The Everest Blog
The Everest Blog
1 Week To Go-go.... - March 17th 2006
This week I finished my training which was actually a pretty beautiful feeling. It started on August 28th last year. It has been a long slog but I come to the end of it feeling fit (if I wasn't now might be a good time to start asking some serious questions) and also, importantly, with no injuries or strains. This is always a risk in hard training and could be disastrous in the last weeks before a climb and you tend to become a bit paranoid about it.
Anyway I have survived and am ready to go. The only casualty has sadly been my i-Pod, aka Frank (I know - it's complicated!), who has chosen this moment to die. Probably the inevitable result of bearing the burden of being "my only friend" for the past 6 months of this torture. After all there are only so many times that you can be dragged up a flight of 400 steps playing 'Debaser' by The Pixies....
Guinness is good for you!
From now until I go it's about getting totally focused on what I am going to do (Oh Baby!) and, much more fun, doing some serious eating and drinking so I don't think about what I am going to do.
Weight loss is a big issue in high altitude climbing as once you get above 5,000 m, your body doesn't process food well and as a result starts to consume firstly it's fat reserves and then when it has eaten that its starts on the muscle mass. Serious weight loss is an inevitable by-product of spending a couple of months on a mountain such as Everest and if not controlled can cause you to be too weak to make a serious summit attempt at the end.
Now I am pretty skinny at the best of times so really if I can go with a bit of extra weight it is for the best. To get this way I just need to eat a lot and more importantly drink as much Guinness as I can get my hands on...as their old marketing slogan used to go, it is good for you.in situations like this!
This part of my 'training' started pretty well two weekends ago at Keith Breslauer's 40th birthday party. Keith Breslauer runs Patron Capital. We did a great deal together on an office building in Milan a few years back becoming good friends in the process. He is passionate about everything to do with the mountains, is an excellent off-piste skier and also an accomplished alpine climber. Every year he hosts a hard-core ski-weekend around some of the best off-piste skiing and climbing that Chamonix offers. As I was in my pre-climb 'no-injuries please, I'm being a wimp' state this was a good opportunity for me to eat lots of his birthday cake and tuck in to the black stuff. Luckily my old partner in crime Reno 'don't call me fat until you have seen me ski the moguls' Cardiff from our Barcelona office was there to show me the way. Within the clinically controlled conditions of 'Le Pub' on Chamonix High Street I put on at least a kilo in record time.
I have got my sister and some other friends coming down this last weekend to see me off and I am sure that will offer some more weight gain potential. At this point in my blog, it is useful to introduce my sister because if you think an attraction to extreme sports is genetic you can check out her website for proof. Jane is one of the quickest female racing drivers in England at the moment - have a look at her website on www.mutleyracing.com. This will also explain the origin of one of the stranger badges on my North Face down suit.
Schools Around The World is go.
One of the best things of the last few days has been that our charity initiative, Schools Around The World seems to be really getting some momentum. The UK Charities Commission have now registered it as an official charity, donations are coming in from both clients and colleagues for the Charity on the back of interest in the climb, and other Cushman & Wakefield people are now organising their own events to raise further funds. This is essential for the Charity's future growth and development.
Of these the 'Everest Base Camp Trek' is now a reality. Simon 'don't call me fat until you have seen me play squash' O'Reilly has done a great job assembling a small but elite group of trekkers which consists of himself, Tad 'will I need an ice axe?' Shay, a former partner of Patron Capital, Reno 'I'm off the Marlboros for this' Cardiff, and Matteo 'I'm much younger and better looking than those old guys' Monteverdi from our Milan office. Matteo's presence has been deemed essential to put some Italian culture and style into the group and to keep the alarming strain of Irish heritage present in the other three from running completely amok in Nepal. They should arrive at EBC just as I am getting ready for a summit attempt and have already told me that they will be blocking all exit routes down the valley should I be having second thoughts. Seriously though I thank them all for their support and commitment to this project.
In addition to the EBC Trek, other Schools Around The World events now being organised include Eric Van Dyck and Paul Brouwers from our Brussels office undertaking a charity run in Brugge on 7th May, Eric Van Leuven and his team doing a mini marathon in Lisbon on 25th March, Johnny Hallett and the team from Czech Republic doing the Prague half marathon on 1st April, and Oriol Barrachina from Barcelona doing the marathon on 26th March. All are doing so to raise money and awareness for Schools Around The World. I really believe that with Schools Around The World we can make a difference and it is only by everyone getting involved that we will truely do so.
Don't just spectate, participate!
The Ol' Training Blues.. - February 19th 2006
