The North Face of Mayfield Cottage
Climbing the Eiger without leaving home, 18th - 24th May 2020
The background ...
Whilst the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic led to a variety of challenges for us all, I knew that it would particularly affect many people's mental health. Mental Health Awareness Week under 'lockdown' seemed like the ideal time for me to do some fundraising for Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) and to also support NHS Charities Together. I wanted to come up with a challenge which would be something that I would never have dreamed of doing had COVID-19 not come along to disrupt ordinary life, and that at the same time would hopefully make people smile - maybe even help improve their mental health during these uncertain times.
The idea ...
Opportunities for mountaineering having been somewhat limited by the lockdown, I began contemplating climbing up the outside of our house. The obvious route was up the north-facing wall, which led to my idea: to climb the equivalent of the North Face of the Eiger, on the North Face of our home, Mayfield Cottage. I decided to use a technique called prusiking (think abseiling, but backwards) to ascend a fixed rope. I needed to do 492 ascents of my house to climb the equivalent of the height of the North Face of the Eiger: 5,900 feet.
(image taken from BMC website)
Up the rope ... in through the window ... down the stairs ... up the rope ... and so on ...
I timed ten ascents to see how long they would take me: 40 minutes. On this basis, I calculated that I'd need to climb for seven hours a day for five days in order to reach the summit of the Eiger.
As an additional challenge, for every £1,000 raised, I decided to sleep on a home-made porta-ledge, which effectively meant being strapped to the wall of the house.
The following videos chart the progress of the climb over the course of the week
Monday 18th May
Tuesday 19th May
Wednesday 20th May
Thusday 21st May
Friday 22nd May
Mental Health Research UK
I have been fundraising for Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) since 2017, in memory of Martin Sutherland, who sadly took his own life in 2011. Martin was a wonderful caring person, and a hugely talented musician, and is greatly missed by everyone who knew him. I have known Martin and his family since my early teens, and wanted to help support MHRUK as they have also done since Martin's death.
While there are many charities which support people experiencing mental health difficulties, MHRUK is unique in that it funds research into the causes and cures of mental illnesses. Many of the medication options available for mental health conditions have horrific side-effects, and much more work could – and should - be done to improve the treatment options available; people with mental ill-health deserve the same standard of care as people with physical ill-health.
Martin's parents, Ann and Andrew, described my challenge as "completely bonkers and totally wonderful ... in fact, right up Martin's street!" For some reason, "bonkers" is a word that has come up in many people's comments. But for me, the "bonkers" element is what I hope may make other people smile, and that's where the personal reward lay in this escapade.