On 9 September 1943 Colonel Hugo de Burgh (grandfather or great grandfather of the team members depending on the generation) along with around 600 other PoW escaped from Camp 49 in Northern Italy. Once outside the camp, he escaped with one other man, Capt. Reggie Phillips into the Alps and over the Monte Rosa pass (via a crevasse or two) into Switzerland. Helpfully he wrote a short journal of his journey and where they stayed along the way which we are using to try and retrace his steps (minus the crevasse hopefully!). You can read about their crazy journey here: http://www.msmtrust.org.uk/escape-stories/smugglers-way/ 

The charity that we are supporting, the Monte Sanmartino Trust, is an educational charity that was set up to support the children and grandchildren of the sometimes extremely poor and struggling Italian families who risked a lot to give clothes and food to the escaped PoWs even though they had little to spare themselves. This charity recognises their bravery and generosity in the face of adversity and assists their children and grandchildren with learning English through the provision of bursaries.

Please support our endeavour and try not to laugh too much at the envitable blisters when we return...

Christopher, Hugo, Patrick, William, Tim, Thomas, Rory and Xanthe

Many thanks to Mountain Warehouse in Banbury for equipment sponsorship