Everest: A Sort Of Homecoming

With 100 days left before the expedition departs for Everest I am on my way to South Wales to get some more time on the hills.  The routes I had planned included the 10 mile walk in the Brecon Beacons taking in Corn Du, Pen-y-Fan and Cribyn before moving east to the Black Mountains to a walk up around the Grwyne Fawr Reservoir and then up to Waun Fach and Pen-y-Gadair Fawr.  The Black Mountains walk in particular was one of my favourites and despite my legs aching on the second day it felt like a sort of homecoming.

I had walked these routes many times between 1996 & 1999 as a member of the Southampton University Royal Naval Unit and usually completed them without breaking a sweat, or at least only sweating out the rum from the night before.  I was much fitter then, weighing in at around 14 stone and my knees had a great deal less mileage on them.  The reality is that, since then, multiple injuries from rugby, climbing, training and quad bike crashes have taken their toll and these same routes take a great deal more effort and commitment than back then.

Day one saw a steep ascent to the ridge at Graig Fan Ddu which certainly gave a short sharp reminder of why indulgence at Christmas is not the bright idea it seemed at the time.  Once up on the ridge however the route moves gently along until you reach the top of Corn Du with spectacular views back down the valley.  The “motorway” up the side of Pen-y-Fan is short and steep but once at the summit (886m) you are treated to, in my opinion at least, the best views in South Wales.

The path down from the summit is steep and seemingly relentless and the view from the bottom back up to Cribyn is certainly more than a little morale sapping.  That being said the views from the top of Cribyn are pretty special and the summit doesn’t tend to get anything like as crowded as Pen-y-Fan meaning you can stop and enjoy the moment.  From there it was a short stroll down the ridge before descending back down to the reservoir and the car park beyond.

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Day two was a shorter route, roughly six miles, and took us up the Waun Fach the highest peak in the Black Mountains at 810m.  It was a beautiful day and despite the frost and ice along the ridges the views were once again incredible.  We were fortunate in our choice of days as looking west to where we had been on day one the peaks around Pen-y-Fan were shrouded in low cloud and the visibility would have been very poor if we had been walking on them that day.

The ascent up Waun Fach was hard work before the much easier leg along the familiar and perpetually boggy ridge to the prominent cairn at Pen-y-Gadair Fawr.  It was the descent through the forestry plantations to the car park that was hardest on the knees however and in hindsight a longer, gentler route down would have been a good idea.

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It was nice to reminisce over the few days, sharing a part of my past with my wife that she had previously not seen .  It certainly felt good to get out walking after a busy and boozy Christmas and clear all the cobwebs from the lungs.  It also served as a reminder that I am not fit enough and that if I don’t lose a lot more weight my body is probably not going to be able to cope with the stresses of walking at that altitude.  My right knee is swollen and stiff and I suspect the previous ligament tears and cartilage damage are flaring up as my knees take a battering.  The walking poles seem to help by reducing the load on my legs but I suspect the only way I can really keep them in shape long enough to play on Everest is to shed the pounds.  I see a lot of big pink smarties in my future.

I am still waiting for my report from the altitude centre following the altitude testing I did just before Christmas and I am just hoping it doesn’t pick up any potential banana skins because, being frank, I don’t need anymore hurdles at this point as the reality of the challenge I have set myself starts to sink in.

I may not actually get fit enough to succeed which is difficult to grasp if I am honest.  I am a lot more confident of my ability to raise the £10,000 sponsorship for the charity than I am of playing any meaningful part in the expedition and that is what is hard to admit to myself.  I guess that in the greater scheme of things this is not the worst scenario as the real aim of this expedition is to help Wooden Spoon raise the funds they need to improve the lives of disabled and disadvantaged kids in the UK and Nepal through rugby.  However, It would be rather nice to dial the clock back a bit though and have a decent run out, especially as it does happen to be at 6500m.