It has been quite some time since I have updated my activities to the great TriathlonOz community.
And whilst I’m not quite at the Triathlon stage, I’m not sure I’d ever be, I have been preparing for my rather audacious goal of high altitude climbing in the Himalayan region over the next 12-18 months, and beyond.
My goal is to climb an 8,000-metre peak in 2014, and if successful, turn my sights towards Mt Everest in 2015.
I did say it is a rather audacious goal, however it is all about the journey, and it will require great discipline on diet and exercise, which can’t be a bad thing.
Over the past few months I have continued to develop my rope handling and climbing skills in preparation for 2 weeks of mountaineering in New Zealand this January. The aim is to climb Mt Aspiring, and a number of other peaks in the Southern Alps, as
well as have a family holiday!
I spent a week in New Zealand a couple of months back to help develop some of my snow and ice skills, especially ice-climbing.
And towards the end of 2013 I will be heading to Nepal to attempt three, 6,000 metre peaks, including Lobuche East, a 6,300-metre peak.
In between it will be
rock-climbing in the Blue Mountains to keep developing skills, especially rescue techniques…
But fitness is key to ensuring I have a great base to launch myself at high altitude climbing. Next year I will be racing in a number of kayak races, usually marathon distances of 20 kilometres and these run monthly from around March onwards. As many of you will attest, competing is a great way to develop and improve fitness levels.
I am also an avid hiker, preferring to put on a 20-kilogram pack and head into the mountains, and there’ll be plenty of that over the months ahead. This will provide a great base to compete in the Great North Walk 100 (I’ll do the 100 kilometres) in late October. This race is a combination of running, shuffling, and walking through the mountains, and I’m confident of meeting the cut-off time of 22 hours as I currently do that walking.
Rowing is also a core fitness exercise for me, and I’ll be aiming for an average of 120 kilometres per week throughout the year. And I’m hoping to finally compete in the 2013 Avon Descent.
So audacious, definitely, but what would life be if we didn’t stretch ourselves?
