G@EVEREST

Worth all the money, blood, sweat and tears.

2009-06-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

So here is the final entry.... a few weeks since we have been back but with just enough time for true reflection.

Every time someone asks me about the trip I smile and say it was awesome and really mean it. But I struggle to do the country, people, commradery, fun, toughness and sense of achievment the whole trip gave me justice, so I hope to write it and make it clear how good The Everest Test was really was.

At the beginning of the trip there really was an sense of intrepidation about a 19 day trip full of unknown questions, places and physical challenges that the 49 of us would face. For me that was so exciting and I felt as long as I didn't get altitude sickness I'd be fine. The flight over to Kathmandu was a unwelcome delay to the group getting togther as one and cracking on with the trek and so that waited until the next morning before flying out to Lukla in the mountains. From day one the weather was top draw and then we landed on the crazy 100m uphill Lukla runway in a yeti airways 14 seater to a round of applause and relief. I really liked Lukla although obviously very tourist driven and small it was quaint and relaxing. We ate some local eggs and bread and had a short wait before it was time to get the backpacks on and get the first few hours of trekking in the bag. I was a relief to get underway and we had a talk from Nir our head guide about how proud he was to have so many people come to his counrty and to be part of a world record attempt. He could not have been more gracious and welcomming to us even though he had spent months labouring for our visa's, park entries and bribing officials.

We spent the next three days waking over perfect turquoise rivers on Indiana Jones style Bridges, passed by yaks and porters in the sunshine like we were in the Swiss Alps. Oh but for the totally enormous great mountians in the distance going though the clouds with snow on. It was without a doubt the most beautiful and serene place I have walked in and with so many different people to walk and talk with it was fantastic. Highlights include a porter race, seeing Everest for the first time, wearing shorts, feeling good and suprisingly good tea house accomodation. Low lights include the onset of dihorrea in the group, Neil going back down for a night, walking into Namcha Bazaar up some seriously steep paths and steps.

The best day of the whole trip for me was when we stopped in Khumjung on day 4. The plan was to donate some gear and teach cricket to the local kids. As a kind of thanks to vice captains and others I was offered a hance to be involved as not everyone was able to help out. I had no idea how much fun it would be to teach 25 under 12 kids to field a ball, play bulldog, chuck some shapes, throw at a post and generally take pride in watching these kids smile, laugh and get involved in some excercises.

We finishd this great time at the school at lunch time and after lunch walked without packs to over 4000 metres which was a great walk full of laughs and a great view for the top. The evening topped off a packed day with a music competiton between all the teams named 'The Everest Factor' which was great fun to watch and take part in even if your tone deaf and knackered. The Tenzing boys did three songs/dances Stand by Me- Ben E King, Livin on a prayer- Bon Jovi and the New Zealand 'Haka' Maori tribal routine. All hilarious to perform and belt out. Hillary performed a quite amazingly tuneful rendition of Afternoon Delight by Air Supply which for me was a knife to our Roxbury balloon. The quite awful starting Trektators stole the show after destroying 500 miles with a collective comeback and Grease cover. A brilliant night put togther by Jamo one of my favourite people to get to know on tour and closely followed by the four doctors who adjudicated hilariously.

To be honest the middle period of days leading up to Gorak Shep was great fun as we were getting fitter and having acclimatisation days to break the pack carrying was great. We were also seeing some quite stunning scenery of the upper valley and bigger peaks like Nuptse and Amadablum (amarama-ding dong).

The other pre tour evening planned was put togther by me for my mate Kimbo's 28th Birthday and was planned to be a comedy night named 'Stand up on Dingboche'. I had asked people to prepare a joke/limmerick/song to perform in front of the group or a story about Kimbo. The following unfolded. Raps by brothers Sharland covering Bohemian Rhapsody taking the piss out of each other. MC Shark and base camp 1 performing a 'flyin high' cover EVEREST stylee. was amazing. The girls sang an Old McKimbo tale, Woodsy unflappable as ever completed the Italian man in Malta. Simmo ran through the Billy Connolly 'Mario' joke to which he and i love but not sure how the rest took it. There were great poems from Hog, Hogs Mum, Zoobs and plenty of gratutious jokes from JB, Tooves, Mark and Blinky. Chris ran the evening with his usual flair and sarcastic eye, looking back at the trip as our compare/resident comedian. It was Fantastic evening for a very tired and deflated team. Most of it planned last minute and gave the whole team time to forget everything around them and enjoy themselves. Worked well for all. Kimbo also got some cake from the porters earlier that day before an acclimatisation walk to 5000m.

The only problem I personally had faced was coming into Dingboche, Haydn the Tenzing Capt had been suffering and went straight to bed when he got in and didn't get up for an acclimatisation walk the next day. He was suffering from de-hydration and altitude sickness and was in danger of having to go down a day. Some people joked I might have to step up to the plate.... A joke suddenly hit home more than it had ever before, I would have to cut the four guys who couldn't bat or bowl, I would have to lead the team and I would have to start thinking about averything to do with getting Tenzing to win the match. Oh dear....

The next highlight after some more long days walking at a slower pace has to be rounding a final boulder corner to look upon the stretch of rocks, sand and yaks that was to be our field of play. I couldn't believe how happy I was to be at 5200m without any problems with the majority of the teams healthy. It was pure jubilation that i had not envisaged at all and must have been building for a couple of weeks, A huge sighe of relief and 100% beflief we were gonna do it washed over me!!!!

The pre match talk by Haydn was focused and very agressive as was match day preparations. The selection was horrible and Haydn and I disagreed on a couple of points but I gave him my backing and hoped the 4 guys Joe, Markby, Nick and Neil would take the hit as well as the could.

We cleared the pitch of rocks and Jamo, Mike, Nick, Kins and others laid and re-laid our eventual wicket. brought all the way from London.

After dinner the night before the game was the team announcement. I was to call people into a room to give them the thumbs up on camera with haydn having a little chat. A quite awful idea and experience for the guys and us especially when the battery ran out on Tooves and left him habging for 2mins in silence..... I hope the video diary actually makes the experience even slightly worthwhile. This experience pretty much ruined my day and the next morning as we had to hurt the drive and feelings of four great guys.

On match day we were confident enough and played ok in the field after a good start from classy Hillary opener Dave Kirtley and we pegged em back to 13o odd. A bit of a break and we were chasing needing just 6 an over and a long tail to bat with. In confident mood Haydn changed the batting line up at will and put himself and Wes higher than expected and JC and Tooves 8&9. JB got out for not much as did Blinky and we were 2 down in single figures. Mark and Wes hit some big blows and got us back on track. But both were out in the 20's and it was up to the middle order of Kimbo,Haydn and DC to steady us and keep the score board rolling. To be honest the running between the wickets was tough but not impossible but getting the ones was hard to come by and two's and three's were not possible so we were looking for big hits.. too often probably. The middle order collaspsed and we were taken to a respectable three figures by some great batting from JC and Tooves, a first ball six from me and two big hay makers from Mike at 11 but to no avail as we were all out twenty odd short.

Journey down to come.

I felt gutted and annoyed but it did subside after an hour enough for me to enjoy the world record and the well deserved Hillary win. I didn't want my competitivness to ruin my enjoyment of the moment and suceeded. It was an exhillarating and amazing evening having a few beers and champers in a tea house in Gorak Shep celebrating the highest game of competitive sport ever played. Quite emmense. Well done Kirtley and Wes for making it happen.

Go Hard or Go Home

2009-03-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Well i've been doing the lot over the past week, here goes

Sat- Slow 12 mile run with Laura (fish & chips apres)
Sun- To London for Tenzing run and nets. 2-3 mile each way with full packs and then running for two hours whilst bowling and batting. (BBQ and beers and brownies!)
Mon- Comedy night @ comedy store Picadilly was absolutely brilliant and haven't laughed for two hours like that before. (definite abs workout!!) great to see the Gahans sisters from School as well.
Tues- cycle to and from work 20 miles
Wed- Gym session (90mins), to Birmingham in the evening for Snow Patrol gig which was great and some very moving and cool songs etc. Legs a bit tired.
Thurs- horizontal all day ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Fri- Gym 2hours, swim 60 lengths and sauna

Going for a swim and sauna again in a minute and then the Bath half Marathon tomorrow........
LOVE IT feeling great, but hope there's plenty in the tank for tomorrow!! aiming for 1hr 35mins?!?!?!?!?!?
After the Tenzing nets we sat down as a full team and had a brilliant chat about all things Everest at the Blanca Casa De Dolph with Mike and Helen the hosts, muchos gracias. I love the team ethos of Tenzing and feel truly honoured and excited to be part of something so passionate and special. I have made friends for life and met people with similar attributes in a hugely fun and different atmosphere. We haven't even started the trip yet, Superb. I'm getting really pumped about this thing so get on board.

Viva la bam
Vive la vida loca
Verve de va va voom

Unit

Never been skinny, it's colder.

2009-03-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

Well, when i'm not doing 13 hour shifts cleaning the streets or sleeping i seem to be training. At least 6 days a week and on some shifts swimming lengths off nights and then hitting the sack. Laura is running 4 times a week for the Bath Half and we are just hitting the treadmill and trails regular as clockwork oranges. This has had a very strange effect on my body????
My ankles and wrists look like runners ?
I am developing the right kind of six pack?
My big thighs are less prominent and even my swede is smaller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOPE NO JOY THERE..
I am 13st 3............... I haven't been that light since about i was 15. Not complaining just don't remember ever feeling skinny. it's slightly disconcerting and hope it doesn't affect my ferocious power and roundhouse kick snap that Van-Damme taught me. Makes running a hell of a lot easier mind. Thought i'd let you know as i'm rather pleased. My ideal weight for Ironman was around this weight but thought it wouldn't happen until Nepal or beyond. I may have to watch i don't get serious issues and just disappear???
Who am I kidding my BMI is still in the overweight section for my height and I still lurve pizza and doughnuts far too much to give me any worries. Still 12stone something is a posibility for Ironman now and with the bum wee expected on Everest a distinct dream/nightmare.

Cheers fatties

Breathless cricket and Zinger time

2009-03-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

So the 5 week to lift off mark is here and the Tenzing standards are being raised in levels of fitness, cricket and chat, i'm the exception to the rule of course. Also two massive hundreds from the Everest team figure heads Andrew 'Mr T' Strauss and Alistair 'The Chef' Cook leading the way.

So to back up the beef, I had a training weekend for ten of the team at my gaff in sunny Oxfordshire. On paper I wanted to create a tired team so that when we played some cricket during nets and a mini game we would gain some insight into the pressures and dificulties of base camp.....

Paper converted to reality!!!! Mission accomplished.

A 6 mile cross country run in glorious sunshine had the boys smiling and chatting away, so i threw in some core work and excercise to shut them up and finished with some paired hill sprints. At the end they were still laughing and smiling and happy??? GIVE EM SOME MORE...

Onto a top secret location with level 9 Cobra command clearance required for a concept i called breathless cricket. Basically you run hard all the time and push yourself to exhaustion. Result, the fella's started to waver but pushed through the 4 hour session well and earned their pint and pie in the local for a great meal and social time. The highlight being saffron ice being delivered when peach melba and pistacio were murmered, something like that... see Tooves blog which is hilarious.

Some good slepp and off to the Chilterns for a romp in the hills for 5-6 hours and a good sunday roast. All best laid plans and all that, the pubs were fully booked and the hunger mood swings became apparent. Luckily Laura was on hand to save the day and find us a buffet indian and all the bhaji you could eat... satisfaction guaranteed, we ate well and finished home with some great banter and beautiful scenery. Tenzing feeling and looking strong... i'm so proud and the competition for places and the win on the mountain feeds the mind most hours of the day and hots up the training.

GET AMONGST IT,

Thanks Mr Nobody........

2009-02-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have some ideas who you are with such a massive donation (£500) but i will just say an enormous thanks for your generosity and will make you proud. Woweeeee thats awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kit Kat time

2009-02-04T11:17:00.001-08:00

Since the New Year I have upped the intensity of my training quite a bit and therefore having been eating a wee bit more!!! However Laura my girlfriend has been away for two weeks and so the slippery slope developes. Shopping on my own with no dairy free eating woman in my ear.......

KIT KAT's pack of 5, 2for the price of one...game over i'll take 4. Pizza....treat yourself G go one. Apple pie yep, cream? Double every time. Pork pies, nuts, choc chip cookies, etc etc. Suffice it to say no weight has been lost in the past fortnight.. I have been good with homemade stews and fajitas as well!! no-one buying it? Okay i'm back in the game and chocolate free until after Everest, well until that cadbury's cream egg easter advertising push when i start dreaming of a cream egg i can swim in ohHHHHHHH like living in a house sized doughnut.....yummy.

Well February is here and half a stone needs to go before April, luckily with a little effort in normally goes so cycling 70 miler tomorrow to Tunbridge Wells and will try and stop Laura's lovely Mum Glynis from spoiling her favourite future son-in-law. Meow!!!!!!!!!

My Dad has contacted family and friends about the cause and been a leg-end recently getting behind the cause so thanks Papa san. Welcome those of you new to my Blog. Thanks for your support and spread the word.

A guy at my work is doing a body building competition this summer and is currently 16st looking to put more on then cut it down lean to 13 and a half st in 10 weeks!?!?!? Hope for us all.
MANIAC

Stay away from shopping hungry, G

Rage David in Herefordshire

2009-01-25T18:20:00.001-08:00

Chums

Well 23 Everestors made it to Farmer Kinsey "BOOM BOOM" Herns chicken and apples farm in HEREFORSHIRE. 23 made it out in one piece as well.
I made it in complete leisure on Friday after travelling up with Nick Mullineaux from Oxford and we had time to take to the fields around the farm for a hour walk before checking in with Kinsey folks and arriving 4 hours arlier than expected. A great feed and catch up with the crew ensued before team sleeping in the local village hall. Anyone would think it was cold as the girls cranked the heat upto 33degrees which meant i got about 38mins sleep. Great.
So the big day arrived and events and results went something like this: -
Bleep test (3rd) very happy with this and my best test so far at level 13 in a chicken shed!!!
Caveman (8th ish) Rubbish at tossing a big stone over my head, disappointing.
As a reasonably fit guy i had been seeded in the top four for the weekend and needed some points in the strength events to cling on to the whippet runners, not a good start.
Michellin MAN: Hilarious team event in which we rolled a 5ft high tractor tyre around a 100m square course in teams of six. With a team of two girls against other teams with 1 girl we somehow won the event by a second with a photo finish and some high fives and shouting. More like it.
Team G next did a sterling job in stacking big stones on pallets game ( manual labour for the farm), we were robbed by some rule changes mid game, biased reffing and jealousy to be honest and my calm exterior and politness went AWOL as did my initial impression on new friends as i threw my toys into the sheep sh$t and started my noisy cross-examination of anyone and everyone. BULLONI. No change 3rd place and brimming with fury.
After lunch we started with the SCARECROW pushing those swiss roll style bails O'hay around a slalom stlye course. Going last i was seriously pumped about this one, started like a dream getting a head start in a one on one race with Kimi the tournament favourite and eventual winner. Turning after the slalom completed all i had to do was turn and burn it in to the end. What happened next can only be compared to a scarecrow brain fart. I hit every slalom barrier on the way back and decided to just power through which just hit the brakes on my Bail O'hay and Kiwi flew right by (film?) gutted I brought the dried grass home in 7th place when a W was well within my powers.
TUG OF WAR: Disasterous, Milo, Hog and myself would have done better standing on the rope rather than slip sliding ourselves to 3 losses and the girls were at a loss at our ineptitude and I soon lost the plot and let out somemore growls of rage.
Last up was the five mile finisher with a few hills. More like 6 miles and vertical travalators with quick sand fields. Gave it my all and then some with the tank feeling good and brought it home in third. Some great running with the top 7 guys going under 49 mins and looking strong. A good finish to a tough but very fun and productive day. Finished off with 9 pints of cider and a steak, grrrreat.

Overall i finished 11th with some email replying points on offer!!!!! When the mouse clicking was taken out I was a respectable 6th overall and therfore content ish with my labours and that my training and hard work wasn't a waste. Highlights include Tooves getting beaten by girls, Hog trying to crush himself like a worm with a big rock, our one win, the great attitude from all the girls and beef and banter from the lads. Amazingly well organised and executed from Kins and great team building weekend.

New Charity and recent news

2009-01-19T03:45:00.000-08:00

Hi

Check out the new donation site, http://www.justgiving.com/gateverest.

For those asking why Lords Taverners rather than Sport relief well its simple, LT were much more helpful and proactive for our small/unproffesional outfit, plus we are a cricketers!!!

The Lords Taverners coming on board makes the realms of possibility with the sponsorship even more exciting, England players, training at Lords, contacts, advice and full backing for our causes. We are all more than happy at them being our charity. We also welcome Mr Andrew Strauss as Tenzing team celeb Captain and mascot aka Mr Tenzing (Mr T) to the boys in the know.

The whole project is going from strength to strength and i'm getting very excited and nervous, I still give us a 70/30 chance of breaking the world record as it is going to be so unbelievably tough. But I know everyone is training their behinds off and we will need to.

Lots of training weekends coming up to fill you in on so stop by from time to time.

Thanks

November white flag.

2008-11-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

November is going to be a bit of a write off for me blog wise as i'm off to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia in a few days for the wedding of one of my closest friends Mr Tristan 'Arab' Elder to the lovely Bianca Aveling followed by a safari. Should be absolutely awesome and i can't wait.

I plan to drink and eat as moderately as possible due to Everest training but when on holiday??? The main aim is to see Tris and recharge my batteries but the plans are extensive with Table mountain a must, Victoria falls, beach flexing workouts, hippo wrestling, England rugby viewing, cheetah racing, beach cricket in Cape Town and the start of serious training on my return we shall aim to stay in shape.

I look forward to welcoming the new members of Tenzing on my return and the fight for those places has been fierce which is great and a tribute to the fella's. I will be at the meeting and events on the 5th of December in the smoke and look forward to a catch up with everyone then and renewed impetous.

Bye for now, G

Better Blogs

2008-11-04T04:11:00.000-08:00

Howdy

Six god damn posts in October, comedy, poetry (of sorts), videos, inspiration, perspiration but not in the top 3 blogs of the month. What the? Is it because i'm VC or just that Mark, Blinky and Tooves are much more witty and eloquent than I????hhhmmm.

Anywho will raise my game once again on all fronts to showcase my talents, the ultimate downhill video is coming and I can always put together some Napoleon Dynamite dance move video if i'm really struggling........

On a serious note I was in the Oxford Mail twice last week with a nice report although i got ripped at work for my over use of the word Awesome. Love that word. Well if i do over use it, so be it, but for this trip it cannot be over-used so shove it Party 4 Didcot massive.

I had a wee glance at Curry on everest and see he is at 65% of his total so if your not on the trip and reading this please donate to help me near my goal and I will do something AWESOME on the blog when 50% and 110% are hit.

I also went to an Ironman evening the other day to scare myself so much that fear will drive me to training for 30 weeks, so failure is not an option. Some great input especially for the simple stuff, they say what is essential is writing down your goals (60% of people who write down their goals achieve them) don't know where u get facts like that but will be writing mine down soon. Planning is also very important to vary and dicipline your training, mine is starting to look like a part time job but hey. Lastly its about enjoying your training, having realistic goals and looking after yourself. When training hard the rest time is where you gain your fitness so make sure you train hard then rest hard. My moto anyway.

If your not already signed up for Santa pub crawl on 13th Dec its genius, so do and i'll see you around.

IRONMAN

2008-10-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Does what it says on the tin.

I set myself the challenge of doing an Ironman before I was thirty when I started triathlon 2 years ago well with Everest and me being crazy I signed up to do it next June.

2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike and then the marathon in the South of France in Summer heat.

No Worries??

Training like a mad man starting in the new year, no parties, no booze, no distraction just training to become Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong and Heille Gebreselassie rolled into one. No under 12 hours and i'll be very happy.

2009 is a big year already...............

3 Peaks aftermath.

2008-10-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

What can I say, it wasn't meant to be. The conditions were impossible and we were told by firemen, local mountain walkers, family and everyone else that attempting 3 peaks in October was seriously tough . Our scouser driver repeatedly told us how many groups had tried and failed and that we were nuts
Well on arrival at Glasgow it was chilly and blustery and even at the foot of 1344m Ben nevis it was not apparent that the weather was going to get so treacherous. The team was positive and well prepared and we were in good spirits for the first hour and a half. It was pitch black but once on the main pathway we were moving steadily. The wind was picking up and the rain was constant and flowing off the mountains through the path.
After traversing the first part of our climb the wind picked up dramatically and was swirling around us. The wind was penetrating everyone's clothing with the wind increasing to 70-90mph and the wind chill factor was meaning every slight stop was making us cold. We pushed on for a further 45minutes but when we got to 900 metres the ground opened up and the wind was blowing us around like kites. We had 90 minutes plus to climb to the summit at best but the reality was that someone could easily be blown off the side of the path or loose there footing in the conditions and we had no chance of looking after them with everyone getting cold. So with everyone in agreement i said we needed to go bach down. I think any other decsion would have been irresponsible and it was not taken lightly. As we turned wind was into us like no-one had ever felt and it took so much energy and time to walk a short distance I was immeadiately sure it was the right decsion to turn back. At one stage we all locked arms to stop us all being blown around and Tooves ( our smallest member)could barely stand up. We were all worried and just wanted to get out of the wind asap. Coming down was seriously dangerous and the wind and rain was cutting us in two. It took us 90minutes plus to come down but with only a few slips and no injuries, I was relieved. All our gear was soaked through and we were cold to the bone.
When we had changed and warmed up we got reports Scafell and Snowdon were even worse conditions. We drove to Manchester and decided, to try any more walking was dangerous, foolhardy and not what we wanted to do the challenge for in the first place.
Unfortunately the challenge was over but we live to fight again and in fact the walking and mountains we not our victor it was the conditions. A huge thank you to the guys on the expedition for being so strong of mind and calm in the face of treacherous and barren conditions. We have gelled as a team in the face of adversity and do not take lightly to failure. We will be back.
See below for conditions and just add 800metres, a 5ft wide path and pitch darkness to understand the predicament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4aB50qNoz0

3 Peaks Inspiration

2008-10-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

Men of Tenzing against the sky,
Three peaks is here the time is nigh.
Into the breech they say, the unknown, my British wilderness,
For Everest 'a test' an opportunity to invest.

Where we go one, we go all. A team together as one,
step by step until our success has come.
A sherpa he was who never gave up,
His name in our hearts, Tenzing Norgay what up.

Onwards and upwards with wings on our heels,
Wotsits and wham bars the General eats his meals.
But on any given Sunday, but the 25th for we special few,I
nches and teamwork won't separate me from you.

Twenty four hours the world turns a day, climbing three mountains the October way.
Hillary running around school halls in time to the bleep, and surely getting; much more sleep.
I call us together new friends and old, for an intriguing story to unfold.
Drop you co*ks and grab you socks, welcome gents to the school of big rocks.

Hills, hills, hills (not u Hog, the smaller versions of mountains)

2008-10-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Basically before I did a Ten Tors 45mile expedition at school we did a week of hill sprints the week before. Although i was a whippet 17 year old I definately noticed how much it benefitted my training. So here is a video example for you to absorb or take the piss out of.
I'm very lucky this hill is 300 metres from my hacienda but for you lot in the smoke you could run up the downwards escalator 6 times at nearest tube station? or simply use a park or treadmill, failing that run up a hill. Either way its a good form of training nearer the event. I'm doing it as we have 3 Peaks next weekend. Cheeers on, G.

Rage, Bulls and News.

2008-10-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

Basically I have rage at not only missing the launch party for Everest but being made to work through the Vertigo talk in Oxford tonight. Rubbish week but hey the Bull incident made up for it.
So the morning after the Launch party I rose at 11am after and late shift ready to hit my cross country 6/7mile run hard to put a little something back for the team a personal bit of pride I thought. The weather was great and hot; the ground muddy, damp but fun and adds to the downhill slippy bits through the woods when it feels like Apocalypto?! So 20 minutes in I was running down a narrow hillside and a large bulloch with mahoosive horns came trotting into my view looking mean. It took one look at me running towards him and beelined for my soft bits. I had come through a kissing gate 60 metres back and had one option and a 60 metre head start. Basically I craped myself and moved faster than I ever have in my life backtowards safety. I half jumped and half hurdled the gate to safety and put my heart back into my chest. Unbelievable affect on my training as I sat looking backwards as I swear I could have been in the backs in rugby had I had some REAL incentive. I think the bull had given up quickly after I had craped myself but unknown to me. I shouted at him and went the long way round and missed a fastest time but felt very pumped. Good session thought i'd share it??

I have to pass on that i've had a decent response from South Today and Thames Valley news about the cause and following my progress. Great publicity and with my Sports Relief page now set up the pennies should come flying in, I hope.

Cheers for reading.

G

VC, End of season and the winter months.

2008-10-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well the big news is I have been made the Vice Captain of team Tenzing by the committee of the Everest Test, I will be there to support Haydn as the Main man. This was out of the blue for me and an utterly awesome surprise. I am well and truly inspired by the whole expedition; and how some many people have played their part and continue to help the cause. We are going from strength to strength and by adding the team captains and vices this can only help Wes and Kirt.

To be honest I am not even in the top half best cricketers in our squad and as I live outside the smoke and have very little corporate activity through work(Police) I didn't think I had much of a chance of being a leader on the expedition. But the more I'm involved and throwing my skills into the collective ring the more I realise the mammoth undertaking this trip has become and that everyones input is required. My knowledge of fitness, training, walking and the people involved togther with my teamworking are why i'm there and will now be put to the test and i want to step up my efforts.

We had a fantastic game in Sheen Park to celebrate the two teams coming togther on the field and Hillary were given a thorough drubbing by ourselves. With my Uni mate Jules being made Vice for the oppo and having him caught and bowled was a special moment!!!!! But bewteen now and when we play the game at Gorak Shep we our one expedition and I hope all 30 players make it up for the game and look forward to getting to know the Hillary lads and trektators a whole lot better.

So, the end of season is here and the winter months of training are not far away it will be getting harder but i'm confident everyone is aware of how hard our task is and that the majority are working hard to get themselves ready. Well we'll find out 3 weeks yesterday when on top of Ben Nevis at 6 in the morning.

Cheers to Wes and Kirt for the chance to be Tenzing Vice Captain. Bye for now.

End of the Summer

2008-09-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well

Could the weather and cricket have been much worse in July and August and could I care any less. On both counts NO.

Most will know about the weather but my cricket has been as ever with the Drovers cricket club and we have had a bit of a poor season and personally I have won one of the five games i have played this summer. But the best thing about it has been seeing other members of the everest family in action on the field and hearing about the hilarious kiwi team 'Your Mum's face'. Everyone is showing amazing enthusiam by organising and participating in any and all forms of training, fitness and sport for the cause. I have been inspired by this idea since conception but the team spirit and sheer application being shown by all those involved is truly AWESOME.

My latest efforts are that I have nailed down the Tenzing expedition to complete the 3PEAKS challenge and hopefully in under 24 hours. No mean feat. The expedtion consists of climbing Ben Nevis (1344m), Scafell Pike (978m) and mount Snowdon (1085m) with the 11 hours driving and October conditions thrown in to the mix. We are undertaking this on 24/25th Oct and there may well be snow in Scotland!!!!

Watch this space for tales of our efforts including probable sledging Tenzingers, frost bitten pink bits and some serious nappy rash between the thighs and cheeks. But what a treat being around the three highest peaks of the british Isles in one day with 11 other like minded old and new friends.

Until then.

Big Love. G

2008-07-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

Folks, friends, teamates, trekers, Neville and the curious, Hi.

I am Gareth Lewis and this blog is for the purpose of raising awareness for the greatest adventure expedition in the world!!

50 people, Mount Everest, 19 days, 1 World record, £250k for Comic Relief and the Himalayan Trust. Throw in a 3hour twenty20 game of cricket @ 5000 feet plus some blood seat and tears and you are somewhere near to the realisation of what is happening in APRIL 2009.

Ok this is the plan so how am i getting there?

Check out www.atestabovetherest.com for the concept and proof of this dream actually happening. Flights are booked all that’s left for me is to get the fittest I've ever been, raise a minimum of £1.5k (aiming for double at least), not to get altitude sickness and a little help from some friends and big G upstairs.

Why should you care?

The main reason is charity, the money we raise will make a difference worldwide. The Himalayan trust help Nepalese people out of some of the poorest and destitute conditions around. 30% of our total efforts will go to these people to help make a sustainable way to eat and live a realisation for years to come. The other 70% will go to Comic relief and help out poverty, sickness, drought and disease where it's needed most.

I will contact as many people as i possibly can to raise awareness of our campaign and send them to this blog as well as fundraising siyes so please check up on my progress..... it will be a rollercoaster.
Thanks for your time and be inspired and energised by this idea as it has come from one man aged 25 with a dream and passion to make a difference and I've jumped on board. You can too.