Creating New Horizons

Hi there,

Well, this is my first blog post and it seems fitting that whilst I was off on a challenge to raise funds my new site was being created ready for my return. So this posting will be totally free from business activities and will get my blog off to a fantastic start by recording some great news.

Tired and dusty and exhilarated I’ve completed the challenge to trek to the top of Mount Vesuvius, Mount Stromboli, and Mount Etna over a five day period. It has been a privilege to trek with such a diverse and stimulating group of people, all motivated to assist a terrific cause – The Meningitis Trust.

We achieved our mission, and what a challenge it was! Vesuvius was the first and ‘easy’ one and got us into our stride with a fabulous ascent of this massively destructive volcano. It is amazing to see the damage and hideous destruction caused in Pompeii, which we looked at prior to our ascent. The volcanic ash was 20 metres deep in parts of Pompeii; it seemed inconceivable that such a huge amount of ash and volcanic material could have landed on the town from such a distance when looking at Vesuvius from the township. We trekked up the mountain through the forest and on to the volcano where we could see the differing coloured lava and ash still remaining. We were advised that this is a dormant volcano – long may it remain so.

Our next challenge was the trek up Stromboli. We got to the island following a hydrofoil journey from Sicily and it looked like the perfect volcano – straight out of the sea and a perfect cone shape, also with the characteristic cloud over the top. We started the climb pretty much as soon as we landed in the late afternoon. Even then the temperature of the day was still hot. We needed to drink large amounts of water to quench our thirst and to replenish the fluid level in our bodies, and clear the ever increasing dust levels. We reached the crater rim at about 8.30pm when it was dark to see a spectacular show of pyrotechnics. We had to put crash helmets on to ensure that any volcanic rock and lava that was thrown up did not hit us – not sure what use a hard hat was to red hot rock, but there had been no accidents so it was probably better not to ask! It was amazing to sit on the crater edge looking at the red lava bubbling away in the craters we could see. Periodically each crater would erupt into life and huge showers of red molten lava was blown into the sky. Very spectacular – also rather unnerving. We came down by sliding down in the ash from the volcano. It was like sliding down a sand dune except there was about 3000 feet to go – the dust made visibility very poor and our head torches struggled through the low visibility. We got back down to sea level, and the restaurant in time for a very, very late dinner which was well earned, and the first cold beer was wonderful.

Our next and final challenge took us to Mount Etna. This is a dramatically higher volcano with its peak at 3,300 metres which is a little over 11,000 feet. I hasten to add we did not climb the whole distance as we were transported by bus and then a very tough four wheel drive vehicle taking us well up the mountain. This was extremely well appreciated as the final ascent to the crater was an interesting challenge in itself. Visibility was poor, primarily because of the sulphur fumes billowing out from the crater which reduced our visibility and made it very difficult to breathe. Safety was clearly a factor throughout the challenge no more so than on this final volcano. Once we had celebrated our success on ‘peaking’ the final volcano we then started our descent which through volcanic debris, again a sliding and difficult descent of about 4500 feet. It was an amazing experience.







Mount Etna – 3 volcanoes completed by 3 people who met in Tibet on another challenge. (Therein lies another story.) I am on the left, if you needed some help to work it out!

We all felt elated to have been involved with the challenge which was certainly not easy. Each volcano was different from the others and we all had a significant feeling of self and team satisfaction at the end. All this for a great cause. So far we have raised in excess of £75,000 pounds and anticipate this figure being higher by the time we have finished all of our fundraising. As I have fully funded the trip myself ALL of what has kindly been gifted to me will go straight to the Trust to fund the fantastic work it does.

Thank you for your support that you have given me during this challenge – which is perhaps one of the more unusual adventures that I have got up too in recent years.

My good wishes.