Last Sunday thought I’d do some training this time so I prepared once again for Roseberry Topping. There was nothing stopping me now. My boots on, my back pack fully loaded with enough water to last several days, hat, gloves, even thermal underwear. No matter how prepared I thought I was, nothing prepared me for the amazing sight of Roseberry Topping completely white from head to toe covered in snow. I was excited to rise to the challenge as I pulled into the car park. Open the door and fall flat on my behind! I stepped onto ice! Well fancy that, it’s not mud today it’s ice. Oh yes, how could have I thought so confidently that this time would be different than the last time? There was mud alright, under the several inches of ice! Where there was no ice, there was enough snow to make an army of snow men. I couldn’t believe my luck. Of course my boots were great, I just needed crampons!
There was some comfort in not being the only one falling over every few feet and there certainly in not being the only one sliding down the path on my behind. You will be glad to know I was not one of the many people who turned around and I did get to the top, had my very quick lunch again and made my way down. I was cold, very wet and tired, hard work trudging through the snow and glad to be back in my car.
I can’t imagine what I will find the third time I try Roseberry Topping. My experiences so far have been discovering unexpected mud avalanches, or waist deep snow! Oh, I don’t know, maybe next time aliens have landed there and are waiting to snatch us up or some unknown tropical insects has taken it over and decided to reproduce by the millions and make Roseberry their home. I’ll wait and see ….
Guest speaker!
I am delighted to tell you about my experience as guest speaker at West Park School this week. On Tuesday morning just before assembly I was invited to talk to the students, Teachers and Head Teacher about my charity challenge. I presented a short 10 minute slide show telling them all about the mountain, where it was, how high it was, what sort of animals live there and of course about UNICEF. I asked the students if they would like to come to school one day of this week and instead of wearing a uniform they could pay £1 to come dressed casual and all their money would go towards our target of £3000 for UNICEF. They were a fabulous audience and they were all excited to help me with donations. I felt rather proud to be part of this school (my two daughters Natalia and Sofia attend this school) and very supported by all the lovely faces staring back at me and that’s the best feeling ever. It’s moments like this that really keep you going on with the challenge, even before I get to Africa, even before I’ve seen the mountain. It left me feeling on top of the world.
Palma
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