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Time to start (re)packing
You know it’s a reality when brown boxes arrive that say “Kilimanjaro expedition”!
It all feels very real now and my garage is beginning to look like an Everest storeroom! All the kit is perfect for this current Scottish weather and I think, with a few additions, it will be in demand when we get to the extremely high altitudes!
Final group meetings have taken place and the next stop is Edinburgh airport on the evening of the 3rd January. New year might be a bit quieter than usual methinks!
Training Kinross Style
Training is taking place but in a different style from climbing Munro’s! If this snow keeps on falling we’ll have our own Munro in the street!! Less than a month to go now and at least the base layers are doing the job! Might take my snow shovel to the top of the mountain…just in case!
Four intrepid climbs took to the Lomond Hill.
Four intrepid climbs took to the Lomond Hills on a glorious walk on the 6th November.
Alyson had already done a marathon exercise session the night before at the Kinross disco party….such moves haven’t been seen since Top of the Pops!!
The weather was perfect and so clear we were surrounded by gliders, enjoying the thermals and ideal conditions. Most of the chat was about the fine tuning of what to take to Kili and how cold it might be….we’re getting plenty of advice daily now.
It was a good chance to try out our new purchases too, we’re beginning to look like (almost) proper climbers!
69 days and counting from today…….
Piper plays on top of Lochnagar
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This was a first for the Kilimanjaro expedition! Firstly we were piped to the summit of Lochnagar by the ever energetic Billy Bell, and secondly, he provided some much welcomed fine wines for the climbers at the end! All in all it was music to our ears in every sense!
The climb covered 20 kilometers of beautiful scenery and some cliff side walks that weren’t for the faint hearted. A tremendous achievement all round and roll on the next challenge!
Pictures from team trip up Buachaille Etive Mor
Two weeks ago, the rest of the UK was sweltering in sunshine conditions while we were keeping warm wrapped in multiple base-layers!
Buachaille Etive Mor, part of Glencoe, is a great climb over two mountains (this time we meant to climb two!) and a gave us a real sense of achievement. It was tough going in some places, but the whole party finished strongly and it can only get easier, we hope.
Ben Lomond – Not all routes are equal
Twenty two of the Kilimanjaro (and support families!) expedition met up on a sunny Sunday morning at Loch Lomond to be greeted by Graham from Cameron House with ample bacon and sausage butties washed down with a juice or two.
We then started off, forgetting to look at the signpost and ended up doing the much more strenuous West route up to the top, firstly the top of Ptarmigan and then traversing onto the peak of Ben Lomond.
The last few metres were scary, scrambling up a steep rock face with the wind blowing all around! The views from the top were spectacular and as there were so many of us, some other climbers thought a bus party had arrived! A quicker descent followed down the route we should have taken, and I think all agreed, we had done the climb the right way as going down the steep side would have been pretty tricky!
After a quick look, back at base camp, at the Catering in Scotland magazine with its excellent article, some people headed off, and others went to the Boathouse at Cameron House for a fantastic informal bite to eat. Everyone had a story or two about their thoughts on Kilimanjaro….all very positive!
I bet everyone slept well on the Sunday night….ready to take on Ben Nevis next month!
Can’t Escape Kili
Just when you thought we were going to Florida on holiday, these photos prove we were actually doing a quick preview of Kilimanjaro and seeing what the terrain and conditions were like!
Definitely an intrepid journey though the jungles and rivers of deepest Tanzania! We could, of course, have just been to Animal Kingdom!!!
Ben Lomond from the air
As the Kilimanjaro expedition is climbing Ben Lomond on the 30th May, I thought I should do the honourable thing and check out the route in advance.
This involved the help of a generous friend who gave me a lift to the top! The views are stunning and the path looks okay….but easier to travel by helicopter rather than hiking!!
Something for Mr Thomson to think about!!
Ben Vorlich – Training in Perthshire
On Sunday 9th, Alan, Robert, Cathy, Val, Susan, Calvin the pooch and myself all climbed Ben Vorlich near Comrie.
This is a beautiful Munro with views all over Perthshire up to Glencoe, Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond and over to Fife. On a sunny Sunday morning the intrepid explorers made a good start and were the only ones on the mountain. Practising with base layers, power aid drinks, polo’s and my new boots, we all made good progress to the top. It started snowing briefly at the top but then cleared up quickly to return to fantastic Scottish weather. The telescopic poles were a godsend and we’ll be using them on every journey from now on!
We stopped off for an ale on return to make sure we were hydrated properly!!
Top walk and one step closer…….!
Training as a family
Living in Kinross, Jennie and I are lucky to be surrounded by some beautiful walks and hills.
Bishop Hill is turning into favourite haunt for a weekend climb with our kids. It looks like training for Kilimanjaro will keep them fit as well.
Have a look at the gallery below, the snow is just about hanging on but you can sense Spring is not far away.
