Anna's Atlas Challenge

Visit to India for the Grand Opening!

2010-11-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well folks it has been almost 18 months - but finally all the hard work has paid off! Jack and Anna have recently returned from India, having been in Guwahati for the official opening of the children's facilities there - as sponsored by all of you!

This was a great visit and Anna was thrilled every minute of it. Jack and Anna went together and spent 5 days there, at the schools, orphanages and also the new centre for Juvenile Justice - opened in her honour.

She can be pictured here by the official plaque in her name. This was a great "Daddy Moment". On arriving for the official opening, the lights were out. Jack noticed the fuse had blown (the fuse box was open) so he got a chair and flicked the switch. Then the entire building was thrown into darkness, and 500 people started to scream.... another embarrassing moment for Anna.....

Part of the trip was a visit to the slums. This really hammered home just how hard some people have it. We were amazed at how the families could live in such squalor and yet the mothers still get the kids to school clean every day.

It was quite desperate. These people have more or less nothing. No sanitation or fresh water, little food, no space - families of 6 crowded into a space of 10ft by 8ft. Incredibly bad. Anna had some balloons with her which she gave to the kids and we had a bit of fun but this was a really grim part of the trip. The smell will stay with us forever. The people were very intrigued to see us there and for sure Anna was equally bewildered. She finally realised why it was so important that she had raised funds for them and made a difference.
The kids that live in this slum get picked up by a school bus every day and taken to the local (Childaid Network sponsored) school where they get basic education and are fed and cared for while they are there.

Indeed this little girl here goes to the school every day. Her brother does not go although is 8 years old. Martin Kasper and Jack tried to persuade the father that the son ought to go to school as well but the father just looked at them as if they were mad - how could this be of any help?
However, Anna did join the kids at school and they played a bit and she had some gifts for them (Crayons, hair bands, toy cars etc) and they were very happy to have them. It was amazing how clean this little girl was compared to where she lived, her mother deserves a medal.

Anna's favourite place was one of the orphanages which took care of the kids when they were not at school. The teachers were very sweet and the kids seemed very happy. They were wild and boisterous like all kids, but what was amazing was how they took care of each other. One little girl had Downs Syndrome and every time we saw her the older kids were carrying her, or kissing and cuddling her. They were a great team, and very very happy. It really made sense to us that all the money that had been raised had gone to very good use and was making a big impact with a lasting benefit. The kids are getting proper education, food, clothing, love and attention, and above all, sound medical care and education to prepare them for the real world. There were also kids there who were not setting up their own tailoring business, or hiring out rickshaws etc.
Anna was sad to leave. Indeed she was insisting on staying longer but all good things have to come to an end. Fortunately the good work of Childaid Network and the Don Bosco mission continue - and they looked after Jack and Anna like a couple of VIPs while they were there.
Anna hopes to get back sometime next year and follow up with her new friends.
In the meantime, from all of us, thanks to all of you for your fantastic support, both financial support for the charity as well as moral support for Anna - you have all made a huge impact in many many ways.

Hectic weeks after the trip

2009-07-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

Donations: 121.128€
We were expecting some publicity on the arrival, but certainly not this. We had a TV crew waiting for us at the airport, who then came with us home and did a very nice shot for the HR Hessenschau program. In the course of next two weeks Anna gave interviews to 3 journalists, so we are looking forward to see some reports coming out soon.

The most exciting thing though was the live interview on the radio. To be able to see how it all works and be part of it was really great and Anna enjoyed it very much (as well as being able to skip the school). But now the time has come to get some well deserved rest (well apart of some more hiking in Slovakia, maybe Ben Nevis again and a week in Austrian Alps - no we did not have enough yet). We are packing to leave for our summer holidays and think about next adventures for Anna (Katie, Bobby & Sam).

THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR MANY ENCOURAGING MESSAGES AND DONATIONS. Anna was worried after the climb that people will think she has failed. She has received many many mails saying quite the opposite. What an achievement for a 9 year old girl! Even the fact that we made the right decisions and turned her back so close to the top has been accepted very positively and we appreciate all your wonderful messages (now my task is to print them all out for Anna´s memory box, so I am not so happy to have to sit at the printer for such a long time, oh well...).

The final climb!

2009-06-14T04:40:00.001-07:00

Ever tried to sleep at 3200m? We just did, and you cannot! The heart pumps so hard you have no chance to doze off. So rather tired, we started off at 6:00am (see photo) and set off with around 100 other people. Anna and our group were amongst the first on the mountain path and very quickly it became obvious that most people would not be making it to the top. We seemed on track to be at the top in around 3-4 hours, and Anna was walking well, the gap between Anna and the others growing as we went. The conditions were not too bad, but there was rain, snow and hailstones in small measure.
We reached the ridge around 09:15am, at a height of around 3,990m or so, and we could see the Sahara desert on the other side as we looked south.

Then, with just 15 minutes to go, at 4069m (98m from the top, or 2% - see photo, yes it could be anyone in there, not just Anna), Anna quickly changed and declared extreme tiredness and cold, and the guide was very quick to take off her ski goggles and look at her eyes and recognized she was clearly suffering from altitude sickness – and that she needs to go down, go down right now and fast. Anna was distraught. Her first question was “What about the money for the kids in India” and the guide said that in such conditions her Daddy was allowed to complete the climb for her, and he picked her up and literally ran down with her on his shoulders to 3400m or so. Sonia did her best to keep up. Anna stated constantly on the way down she was cold and needed her bed, and according to our guide, she was slumped over him, barely awake. Although later Anna recalled that he was running downhill “like a crazy madman”! Then suddenly, at 3400m she suddenly said that she wanted to carry on walking. This time however, Mohamed insisted it needed to be downhill….

So Jack and Andrea (our former au pair) duly got to the top with the second guide a few minutes later.
We all reconvened back at the refuge and Anna was her old self again, but still worried about whether or not this counted as a climb of the mountain or not. Everyone at the refuge was quite clear that of course it counts - she could see the Sahara! - and the guide pointed out that this is the highest a girl of her age has ever made it. Boys have made it to this height, but not to the top.
We then walked back down to the base camp/village at 1740m. Anna had been expected to take the mules down but instead walked almost all of it on her own – which was around 15kms or so downhill. This was a huge amount of walking, around ten hours in one day. Jack recorded 3400 calories on his polar watch, 2250 of which were for the 3200-4167 ascent and back, 1150 being for the three and a half hour descent. This is the biggest workout any of the adults have had in a day, and Anna more or less matched it!

When we had dinner, Mohamed, our main guide, presented Anna with a signed scroll that acknowledged her as “the 9 year old girl to get to the highest point on Mount Toubkal, unassisted” having walked all the way there from Imlil. She was very happy to receive this. We all slept 11 hours last night and Anna was of course the first one up in the morning! We will now head to Marrakech and spend the next 2 days there. Anna wants to go shopping in the grand Souk…. So anyone thinking she wants to be a “tough boy” is widely mistaken, she still clearly has some female characteristics…..
And Sona and Jack will be having a celebratory beer there…..because alcohol is not allowed in this area of Morocco….

Anna has already agreed a five day tour with the guide for next year which he is sure will better acclimatize her for the climb. We got to know Mohamed quite well during our tour and he wasd a super guide. Very fond of Anna (who he found no end of amusement in referring to as "Banana"), he spent a lot of time with her and was very impressed with how hard she always tried and how strong she was. So he has defined a very good plan for her for next year, and we are all excited to go back.

If anyone wants an excellent trip to the Atlas mountains, you can find a very friendly and well informed guide at http://www.trekkinginmorocco.com/.

In the meantime, he has promised to look after the stray kittens that Anna befriended during her stay...

Reached the refuge

2009-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today has been very hard!

We got up well rested at 0730 and Anna was still tired after her very long day yesterday.
We started the ascent at 0830 (delayed as the guide had to vote today!) and we got off to a flying start.

We recognised that despite the sunny weather, a storm was brewing so we decided to skip lunch and head direct to the refuge.
This meant climbing from 1750m to 3200m non stop, but Anna did this brilliantly and we arrived 1900 calories later around 1:30pm.
Starving!

Anna is wrestling with the local food, knocked up by our travelling cook but the rest of us are loving it.

Twenty minutes after we arrived at the refuge, a thunderstorm broke out along with snow and then rain. This has lasted four hours so far.
Hopefully it clears up because at 0500 we are off to the peak.
That is a mere 1000m ascent but at least Jack and Sonia are feeling the lack of oxygen, it is quite a difference, with even slight inclines causing a bit more effort than normal.

We expect tomorrow to be tough.
Our guide climbs here 3 times a week and has said he has never seen a 9 year old reach the top before. But then he does not know wee Anna!
All going well, we will reach the peak at 1100 or so.

Thanks again for all the support.

Arrival in base camp, Imlil

2009-06-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

We have safely arrived at the Base Camp!
Against all odds, in a 25 year old Mercedes with just over 1 million kms on the clock, we made it safely to the base camp at 1740 metres.

Anna has been more interested than normal to look out of the car window on the way – Camels, Mules, Goats and Sheep all over the place! We have met the mountain guide who has advised us of a new plan, having assessed Anna.

We shall now proceed at 0800 tomorrow directly to the refuge at 3200m (so a 1500m climb in one go), where we will rest for the night. We expect this will take 7 hours of hard climbing.

We will spend the night in the refuge but have to get up at 0500 for the trek to the top of the mountain (this will be Jack’s fourth rise at 0500 or sooner this week so hopefully he will not snore) and we hope to be there by 1200.

We will try and catch the sunrise over the Sahara on the ascent, but will only stay at the top for 20 minutes or so. It is expect to be around 0°C at the top.

The good news is that we are told the weather is likely to be better than reported in the newspapers. The bad news is he has told us that 1 in 3 people get sick and they as a policy do not discuss continuing with you, and you are immediately brought down. So we will have two guides, in case one or two people get sick, to give Anna a better chance of making it to the top should she prove to be made of the toughest stuff!

Keep watching, we will provide an update tomorrow from the Refuge.

Thanks to Andrea Meister for managing the blog in our absence. We will just have mobile phones some snaps to relay from now on.

Thanks for all the best wishes for the climb

2009-06-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

This amazing bouquet of flowers has just arrived for Anna with the best wishes for the climb. Thanks to all of you for the great support (and donations 114.307€ today) and good wishes for the trip (we will need all our luck to get the weather we need).

All ready to go

2009-06-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

All packed, healthy and very very excited (well not quite that much about having to get up at 4am to catch the flight). We have been checking the weather forecast for several days and every time we check it says something different on the scale between cloudy and heavy rain. How this is possible in sunny Morocco is not quite clear so we have contacted our mountain guide, and his response is "About the weather ,here in the mountains they don't give right information,so please don't think about it,just bring your water proof cloths.we wish that the weather is good" which one can only translate as "yes, the weather forecast is right and you will be soaked". Having read that (and still suffering from post Ben Nevis weather trauma ) I bought Anna proper gore-tex jacket. Which of course means it will be nice and sunny (if the Murphy`s laws work down there) now.

So this is how it goes:

Friday12/06/2009
26° Rain. Light air, 1 m/s from south-southeast. 2 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Saturday13/06/2009
19° Rain. Light air, 1 m/s from southwest. 4 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

Sunday14/06/2009
23° Partly cloudy. Light breeze, 3 m/s from west-northwest. 0 mm precipitation per 24 hours.

We have asked our good friend Andrea Meister to update the blog while we are gone (THANKS !!!). We will send her the report every day and she will put it here for you to see.

End of the training in (sunny) Allgäu

2009-06-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Donations 113600€

This weekend we enjoyed the hospitability of Petra & Holger & David in Allgäu (thanks so much for having us, we had a fantastic weekend with you. We hope to see you in Taunus soon.). We have managed to do 2 hikes in 2 days , each of them covering 1000 height meters and I think Petra and Holger were surprised how well Anna has done. She can really walk at normal adult speed, the only slow downs are in areas where there are bigger steps to make, for which her legs are still too short. Anna is getting a bit excited about the trip asking, what will happen , if she gets sick and cannot get to the top (she asked if she can go back to try again , if she fails this time). The answer is always the same. Just do your best and get as far as you can.

We will give it our 100%.

Anna found it hilarious to be in Germany and Austria at the same time. The views from the top where just stunning and we got hooked on Allgäu area. I am sure we will be back soon to explore it more.

The training is finished now. We have one weekend left before we leave and we will try to take it easy, relax and avoid getting ill. All we can do now is to hope for excellent weather conditions, try our hardest on the mountain and hope the height sickness does not strike. Daily updates will be available during our hike, so you can see our progress.

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED!!!

Welcome to (not so sunny) Scotland

2009-05-29T03:19:00.001-07:00

Donations: 112000€

We arrived to Fort William on Friday evening and the weather could not have been any nicer (even though the weather forecast was grim - heavy rain and strong wind). Not a single cloud in sight, ideal temperature for a nice hike. It will be a great day tomorrow!!!

And it was....but not for long. 2 hours into the hike we were surrounded by black clouds and it was clear we are heading for an absolute misery. At best steady drizzle, at worst heavy rain and wind so strong, I am not sure how did Katie & Anna manage to stay on the ground. People coming down were warning us there is still a lot of snow on the top but we persevered. Despite all the bad luck with weather Katie & Jack made it to the top and me & Anna gave up 500m from the top. The way down was simply horrible, slippery, cold and long. "I am never coming back to Ben Nevis" concluded Anna, as this was her second time here and both time bad conditions.

Yes, it was no fun at all, but we had 6 hours of strenouos walking and covered 1400 hight meters in that time. Completely soaked and frozen on the way down to the pub for a hot bowl of soup. Surely Morocco must be warmer and sunnier (or we for yet another surprise?!).

Interview at Feldberg

2009-05-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Donations: 104000€

Today Anna met a journalist who writes for kids magazine Primax. He took a lot of photos of her at the top of the Feldberg and spoke to her about the trip (needless to say we walked up. Feldberg used to be a substantial walk but these days it is just a quick trip up the road.) .

The article should appear in the August issue, but first Anna has to approve the photos to be used. Anna was very unhappy about the photo we have used initially for the leaflets and now insists, she has to see all that goes out first. She is happy with these pictures (and so is Floppy).

100.000€ (where will it end?!)

2009-05-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Anticipating the fabulous result of this week we have decided it was time to have a little break and celebrate reaching 100K in the Europa Park by Freiburg. And celebration it was as Anna has finally cracked the 130cm barrier (without her moon boots!!!) and could go on some exciting rollercoaster.

Next weekend will be back to normal and some more hiking. We are slowly getting ready for our trip to Scotland on 21st of May when we hope to catch some rainless weather and get up to Ben Nevis, highest mountain in the UK. Fingers crossed.

Ladders

2009-04-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-04-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

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!

Growing nicely....

2009-03-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Sponsorship Update: 24,000€

The money keeps coming in, and the impact on the lives of the poor just got bigger. Thanks again folks, this is really transformational now. Something you can all be proud of.
And for those who have not donated yet, we are still taking payments......

Not in my wildest dreams...

2009-03-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

...have I imagined to receive 20000€ (and in such a short time as well). THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

...and keep it coming...

Sponsorship Update

2009-03-29T05:39:00.001-07:00

Donations so far: €14,400

We just got a great email, which said
"That sounds like a brilliant idea - all the best to Anna on completing the task ahead.
Sounds like a great cause - Therefore I pledge 3,000€ - that means 9,000€ once matched".
Many thanks to this donor, who shall remain anonymous until I can force him to allow himself to be named!
So we now have almost 15000€ in the bank.
Many thanks to all of you for your great support - Anna is thrilled, as will be the poor kids.

Cannot get rid of the snow

2009-03-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Donations so far: 2700€

Yesterday Anna went practising with our friend and sponsor Nicki. Swift walk up to Feldberg. It is still quite slippery up there but nice weather cannot be far away now.

On Thursday Anna had a presentation at her school and she was really good. This is what she said:"Hello, my name is Anna Ramsay. I am very lucky, I live in a nice house, I have two brothers and a sister, a dog. I go to a nice school and have many schoolfriends. But I am also very sad, because there are children in India, who do not go to school and sometimes they even have nothing to eat. That´s why I am climbing to the highest mountain in north Africa and I would like to ask you to help me. Thank you".

The walk proved to be too much for Floppy (and for daddy, who is still in bed at 10:55 am). But Anna is not bothered at all.

2nd spring day

2009-03-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

No sun today, but the forest is beautiful in any weather. Today we walked from Glashütten to Königstein (via Fuchsstanz). It took us 2,5 hours (400 height meters). It was very cold and damp. Let´s hope spring will be here next weekend.

This weekend Anna has been practising how to use the sticks. This way she can excercise her arms as well and she can walk much faster.

1st spring day on Feldberg

2009-03-21T11:05:00.001-07:00

You cannot help it. A beautiful day like this has to be used for another walk up to the top the Feldberg. Anna walked from Glashütten to Feldberg and down in 3 hours, which is really good as there are still many ice patches that are quite slippery.

Top of the Feldberg. We are thinking about leaving info material about the trip here in the restaurant. On days like these the place is mobbed with people who like outdoors and we may find some support here. Every € counts.

And the winner of the "1st sponsor " competition is Mrs. Kyra Nehls. Many many thanks.

It is getting serious!!!

You do not want to be the winner of the "Last sponsor", do you?

Testing new hiking shoes

2009-03-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

First things first. Anna needed new hiking shoes, her feet grew over the winter. New shoes need testing so here she is with Floppy on the way to Feldberg. You can tell from the smile on her face new shoes fit (does not look like somebody with sore blisters).

The snow is now mostly gone in Taunus so we will be able to walk more without the danger of slipping on ice.

The most excited about increased activity is of course Floppy, who will get his beloved walks.

Getting Ready!

2009-02-01T07:37:00.001-08:00

Anna has been preparing for her trip to the top of Mount Toubkal for quite some time. Last summer, she was climbing in the Tatry mountains of Slovakia during the summer with her mother, brothers and sisters. This took quite a lot of planning, as you can see in the photo.

This photo was taken at the Tatralandia Aqua park in Slovakia, during a family holiday. Anna is on the left, with her brother Bobby, sister Katie, and youngest brother Sam shown from left to right.

Additionally, she also scaled Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in Great Britain, at 1344m. This was a very long climb, and she is photographed here with her Daddy. It took over three hours to get to the top, and all three were very tough! The views from Ben Nevis are absolutely stunning all the way up, although at 800m, we entered the clouds. It became very cold inside the clouds, but Anna insisted on going all the way to the top. It then started to rain, and the temperature was around zero. We had not expected it to be so cold, so neither of us had brought gloves (it was July afterall!).

What was also quite surprising for us, was to find there was a bank of ice and snow at the top! It was July afterall, and when we started out if was a normal Scottish day - so whilst we knew it would get colder we had not anticipated this! It was quite slippery to get across as well!

But we made it to the top!

This is the most representative climb for her, because at Toubkal, she is going to have to do up to 900m per day. Although we may have mules to help carry the tents and the food as well as clothing, Anna is going to have to walk every single step on her own.

However, Morocco is a very warm country and very beautiful, and the people are very nice and friendly. The mountains are quite big obviously, but they are also farmland for the people who live there. It is not unusual to come across sheep and goats, and there are many dogs there too for the protection of the livestock. So likely when we start the climb it will be around 30C, but we do know that when we get to the top it will be freezing cold - so likely we will not stay at the top for too long!