Day 8: Rest day, future planning and meeting new friends

Today is the 1st rest day I've had and you would think I'd be taking advantage of a long lie in bed, lots of sleep and a big hearty breakfast but instead, I had about 5 hours sleep, got up at 7am and ate a bowl of cereal and croissants (my favourite thing in the world) before washing that down with about 4 cups of tea. You would also think that I would be loving being able to not do much and just chill out but those closest to me will know that after about 2 hours (maximum probably) of having nothing to do, I tend to get a little restless and bored. I like the fact that I always want to be doing something active, I don't think it's a bad thing at all.

The weather here in Chamonix isn't the best today so I won't be doing anything touristy that requires a good view to make good use of it. Instead I decided to spend some time reading and writing and then I began going over some plans for my next adventures. Lots of investigating and pricing of trips, training and equipment. There is so much I want to do and then there is even more that I have to do in order to allow me to fulfil my future dreams.

It's always a difficult thing to decide what is next on the cards, lots of questions can be asked at this time: What should I do first? What comes next? How do I arrange that? How much will it cost? What training is involved? How much time do I have to dedicate to that? The list of questions is endless really. I don't know how other people go about making sure these questions are answered but for me I usually find it best to write things down and just work through it, kind of like a to do list of questions. But that's just me. So today I took some time to write some stuff down and give me a new list of things to answer.

After a few hours of sitting around, I had to get out. So I out on my waterproof jacket and off I went to wander in the light snow around Chamonix Centre. Not heading anywhere in particular, I just strolled and looked in some shop windows before I bumped into Ben. We decided to go for a drink to pass some time and I got to enjoy one of my favourite drinks, desperados and watch some rugby in a little pub somewhere off the main beaten track. We had a spot of lunch and then went back to the hotel as Ben had to leave for home, hope all goes safely there. So here I was again back at the hotel, just relaxing with a cuppa watching some rugby before I decided to go get showered and ready for dinner. I arranged to meet up with Simon again for a few drinks after dinner. It's always nice to have an evening plan in a new place. Beats sitting watching YouTube videos alone in the room haha.

I had dinner with the guys on the weekend ice climbing trip and got to hear some great stories and learn a little more about them all and then met simon and his friend for a drink and had a great night with some new friends.

Talking about stories,. Dan (on the ice climbing weekend course) in particular has a great story to tell, he is heading to Everest in March this year and plans to out the first red nose on the summit for comic relief. As it's not really my story to tell, it's best that he tells you himself to please go to www.everestmillion.com to check it out. I do wish him all the best of luck with it and I am sure the whole expedition will be a massive success. I look forward to following all the progress online.

S xx

A new reason to climb...

On the 7th August, I took a 3 hour start up climbing course at Edinburgh Indoor Climbing Arena (i.e Ratho) as a way to build strength, stamina and confidence in climbing and to help me toward my goals and also because I always wanted to do it. I had a great time and decided that I wanted to pursue it further and so I began to take baby steps towards achieving some routes.
Then on August 25th, my worst nightmare came true... my closest friend, my best friend, my rock, my mum, passed away and it would have been so easy to just give up but I promised her; in her last moments; that I would never give up on trying to achieve my dreams and that I would take her with me everywhere and I intend to do just that. Because as she told me once; not so long ago; she was proud of me for having the courage to follow my dreams and I was proud that she was my mum.

So Mum, I will continue to climb and chase my dreams because; just as I promised and just as e.e Cummings wrote

"I carry your heart. I carry it in my heart"

A small step for me...

After taking a couple of months to figure out my climbing/mountaineering options and where I want to begin, I have repeatedly changed my mind regarding the whole Kilimanjaro thing. This very famous peak, is every trekkers dream starting point at altitude and that is the down side in a way. It has become such a common dream among walkers that I have decided, for now, to postpone my trip. Of course, this is not to say that I will never climb it but for now, it is on hold.
I have not given up on my climbing / mountaineering dreams, instead I put my ideas and goals and dreams into perspective and came up with a starter plan.

Now with this plan in mind, I booked a winter mountaineering course with Jagged Globe today for 6 days and this week, I will be signing up for my 6 week intensive bootcamp course to kick start my training motivation. You can read about the course here: Jagged Globe - Winter Mountaineering

It is such a refreshing thing to finally take a step into the realm of your dreams and I could not have done it without the inspiration from Richard Parks. He reminded me that even in the face of our deepest fears, dreams are attainable no matter how far off they may seem. All you have to do is take the first step
You can follow Rich's 737 Challenge to climb the 7 Summits (Aconcagua, Mount Vinson, Kilimanjaro, Carstensz Pyramid, Everest, Denali & Elbrus) which are the highest mountains on each of the world's continents, and venture the last degree to The South Pole and Geographic North Pole. All against a 7 month clock here: http://www.737challenge.com/ and you can donate here: Donate

Bye for now
S xx

P.s: You can also follow Rich on Twitter and Facebook