Ben Nevis: Walk for Nepal
Saturday the 19th May was the day of the annual PHASE Worldwide Walk for Nepal event. The Walk for Nepal event, was founded by Alex Staniforth following his experience of the 2015 Nepal earthquake during his second attempt to climb Everest. The 2018 event took place Ben Nevis – the highest mountain on the British Isles at 1345m and follows the success of the last two Walk for Nepal events (Snowdon in 2016 and Scafell Pike in 2017) raising over £27,000 in the process.
Empowering isolated communities in Nepal through integrated and sustainable programmes in health, education and livelihoods.
On a personal level, the day itself follows a series of hectic and stressful weeks, with university deadlines and exams! The event presented a logistical nightmare for me too – My final uni exam was the day before the event, at 2pm in Liverpool & registration for the event was at 7am in Fort William – approximately a 7-hour drive away!
Whilst a lengthy drive doesn’t bother me, it was more the lack of sleep & rest – I’ve been running on a around 3-4 hours sleep per night in the run up to my final exam – so I knew I was going to be one tired, but very relieved man on the day of the event! That said, when adventure calls, there is only one answer, so off I went, bouncing gleefully out of the exam hall & off up to the Scottish Highlands!
I arrived in Glencoe at 1am and hit the sack straight away, with a 6am alarm set. Whilst a 6am alarm is usually an unwelcome start to the day… opening the van door to this view was perfect!
I took a few minutes to savour the moment, remembering I was free of uni stress and off adventuring up a mountain!
(If I haven’t already told you, campervans are awesome! No hotel/B&B fath, no setting up tents… just park up wherever you want, hop out the driver’s seat & into bed!)
The day started with introductions, safety briefings, a reminder of why we were doing what we were, meeting new people & preparing ourselves for a day of adventure! By 8.30am, we were acquainted, fuelled with coffee & snacks, and off on our way up the Ben!
For several of the team, myself included, this was a first trip up Ben Nevis – so to be in the company of some very experienced mountaineers made the experience even better!
We could not have asked for a better day, with the weather conditions being nigh on perfect! Not quite bluebird, but clear, warm, slightly breezy, giving the most breath-taking views across the Scottish Highlands.
The locals say you could go up Ben Nevis 100 times and not get views like that – we were so lucky!
The day presented an incredible atmosphere on the Ben; with fantastic team spirit & encouragement from all, as we progressed towards the summit, with the knowledge that we raising money for those who need it most.
With many team members coming from different backgrounds and locations across the UK, being new to each other, along with the Mountain Leaders and locals providing useful mountaineering info & cool stories along the way, conversation was plenty.
The PHASE registration tent was decorated with flags – the like you would expect to see at Everest base camp, as well as the PHASE event organisers arranging for us all to wear Nepali flags as a show of what the event was all about. This nice touch, along with the rocky landscapes of the upper reaches of Ben Nevis, the sun beaming down on us, the large drifts of snow still present and gigantic cornices still over-hanging the north face of the Ben gave the day an almost Himalayan feel about it – especially with the ‘Ghurkas on Everest’ group also in attendance, supporting PHASE Worldwide.
At 11.56am, the group paused the ascent for a minute of applause in remembrance of the people affected by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake & show our appreciation of the energy of the people of Nepal. This was a beautiful moment, showing how much the event & charity work meant to the participants & founders.
The Gorkha earth quake occurred in Barpak, Nepal on the 25th April 2015 at 11.56am and killed nearly 9’000 people. Measuring at 7.8 on the Richter Scale, it was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 earthquake. Nearly 22’000 were injured, with 3.5 million left homeless, as well as those affected throughout the Himalayan range due to the resulting avalanches.
PHASE specialises in improving health, education services and livelihood opportunities for disadvantaged populations – with a mission to support disadvantaged communities, to provide people with opportunities and to encourage community centred and sustainable development.
The team spirit shown by the group to ensure everyone got to the top and back down was phenomenal. A special mention has to go to Gerda & Alex, who unselfishly spent 13 hours on the mountain, ensuring the last person back down did not do so alone & received an incredibly warm welcome back down at the bottom. This incredible act of selflessness was truly befitting of the day & objective of remembering those affected by the Gorkha earthquake.
Completing the event & sitting down with a beer in the Ben Nevis Inn, alongside the incredible new people I can now call friends was a brilliant moment. The event was the perfect way for me to tick off the third of the 3 national 3 peaks, meaning I’ve now completed the 3 tallest mountains in the UK!
England, Scafell Pike, 978m. Wales, Snowdon, 1085. Scotland, Ben Nevis, 1345m
Sat in the pub with a smile on my face, exchanging stories and congratulations, knowing I had completed the challenge was an ecstatic feeling & was also another step along the road to recovery from my spinal injury.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to the team from PHASE for organising such a brilliant event, the hospitality & the ongoing charity work in Nepal. Another thank you also to the Mountain Leaders, George, Simon, Dan & Andy for ensuring the safety of all participants & the useful info imparted, as well as the brilliant Ghurkas & camera crew!
‘Till the next one guys!
