return to camp. At this point I want to swear, because I was struggling so much just to put one foot in front of the other. Should I continue or should I return to? Some of the others told me it would be what Hannah would want, but, even so I was torn, but then i thought the reality is I am never going to do this again. ( and I mean that!!) Tam was awesome and kept me going, not that I knew much about it. I do remember stopping a couple of times and thinking Jesus if I stop I am never going to get these old legs going again. I pulled George my porter to one side and said to him, if we stop again we are going to just keep going, he smiled as he always did, probably thinking crazy English muppet, he wasnt far wrong. so when we stopped next time, I decided I was off, head down I went for it. The last thing I was really conscious of was firstly Rachel shouting go Simon, then Cat shouting open your mouth as she shoved a dextros sweet in, as I went past, so a belated thanks girls xxx. i have no idea how or why but all I wanted to do was get to the bloody top. Soon George and I were alone, in the dark plodding our way pole pole ( slowly slowly) up the mountain, I did tell George that he had to shout or do what ever to get me to the summit. Many passed us, and we passed many, sippy sippy ( thats drinking) all the way. Many many times I said that was it, no bloody more, I quit, or just get me off this bloody mountain, each time George would say get your ass going!!! We joked I think mostly at my expense, I told how come I had not been given a name, like Catherine who was Mamma Africa, and I think thats where Mr Kilimanjaro came from, I think anyway. George wanted us to get to summit as the sun broke through the clouds, I kinda thought there was more chance of me becoming 007!! God!! and I believe I did call on him several times. This was so freaking tough I am sure I was literally putting one foot in front of the other. With about 50 meters to go I do remember George having to really get after me, I may of sworn I am guessing he did, I just was finished nothing in the tank so I thought. A lovely group of Italians who were at the top and had passed me, saw me and added there encouragement, it helped that and the fact I wanted to actually throw George off the bloody peak!! So as you can see I made it I cant tell you the feelings that rushed through me, but shit did I cry, hugged everyone I saw, man alive the feeling, the rush, the buzz and oh how I wanted a bloody glass of bubbles, but no torture me some more Black Tea, and a muffin!! The next thing I saw was Mark as he reached me he said tongue in cheek, ( you are the last bloody person I expected to see up here) to be honest I myself have very little idea how I got there, all i know I could not of done it without the amazing group of people that helped me. Oh and surprise still know BLOODY WAITEROSE!!!!!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:38:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015