Letters to my sons.

Dear Sons,

I read about Sir Ranulph Fiennes climbing Mount Evest at the age of 65. This has spurned me on because I have harboured a desire to climb both Mont Blanc and The Matterhorn.

I attempted Mont Blanc in 2000 and I intend to attempt it next Summer but failed because I wasn’t fit enough. Some of the group went straight from Chamonix to the summit of Mont Blanc and then back to the Goutier Hut. I wasn’t one of them and got stuck in a hut when the weather came down and missed the opportunity to summit. This time I will not be missing out due to fitness. Although I trained hard last time it was the wrong type of training and I didn’t do enough hill walking before the attempt. Also the altitude didn’t do me any favours.

So this time I’m going to use my Power Breathe – bought many years ago but hardly used – twice every day. This should increase my lung capacity and help with the altitude. A few weeks ago I bought some dumb bells and a training book; I’m going to use these to build physical strength and muscle. By watching what I eat I’m going to loose some weight and haul 3 to 5kg’s less up the mountain. I’m also going to visit Chamonix and have a couple of walks up to the Tête Rousse hut over the course of two days and some weekends to the Lake District for some 10 hour mainly up hill walks.

On the nights when I’m not weight training I’ll be using a yet to be purchased elliptical glider. I’m thinking of getting some voice recognition software so I can still be creative while I’m spending two hours marching to no where. Or I could catch up on the documentaries that I have recorded and not watched or listen to an audio book or two.

The Matterhorn will be harder but I have longer to train. I want to climb this in 2011 as it will be 100 years since the death of Edward Whymper, the man who led the first successful summit of said mountain, a controversial event as 4 of the party dies on the way down. Whymper is buried in the grave yard in Chamonix and I have put flowers on his grave.

There is an amount of danger involved in both climbs but with the correct preparation and by keeping a cool head I will be okay. The main danger is on the way down as the exhilaration of getting to the top can leave the physical tank empty mixed with the joy of sumitting can lead to slopiness.

I’ll be updating on my progress.