The Nick Spencer 70th Appeal
Celebrating 70 Years
Nick lived and worked in the Far East for over 30 years. Now retired, he lives in Gloucestershire and London with wife, Kai, two children and his Labradors. His 24 year old daughter, Sam, was at Thomas's Battersea and is now writing her first novel. "I wanted to find a special way to mark turning 70. If my sponsors can triple my donation to The CAIRN Trust and Karen Hilltribes Trust, and I can fulfil a personal ambition at the same time, I'll be very happy to hang up my hiking boots for good!"
Climbing 7,000m
In December, Nick will attempt to climb the 7,000m Aconcagua peak. Located in Argentina near the Chile border, Mt. Aconcagua is the highest mountain of the Western and Southern Hemispheres and the highest mountain in the world outside Asia. Nick will be on the mountains for 24 days over Christmas and New Year, reaching the summit early in 2009. Although the approach is not considered technically difficult, it is more physically strenuous than Tibetan climbs, with only a 30% success rate. This is due to a combination of factors including: the harsh environment, very unpredictable weather, high altitude and a dangerous slope, the Canaletta, at 6,706m. Being situated only 80 miles from the Pacific Ocean, Mt. Aconcagua is exposed to extremely high winds and storms, with wind chills dropping to 100 degrees below zero!
Unlike Nepal, where there is support from Sherpas and porters during the whole climb, mules will only be carrying equipment and supplies up to Base Camp. The Base Camp is low, located at 2,743m from the summit, and Nick will be carrying everything he needs for the remainder of his climb from here to the summit himself.
Although he has spent a considerable amount of time climbing in the Himalayas (thirty trips since 1970) he has yet to reach the dizzying height of 7,000m. His last attempt to reach the 6,400m mark was over 25 years ago. An ex-army personal trainer has been whipping Nick into shape for the challenge and his training kicked off with 1,000 miles of fast hill walking over the Cotswolds.
Nick is looking forward to completing his climb so that he can tango in Buenos Aires afterwards with his wife.
Donating US$70,000
"I have picked The CAIRN Trust and the Karen Hilltribes Trust as both are small, well-run charities with minimal management overhead expenses, meaning nearly 100% of funds raised will get through to the end beneficiaries". The CAIRN Trust aims to develop and support sustainable rural village communities in Nepal through child education. "I look forward to returning to Thomas's to share the stories of my adventure with the children and the parents".
To make a donation to the Nick Spencer 70th Appeal, please click here.
Click here to see how Nick got on with his climb
