It is a year to the day since I played rugby on Mount Everest and to say things are a little different would be an understatement. A sense of immense freedom walking in the vastness of the Himalaya has been replaced by the confines of my house and garden mitigated only by my rapidly diminishing wine cellar.
We are still waiting for the official ratification from GWR regarding the full contact match played at 6331m but you can see the record for the highest ever game of touch by clicking here
The only thing that has remained constant is the vast amounts of daily abuse dished out on the Everest Rugby Crew Whatsapp group. Dark humour is certainly a recurring theme with Jay “They come in the night” O’Malley being a regular victim. For those who are unaware Jay got pretty seriously ill at Advanced Base Camp and was medically evacuated off the mountain by Yak to base camp and then over the border to Nepal where he stayed in hospital for over a month before being allowed to fly back to the UK. In the usual manner we all took the piss rather than offer any sympathy and I was particularly proud of the care package we sent him comprising of a genuine life size medical teaching model of the human lung, a game called “Where’s my Yak?” and a case of Tenzing energy drink. The jokes and humour were, of course, a none-to-subtle cover for genuine love and concern for a member of our party who we nearly left on the mountain.
The full story of Jay’s journey was first publicly recounted at the “Captain’s Fundraising Lunch” by the ever tactful Ollie Phillips. The event was a fundraiser for Wooden Spoon and most of the team, including Jay who had recently left hospital on what turned out to be day release, had made the trip to London. Ollie gave a fairly descriptive account of the whole event conjuring up, for the audience, a vivid image of how serious it had all been. I was laughing because I happened to be watching Jay’s long suffering wife Becky as it became increasingly apparent that Jay had left a few of the “details” out of his story when he got home. That would have been the worst moment of the day had Robin Callaway not come up with some slightly questionable uses for gaffa tape later that evening.
We try and catch up as often as possible but the two big formal reunions at the “Everest Documentary Screening” and the Drinks Reception with Princess Anne in The House Of Lords were the closest we have come to getting the whole band back together. Of course this led to the usual missed trains, stolen artifacts, drinking marathons and nudity for which we have become famous.
Matt Franklin is getting married this year and I think pretty much everyone, global pandemic permitting, is going to be there to celebrate with him and his lovely lady if only to hear him knocking out a few songs on his guitar.
Ackers, Jordy and I met for dinner before Christmas, in what became the basis for “The Naughty Boys Supper Club” and I cannot remember the last time I laughed like that . More importantly Ackers learnt a valuable lesson regarding online hotel bookings, time zones and dates that evening and Jordy learnt that queuing doesn’t always get you into a night club.
A lot of the gang are still fund raising for charities with Jon Ingarfield aiming for a triple triple challenge (three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales) at some point this year to finish his fundraising for Wooden Spoon and I think he will be joined on various legs of the trip by a familiar collection of reprobates, gentlefolk and perverts. For more details of Jon’s endeavours please click here and please support him if you can!
I have hard rumours that Roger Davies and Paul Jordan are planning on swimming the channel. This may of course be a drunken attempt at breaching social distancing rules and escaping the lockdown but in any case I have declined to participate for fear of being harpooned by a rogue whaling vessel attracted inevitably by my “is he swimming or drowning” style of doggy paddle.
Ollie Phillips, the Chief Vacations Officer at PWC, is probably planning on swimming to Fiji, playing rugby in a minefield or some other such nonsense this year as well as becoming a father for the second time. Apparently the CEO of PWC and Ollie’s lovely wife Lou are delighted to find that a Global Pandemic is pretty much the only thing that will keep him in the country for any extended period of time.
We’ve discussed where we can go from here with regards to a fundraising challenge for Wooden Spoon and the problem is how do you top Everest? Having played rugby at The North Pole four years ago the obvious choice is to replicate that at The South Pole but the logistical, financial, ethical and time considerations to achieve that make it exceptionally difficult. I have been floating the idea of undertaking charity work, with a rugby element, with some of the children orphaned by war in Syria with some of the gang and the response has been pretty good although tempered slightly by comments like “The FCO advise against all travel to Syria. British nationals in Syria should leave by any practical means.” A bit negative if you ask me.
I’ve been in a few “interesting places” as Roger Davies would no doubt put it but I think an active war-zone without a Commando or two in tow might be a little risky. Maybe one for the future but I think helping rebuild the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children in one of the places most devastated by war is something I would like to be involved with.
As I think about how my life has changed over the last 18 months both from the Everest Challenge and the global disaster currently unfolding around us I remember how lucky we all were to be involved in such a monumental feat and that all of us came back safely to our loved ones and families.
Two things are absolutely certain: I need a new challenge and it has to involve as many of the lunatics, idiots, saints and sinners that were with me on Everest.
P.S. I hadn’t realised I was a such a draw for the Ealing Times as I live about 50 miles away from Ealing but was delighted to find they ran an article “Dean hopes to slim down ahead of Everest rugby challenge” the other day – you can read it, including all the nice things I definitely never said, by clicking here
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