Ladders

Donations update: 77000€



We had a lot of fun on our favourite walk - adventure ladder walk - close to where our grandparents live. So much that we had to do this 2 days running (and multiple rounds). The walk goes steeply up a small mountain and there are 8 big steel ladders on the way.














We have received two invitations for training weekends in the Alps (one in Bavaria and one in Switzerland) and it would be great to use this opportunity to get to higher ground (we could get as far as 3500m above sea level, which would be a real test). We need to do some time planning and somehow squeeze these in. In any case we are going back to Scotland in May to climb Ben Nevis again (and celebrate granny`s birthday of course).

Getting real with the Tatry Mountains!

Sponsorship Update: €68.000

Uncle Janko turns out to be a lot more mental than we thought he was! We know he is a fanatical sportsman and cyclist, and loves the great outdoors but this walk that he forced us on was enough to prepare us for anything! Katie tagged along, and brought a few complaints with her! Snow getting in the boots being a favourite! She nonetheless pushed on, but this was tough. We reached 1300m/4200ft before turning back as a storm was looming (can you see it) and of course Anna made it without a whine. Katie seems to be getting the bug too and is now asking to go to Morocco to do the Toubkal ascent! However she knows we cannot take two with us in case someone needs to turn back which would jeopardise the fundraising. Now she is nagging us to take her to mount Fuji!

We managed to get a few excellent climbs in as the weather changed for the better and we covered many of the beautiful mountains around Sona's home town. Although it is pretty much an industrial town it is snuggled into a collection of some of the loveliest mountains you can imagine. Jack also managed to get a lot of cycling in and also was forced much against his will by Janko to support the local beer economy.

Some of the views turned out to be truly breathtaking but we were blessed with the weather. It was 25C most days, and in fact this was one of the drivers for stopping the ascent above as the snow was really heavy and deep. Snow that is 1m deep and melting is a real challenge and is not the training we need to be doing.

All in all an excellent weekend. Many thanks again for all the donations, and to all those who are matching donations being made. It is clear we will reach 100.000€ at this rate.

Target reached - but we are not stopping

Donations have reached 55000€. I think we are all surprised on how quickly we have reached this amount and very grateful to eveybody who contributed. Now we are looking at higher targets. Every € above our original target will make a differnce on what can be done for the street children, so pls. do not stop and keep on sending donations.

We are spending our Easter break in Slovakia, visiting our grand parents and extended family. Today we had our 1st hike in the mountains. We hiked for 4 hours and climbed to 1100 meters above sea level, making a 700m altitude difference. Everybody made it to the top even though the climb was basically going straight up quite a steep path. From the top we could see really far around and see all the mountains still waiting for us. There is still quite a bit of snow but the weather is very warm so it is disappearing quickly.

On the hike we were joined by our close friend Ada. She is a trained medical nurse and luckily for us she agreed to join us on the hike to provide the blister support (hopefully we will not need more serious treatments).

Tough start to Easter holidays

Donations: 40,000€

New weekend - new practice. Today we decided to try how far rather than high can we walk. Glashütten-Königstein-Falkenstein-Oberursel Hohemark-Fuchsstanz-Glashütten. Net 6 hours of walking - 25km done.

And this time we managed to bring Jack's business partner, Ittoop Kurian and his fast growing daughter Sangita along for at least the first half of the walk.

Anna had a well deserved ice cream break at Fuchstanz (some others claimed they had earned beer).

We move the campaign East tomorrow to the Tatry mountains in Slovakia, so we will enjoy sitting in the car for 10 hours tomorrow on our way there. Anna says her legs are not sore at all - I (Sona) am in agony, so will go for cruise control as much as possible!