Eight charity climbers from Sark are on their
way to raising more than £12k for the Wooden Spoon.
The four women and four men, which include
Sure’s intrepid polar explorer Simon Elmont, will be taking part in
the Wooden Spoon Four Peaks Challenge next week. They will scale
Ben Nevis, Snowdon, and Carountoohill – the tallest peaks in
Scotland, Wales, and Eire – and Helvellyn, the second highest in
England.
And they will have just 48 hours to complete
the challenge, including a nearly 2,000 mile road journey.
Mr Elmont said that whilst the minimum for
taking part is £8k, the Sark Spooners had set their sights
higher.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fundraisers in Sark
in recent months, which have gone really well, and we’re also very
appreciative of the support from our corporate sponsors, Sure and
Heritage Trust,” he said.
The men’s team, Mr Elmont, Alex Magell, Pete
Guille, and Rob Boerenbeker, have tackled the challenge once
before, in 2006, when they completed it in just 13 hours.
For the women, Caragh Couldridge, Kathleen
Dewe, Joanne Godwin and Jane Armorgie, it will be a completely new
experience.
However Mr Elmont said the women had put in
some special training, which could see them finish before the
men.
“We have been mainly training on Sark, however
one of the lads and the girls have been to the Lake District to
practice in a tougher environment. I think all their climbing
training will give the ladies an advantage on the way up, but the
lads are planning to run flat out on the way down which should help
us catch-up,” he said.
“It’s all a bit of fun, and the main purpose of
the challenge is to raise money, but as with all things of this
nature there is a bit of a competitive edge. It will be interesting
to see which of us finishes first,” he said.
Last year the Four Peaks Challenge raised
£385,000 for Wooden Spoon, which provides funding for charitable
projects throughout the UK and in the Channel Islands. Around 160
people are expected to take part this year, in teams of four.
They will start on Thursday evening at the foot
of Ben Nevis, the first and highest of the four peaks they will
climb.