‘It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’
Edward Hilary

Jodi and I at the foot of Skiddaw

“Let’s see if we can run up that stretch of the mountain” was what came out of Jodi’s mouth whilst pointing at a very steep incline of the 3054ft Mount Skiddaw. Like a bunch of school children wanting to face the dare, we all started racing up about a 200ft stretch of Mount Skiddaw, secretly wishing we could make it to the designated point first. As we started to run I saw Joe, then Josh, closely followed by my Dad racing pass me in hope of not being the ‘loser’. After running up what felt like Kilimanjaro itself, my legs and head gave in to the challenge as my lungs felt as though they were due to collapse at any second. After stopping to take a huge (much needed) breath and being thankfully greeted by Jodi, who had also stopped running, we looked up to see Joe, Josh and Dad laughing and waiting impatiently for us to catch up. My heart beating 10 to the dozen and sweating like a woman shouldn’t be at the age of 25, all I could think was, “If I find this difficult how am I going to cope on Mount Kilimanjaro?!”. Panic started to set in. Once we caught up with the men I couldn’t help but worry about how I would make the summit of Skiddaw considering how I felt at that point on the climb. All I could hear was people around me saying “Oh how lovely is the view” whilst all I could think was “Yes it’s nice but right now I can’t quite breathe” as I looked anxiously at the steep mountain ahead of me. After about half an hour of walking (at a very slow pace), drinking about 2 litres of water and taking plenty of breaks my body felt back to normal and I was suddenly able to walk without breathing like I was about to pass out!

Family photo at the summit of Skiddaw, Lake District. From left; Me, Dad, Jodi and Joe

After about two and a half hours of climbing we made it to the summit of Skiddaw and it was at that point I thought, “What an amazing view”.  One by one we all climbed up on the cairn (a big stone marks the summit – how experienced do I sound?!) to get photographic evidence of us at the top of Skiddaw.  I was tallying up in my head my training treks…Skiddaw: tick, Snowdon: tick, three peaks of the Glyders: tick, tick, tick, Garn Fadyn: tick, Sandstone Trail: tick, Helsby Trail: tick, various long walks round Delamere Forrest: tick.  Another hike ticked off my ‘To Do’ list …what a great feeling!

Six of the Kilimanjaro team on the Glyder Cantilever, Snowdonia.

The following days in Keswick were filled with shopping for kit.  Anyone who knows me will know that when I go shopping it’s not normally walking shops that get me excited BUT lately I have to admit that going into such shops fills me with excitement! Sad I know but there is something about shopping for kit that is so much fun…even sifting through about 100 different types of women’s walking socks to find the best ones for you!!  Don’t tell anyone but I even spent about an hour sitting in the book section of Cotswold reading a book about Kilimanjaro.  By the time we came home from our lovely time in Keswick I had accumulated a ‘couple’ of other ‘bits’ for the trip such as a four season sleeping bag, a pair of waterproof and windproof gloves, a sun hat, a North Face 700 gilet (which I love and am currently wearing whilst writing this blog post), a water proof rucksack liner, a new pair of walking boots and a guide to Kilimanjaro (the one I had been reading for an hour in Cotswold as it’s great).

Testing out my new four season sleeping bag!

So far the training and the preparation for Kilimanjaro has been a mix of emotions, but there is nothing better than when you reach the summit of a mountain and look out on what I believe to be God’s creation and think “What an amazing view!”  This is something which I absolutely cannot wait for on the summit of the 19,341ft Mount Kilimanjaro especially when I know I am doing it for such an amazing and inspiring charity!