I decided to climb another mountain in the name of the cause. The last non metaphorical mountain I climbed was Kilimanjaro for charity, in memory of my partner, and a total of £14,000 was raised, £3000 was on the just giving page, the rest was the help of a supermarket chain in the area. I raised it for a charity that my partner Paul believed in, and supported since there conception. However, after much chasing, I never did find out what happened to the money that was raised. Who did it help? What good did it do? I think it is a terrible legacy to be left in his memory, some money that went to somewhere but no one knows where.
This year on the anniversary of his passing, I am climbing Snowdon and doing it while the eclipse is happening. There is the obvious metaphors of climbing mountains in the darkness that has such poignant relevance to the enormity of grief but to point them out would seem senseless. So I am just going to get on and do it.
There are words to describe horrible situations, but none of them will summarise my Snowdon climb. Additionally all of this was made worse but the people who almost ran up it vertically while the goats bleated from the mountain side and the snow and ice reached all extremities, they still smiled and chatted with friends. For me, like the metaphor of getting over grief, climbing snowdon was not easy. I had taken a wrong route on my way up and managed to be on the most difficult path. I realised that I would not be able to make this route and had to then move myself around the mountain edge to try and seek out a route that I may have a chance to complete. The sun was shining and I could see the path I probably should be on. After an hour, I found some comfort in being on the correct path, and just then the freezing, fine rain came in, I did at this point look up but the thick fog was blurring my vision to any higher being that was in control of this situation.
I did the rest of the climb up through the slippery rocks, rain, cold, snow under foot feeling like I was just not. People came past me and I realized that I was probably out of my depth taking up this challenge alone.
However there was this couple who had walked just on my tail from the summit walk down, (a welcoming thought even now), they must have sensed my unease at the challenge. They walked back to the car park with me, we didn’t talk all the time, we exchanged stories, had a laugh about how long it had indeed taken me but really they were just there, aware that I was in need. After what had been a deeply uncomfortable walk up, there simple kindness of keeping stride with me was one that I will never forget. So I took that as my first act of sponsorship for my Snowdon challenge. #sponsorkindness