UKC

Hi all,

Some of you know me, some don't but I was looking for thoughts on an idea.

So, the situation is that my ten year old daughter has been diagnosed with a very rare genetic condition called CLN 3 battens disease. This is a terminal condition with quite frankly  very sh%te long term implications.

We have set up a gofundme to try and raise as much as possible to build her an independent space at her mums house so she can have her care needs met long term.

As part of this we are trying to do fundraising events to get the money needed to sort this out.

One idea is to use the 'everest' idea used in cycling and other things and have a day where as many people as possible try to do 8848m of climbing at stanage in a day and get sponsorship to do it.

I'm a little torn by this as I know its sort of anathema to climbers to do this and of course their are environmental impacts but I wondered whether people would like to get involved to help out or indeed, voice concerns about it, or point out the admin needed re the longshaw estate.

I am a member of the rucksack club and people in the club are keen to help out but I would like to know if others would like to get involved and/or what the crack is in terms of getting the estate to approve it, or whether it could just be done.

The link to the appeal is here https://gofund.me/dfa0893f and as you can see it's got wings already.

I'd appreciate no snidey UKC comments but would like thoughts on this please.

Cheers

Phil

In reply to smithaldo:

I don't really see why you shouldn't be able to access Stanage and climb there just like anyone else. You get school groups, outdoor instructors working there, guided walks along the top, uni club meets etc. etc.  So what's different to a bunch of climbers going climbing and trying to raise some sponsorship money at the same time? Probably any keen climbers would know much better than a bunch of truculent teenagers on an outdoor ed trip to not drop litter, not disturb others and so on.

I live 15 minutes away and I'd be totally happy to turn up on a certain day and climb a bunch of routes and add my "metres" to the 8848 target and try and raise some sponsorship money (and sponsor myself as well). I reckon you should definitely go for it. 

In reply to smithaldo:

And reading through the information about the condition on the go fund me page, I just want to add it sounds a total shit of disease, so I'm really sorry. Best wishes to Elsie, you and the rest of your family. I hope as a community we can help out in some way with the fund raising - I'm sure we can definitely do something!

In reply to smithaldo:

First off, sorry to hear about your daughter and well done for doing something to raise support.  No, we don't know each other but this random internet stranger wishes you well.

Second, I'd suggest not getting too fixated on doing this challenge at Stanage or any other crag.  Weather, conditions and a host of other factors can piss on your chips, and it would be a real shame if that happened.  Plus, not everyone that might wish to help is a climber.  So, to get round this, retitle the event.

Everest for Elsie: by any means.  As well as climbers you can bring in walkers going up hills, cyclists, people walking up stairs in their workplace, anything at all as long as the distance climbed can be measured and it's done by people not cars, planes, hot air balloons or similar.  People can contribute their efforts whenever they can, but aim to bring things to a head one weekend where lots of people do lots of things.  You might get one Everest, or you might get one and a bit, or two, by extending the types of ways, and hence types of people, that can contribute.  

The more the merrier, I think.  Someone will need to coordinate but anyone who's reasonably well organised and has a life that revolves around lists or spreadsheets could do it.  A bit of PR might spread the word more widely too.

Just some thoughts.  Best wishes with this.

T.

In reply to Tony Buckley:

Sorry to read this. Sounds dreadful, best wishes from another stranger.

agree with the above, to me the event serves to highlight the issue, making it broader hopefully opens it to more people to donate - as I have just done not because of the event but it’s a great cause.  Good luck getting to the target quickly. 

In reply to smithaldo:

Just donated because your daughter shares my name and it sounds like a great cause!

In reply to smithaldo:

Why not do it indoors if you're worried about the impacts? People won't donating because of where it is happening. Most non-climbers wouldn't even see a difference between Stanage and the wall and it would be accessible to more people if it was indoors.

In reply to Elsier: you aren’t the Elsie that knows Will and Amy are you??? 

In reply to smithaldo:

What an awful, awful condition. I’m so sorry that your beautiful daughter has this. 

As a father of a daughter whom is my absolute world I can only begin to imagine what must be going through. Have of course donated, it’s the absolute least I can do.

In reply to DaveHK:

Awesome walls Stockport "Ace" squad do this on the tall wall. Might be worth tapping them up?

In reply to smithaldo:

I agree with Tony Buckley's suggestion.

I have a daughter the same age and I can't imagine how hard this would be for you and your family. I've also donated.

Best wishes, MB

In reply to Tony Buckley: Many thanks for all the kind messages and wow….. a eureka moment…… it’s actually 70 years since it was first climbed on 29th May isn’t it. Which is spring bank holiday Monday this year  

So how about an idea is to get the ukc and ukh community to do as you say, as many meters as possible on that day, log them in the databases somehow and get sponsorship for it .

I wonder if the guys at ukc could help set up a log page and advertise it?

this could have legs actually! 
 

what a great idea Tony and a huge coincidence  that it’s a significant anniversary of the first ascent.

In reply to smithaldo:

Yes I do know Will and Amy.

In reply to Elsier: Ha well it’s a small world…. When my Elsie was born Will was telling me whilst we were out skiing that he knew another elsie who was obviously you!

In reply to smithaldo:

If you organise an event on National Trust land you need their permission:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/peak-district-derbyshire/kinder-edal...

Good luck with the fundraising. It's a great idea to tie it in with Everest. Wishing you, Elsie and all the family all the best. 

In reply to smithaldo:

Do you have a local Clip 'n' Climb you could approach? Would take all the effort out of having to set belays up and mean you don't need a load of belayers, harnesses, rock boots, etc - basically, opens it up to a much wider range of people and removes the weather and crowds issues.

Wishing you all the best, as a Dad to a 9yo daughter.

In reply to smithaldo:

I think you're worrying too much. We are social and it's good to have a main venue for the core group and bad weather might not be the issue you think. You could do this and Tony's suggestion as well. You dont need multiple complex spreadsheets...just get people to email you their name and ascent that day.

The environmental impact would be less than the same number of ordinary climbers on Stanage if you are organising lift shares. Parking is always easy if you start early and if you feel especially guilty you could ferry people from parking elsewhere. 50 climbers could knock such a target off easily in a half day in good conditions (I think I did about 900m when I soloed 100 routes on Popular End on a busy June day, and I didn't count downclimbing route descents). Even allowing for UK weather Stanage dries fast and that means around 90% of days would work. In the recent past, even the BMC organised a climbing  festival at Stanage. The only thing I would think about is climbing in the rain; even then you could climb the many descents with no issues. We produced the Troglodytes Tours in BMC Burbage and BMC Stanage to partly rescue a wet day....you could measure the tunnelling lengths as an emergency plan C. Plan B in minging conditions (which you will know before the day) would be to walk up and back down,  and repeat.

The national three peaks in a day is the sort of organised event that annoys people and for good reasons: especially noisy groups arriving in Wasdale at night, people speeding to make up time, litter, toilets, etc. 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/three-peaks-challenge-controlling-the-chaos-in-was...

In reply to Vanessa Simmons:

That applies to big organised events, especially if there is an entry fee. A club doesn't need to contact the NT if they run a charity fundraising trip to an NT crag. Stanage isn't NT and is the best place on gritstone to hold such a fundraising climb IMHO as there are hundreds of lower grade routes and the crag is so big it's never overrun, even when the parking is.

In reply to smithaldo:

Best wishes and a virtual hug from another stranger.  I look forward to hearing how the plans develop.

In reply to smithaldo:

I took part in a Everest challenge on Stanage as a yoof and a great day was had by all. Despite what we were told and my best efforts to clock up more mileage repeating each route a few times, I doubt we even came close but money was raised and fun was had. It was organised by a UKC member so he may be along to add comment at some point. Good luck with it!

In reply to smithaldo:

For the 50th anniversary of the ascent a bunch of Calderdale mountaineers and walkers climbed from Hebden Bridge to Stoodley Pike (300m ascent) in fancy dress. We only needed 30 people maximum to climb the altitude of Chomalungma, Sargamartha (or Everest…) but many more turned up.

Failing that … you could always climb it 30 times solo!!!

By the way. It was also Ascension day that year!

In reply to DaveHK:

You'll be able to knock out more mileage and it's probably more accessible to non-climbing friends if you do it indoors. I know The Foundry has supported similar events on the past.

Get climbing friends to volunteer as belayers, then encourage all your non-climbing friends, colleagues and their kids to come along and see how many routes (metres) they can add to the total. 

With climbers, for maximum height pick an easy route and do several laps as you waste time swapping over. Worth belaying with gloves and having a few different belay devices so you can swap them out when they get hot.

Depending on the wall you may be able to negotiate a reduced entry price/deal, or for an instructor to help out and supervise the novices. Could be a really good way to get her school friends involved in fundraising.

TBH Everest is almost too big for people (especially kids) to visualise, might be better going for Ben Nevis, or the Three Peaks. Obviously much easier challenges, but also a height that many sponsors will be much more able to relate to and therefore support.

In reply to smithaldo:

No thoughts to add to all the excellent feedback, just to say how sorry I am - have donated and am also sending good wishes for you and Elsie.

In reply to smithaldo:

Good luck and best wishes.