YJ International Newsletter 2004 Vol 18 No 01

Author(s): Young Jains (UK)
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 19

Ain't No Mountain High Enough
By Hasmita Shah
hill. I actually found it really enjoyable. By this time my breathing had improved, the weather was wonderful - probably slightly hotter than you'd have liked for walking but at least it wasn't raining!. The views were spectacular and I met lots of people on route. Right at the top I paused to take in the spectacular scenery only to find myself scratching my arms. More midgets! So decided there was no point in resting and started descending down Whernside.
Finally we reached the top and with barely a few seconds to look at the stunning views we started descending again. Up to now I had not been worried about doing the challenge within 12 hours however, there was every chance we could do it within that time and so we tried to keep a reasonable pace going. Not easy when your whole body's trying to give up.
We finally completed the challenge in IT and a half hours - it was bliss to sit down and take off my shoes and socks. I found out that my children, Nikhil and Arjun had completed it in just over 9 hours. My heart was just bursting with pride at their achievement. Especially as Arjun was then playing football with Akhil who'd been waiting for the boys to finish so he could play with them.
.what kept me going was the support of fellow walkers and volunteers...
You'd think going down would be easy. This was tough - really tough. You had to watch your footing all the way. It was so steep and lots of loose rocks with so many people trying to descend down a very narrow path. I even sat on my bottom and slid down for a while. I'd had a walkie-talkie with me but had not been able to get hold of Hitesh previously since he must have been out of range. As I was descending down he radioed me. He said he was waiting for me at the next refreshment stop and we could climb the third hill together. By this time everything was hurting. I wasn't sure that I would be able to climb yet another hill. But Hitesh insisted he would wait for me. I thought I was only about 20 minutes away from the next refreshment stop as could see some fields some distance away. However Raju came up from the stop to walk with me and he informed me that it was at least 40 minutes away. I told Hitesh this but he insisted on waiting. It was a long way down and my feet were killing me.
Of the 80 people taking part, only 3 dropped out due to injuries. Incredibly all the rest completed the challenge. 48 did it in less than 12 hours. Even Dave was elated saying he'd never had such a high number finishing on previous occasions. Obviously the weather helped. But more than that it was the team spirit that kept most of us going.
For my part, there were numerous times that could have given up. Physically I was tired after the first hour - yet I kept going. And what kept me going was the support of fellow walkers and volunteers and my mental will power - It really was a team effort. Ain't no mountain high enough when there's a great team spirit involved!
When we finally got there, Akhil, one of the volunteer's young son gave me a big hug. I had had a chat with him on the walkie-talkie and he'd promised me one. That was to keep me going for a while longer. Again the support from the volunteers was critical. Also Dave was there to assess whether you were fit enough for the third hill. I was ready to drop but he had confidence in me. Plus Hitesh had been waiting for over an hour for me and I didn't feel I could let him down. So I soldiered on. This third hill, Ingleborough, was yet a different challenge. The climb up was over steep rock so you were almost clambering up on your hands and knees. kept stopping more and more frequently as by now my body had given up. The only thing that kept me going was my mental strength.
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Young Tains
CIO Editor | Colonial Way
PO Box 233 North Watford Herts. WD24 4EW
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