Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

The trek to Everest Base Camp was a truly amazing experience – never to be forgotten or repeated!

 

I was teamed up with three young couples, one from New York, one from Boston and one from Newfoundland. Their ages ranged from 25 to 35 years. None of us had met before, but we “gelled” as a team and all got on really well together.

 

They later confided to me that, when they first saw me, they thought I might slow down their progress, since I was old enough to be the parent of all six of them!

 

They didn’t realise that I was a veteran of The Inca Trail in Peru, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and The Milford Trek in New Zealand. Most of the time I was out there in front.

 

Early on Thursday, 28th October 2010 I reached Base Camp some 15 minutes before the next member appeared over the ridge!

 

It really wasn’t a race. Everyone has to walk at their own pace.

 

But, it’s very beneficial to have an inter-generational team. They thought, “If he can do it, so can we!” and I thought, “I’ll show these whippersnappers that age is only a number!”

 

Although Kilimanjaro is about 1000ft higher than Kala Patthar, it was much more of a “short, sharp, shock” than EBC. Kilimanjaro is an isolated volcano in the middle of the Tanzanian plain. The whole trek only took 7 days. EBC being much more remote, requires a trek of 15 days in the mountains of Nepal. It was 15 days of strenuous trekking along Sherpa tracks in the mountains.

 

These tracks connect a series of Sherpa villages all the way up to EBC. Great care is needed to avoid being pushed over the edge and down vertical drops, by trains of Yaks transporting goods between the villages.

 

It’s difficult to say which trek was the most rewarding. Both were very strenuous. EBC was probably more of an ordeal and we didn’t actually reach the mountain top. With Kilimanjaro I summitted, and for 10 minutes was the highest person on the African continent!

 

Hope you enjoy the photos on this page and thank you so much for your support.

 

John Wingrove

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I would really appreciate your generous support of my fund raising efforts in memory of Maggie Wingrove.