Nominate YOUR Charity!

For a month I'll be putting myself through extreme temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius and I thought I must use the leverage to raise some money through my wonderful friends and family  ...so that we can all help some great causes.

Marie Curie nurses care to terminally ill
patients in their own homes or hospices,
while offering support to their families.

The first charity I will be raising money for is Marie Curie Cancer Care.  My expeditioning partner has personally experienced the care and support that they offer through what must have been an unspeakably hard time.  I can't think of many groups who deserve to be supported more in order that they can continue their amazing work.  The fact that I would never be endeavoring on such a trip without his trust and faith in me makes this an even easier choice and seems an apt way to show my appreciation.

50% of all funds raised will be contributed to Marie Curie.

Charity 2 will be your choice,
receiving 30% of all funds raised.

Now, THIS IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP!  30% of all funds raised and 20% of all funds raised will be going to two additional charities.  As of yet these two other charities have not been chosen and I would like your input on who should benefit.

Anyone can nominate an officially registered charity to fill one of these two remaining slots and be responsible for them receiving either 30% or 20% of all the funds that I raise!  All you have to do is to comment on this post with the name of the charity you are proposing.  If you would like to also provide an explanation as to what they do or provide a story as to how you have been involved with them then that would be wonderful.

All the charities that have been proposed by the end of next week (Friday 14th October) will be compiled into a survey which will then remain on this blog until the end of this month.  Here, every unique visitor will be able to vote on who they think should receive the 20% donation.  

Charity 3 will be selected from
amongst your suggestions.

Charity number 3 will be one of my choosing out of all of the suggestions that are received.  I will make every effort to educate myself on each nominated charity and will reach a final decision based on what I feel is most meaningful to me.

Please, please get involved in this and make your wishes known through the comments section below.  I  rarely call on the help of my friends and family in order to raise money for charity - and I'm still not (yet) - though I do want your input!

The three finalised charities will be announced through this blog on Tuesday 1st November.

Best Wishes,

Andy.

P.S.  You can also contribute towards making this expedition happen by clicking on any one of the promotions from my targeted advertisers.

TYRE PULLING in Swinley Forest

HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM MY FIRST TYRE PULLING SESSION I AM WONDERING WHY MORE PEOPLE DON'T JUST DO THIS FOR FUN!  What a fantastic way to get a full body workout.  At least it would be if I had some ski poles to aid me in order to bring the arms and shoulders into play (something to scour ebay for shortly).

For those who may not know tyre pulling seems to be the staple training for Arctic expeditioners.  It apparently mimics closely the motion of pulling your pulk (which is the Scandinavian sled I will be pulling with my equipment on).  The recommendation is that you can pull up to 1.5x your bodyweight.  I am currently 95KG and my body weight is rising so I could potentially pull over 150KG, though I think we are aiming to pull no more 120KG each.

I picked a selection of old tyres up from Bracknell Tyre & Battery.  Most tyre places will be greatful for you taking their rubbish away, though you may want to just check with them first prior to helping yourself!

I don't have a harness at the moment but fortunately I had an old metal cable lying around which served as an easy way to secure the tyres to me.  Firstly I just tied the tyres together at one end, then the other end to me.  In order to spread the load a bit I wore an old rucksack and tied the cable to that.  This worked perfectly well for me and I was please to have a free rig ready for use now so I can start getting some time pulling under my belt and begin to progress the weight.

Onto weight, I began with two tyres weighing just under 30KG.  I was thinking that would probably be very light but as much as I dare test my makeshift harness with.  As it turns out I think the harness is capable of carrying plenty more - at least until I can get a proper harness - and the weight was plenty for my first time!  I ended up walking the firetrack in my local forest.  By the time I got out it was 8pm and pitch black (ah the great British summer months!).  My good friend offered to walk with me this first time out and the company was appreciated though I will soon have to get used to being alone in the forest in the dark, cold winter months as the training hours required increase.  It is fairly strange (dare I say scary) being in the forest, not only alone when it is dark but also when you are pulling a weight behind you which makes loads of noise and alerts everyone to your presence - who knows what's lurking in the trees, especially as the forest I train in contains the notorious high security broadmoor psychiatric hospital! :)

We ended up walking for 45 minutes taking in a long slope up to begin and a short sharp climb midway through.  The steeper pitch certainly got my heart rate up and I the sweat was pouring off me - which could potentially be a problem in the Arctic - but it was a very enjoyable bit of training and I look forward to getting out again very soon.

The next time out will be for a length of time - probably 2 hours, just to allow the body to start familiarising itself with it, probably with the same weight.  I would like to think that very shortly after that I will begin targeting specific distances and with double the weight, all the time keeping in mind a rough target of pulling 120kg for 40km a day when in the Arctic.

I am now going to rehydrate, refuel and rest all the time whilst musing a world where more people really do tyre pull as a means of training.  I imagine a Dickensian style Christmas scene where instead of lots of people ice skating they are all tyre pulling.  What a great way to train!

My suitability for this undertaking

Being active in the outdoors.  Fun but a far cry from what
lies ahead I'm sure.

AND SO, with a phone call due today to kick-off our undertaking I thought it would be good to first explain a bit more about me and why I am the right man for this adventure (though I can think of far more reasons why I am not right for it, at least on paper!)

I'm 32 years of age and I suspect by a lot of peoples measures I have done nothing exceptional in my life.  I say that as I would consider the undertaking of crossing an Arctic icecap as exceptional - so why this and why now?  Well I have perhaps taken a little longer than most to mature and find the confidence required to begin living the life I want (without being dependant on the support of others).  I had already started this process of re-engineering what I am and have spent the last couple of years gradually living a life alternative to that which I did through my twenties.  I no longer smoke or drink as often as I did, I have begun indulging my true passions again having neglected them for so long in favour of socialising or working (or being run down from one of these two) and the biggest single change was to leave a 9-to-5 job I'd long lost my passion for.

So why an Arctic Crossing?  Well, my friend - who has just introduced me to my expedition buddy - had spent a lot of time listening to me wax lyrical about life and it's beauties: the adventures, the wonder of nature and how frustrated I was that I hadn't had full access to such things growing up and how hard I thought it was to seek such opportunities as an adult without either a foot in the door, knowing the right people or simply having lots of money.  She also often found me with my head in the National Geographic musing a life so privileged that you got to see amazing nature at its best, better still be able to capture it with photography and share some of that experience (one of the passions I have recently taken up for the first time as an adult is photography).  So I guess she got bored of listening to me and thought she could kill three birds with one stone - Do me a favour by introducing me to her friend, possibly help her friend by giving him a team mate to call on for trips and most importantly shut me up for a bit!

So why would I enjoy this trip?

• I am always walking, running or cycling out in the natural world somewhere.
• I have always been in awe of nature (a walk in the woods with me is never just a walk in the woods but a lesson in how to muse how fantastic everything is!)
• I am keen to increase my cold weather experience (so far it runs as far as a snowboarding trip in the Spring and snowfall in Surrey!)
• An opportunity to experience first hand the kind of scenes I have to date only been able to admire in magazines and on TV.
• As I've grown older and pushed my outdoor pursuits a farther I have become very aware of the importance of having solid outdoor first aid experience and I am very keen to increase this to a be a field medic.

I am very (very, very, very) aware of many reasons as to why I might not enjoy the trip: frostbite, exhaustion, extreme cold, polar bear attacks, psychological dysfunction, inability and lack of confidence etc.

And what makes me suitable?

• I am fit, young(ish), active and strong
• I naturally find navigation easy and enjoy it
• I have played rugby for years at a competitive level so have experience of physical hard work, determination, team work etc
• I have on/off been training for a half Ironman then Ironman event (as my first two triathlons) and so I was beginning to get a good understanding of and improve my ability in endurance feats
• I believe I have a strong mind and psychology - this is one of the things I am most interested in testing
• My heart is in this - I have no interest (well, very little) in the glory or bragging rights of such an expedition, just the desire to indulge in what I feel makes me tick as the person I am

I was going to cover what makes me unsuitable for this but I think that could go on for a long time.  I think all I can do is be aware of my shortfalls without letting them drag me down and work hard to improve these areas - and be grateful that I have been introduced to an explorer who can see the potential in people, or at least who is happy to take an apprentice for a month.  Cheers Roan!

I do have in the back of my mind that this is the kind of feat that no matter how well versed I might be prior to arriving in Greenland, nothing will substitute for good old experience and at some point that is going to cost me in pain, sweat, blood and tears I'm sure.  Hopefully though, none of those will cost me too much and in anyway which is irrecoverable.

Here's to healthy optimism and stretching yourself a bit more each day.

Cheers!

Andy.

P.S.  I considered including in this 'suitability' post details about my financial suitability (or complete lack of).  However, I don't feel I should shroud things with talk of money.  Perhaps I will go into detail at sometime in the future if there is interest from people to know such things.

THE EXPEDITION

To cross the Greenland Ice Cap, east to west.

Operating as part of a two man team we will be covering approximately 700 unsupported, unassisted kilometres.

As this is my first Arctic trip - indeed it will be my first ever cold weather expedition - we are allowing ourselves up to one month to complete the journey.  A month cross country skiing with nothing to look at except a distant white horizon (if we're lucky) or a blizzard of snow (if we're not).

We will begin in March 2012, by taking a flight out of London to the east of Greenland, via Iceland.  From there we will wait for the right conditions and availability to take our heli lift to the ice cap.

Once we are safely on the ice cap we will wave goodbye the the helicopter and will not see much of any civilisation again until we have safely crossed the ice cap possibly a month later.

Arriving on the west coast of Greenland we will no doubt share a beer and a few tales, then hop back on a flight home via Iceland again.  My birthday will be on the 20th April so it will be a nice present to myself and my family if I'm back home for then with a nice new string to my bow :)

It all sounds so simple.  It's just the month in the middle that I think might be a challenge.