Day 2 – Gurkhas in the mist...

7am. Glen Nevis. The boots were on, the breakfasts down and spirits high. The team were joined for Ben Nevis by a whole host of supporters. Ceri was particularly pleased to have his wife Jo and several family friends join him for the climb, along with four Gurkhas from the Queen's Gurkha Signals in York representing the Gurkha Welfare Trust, representatives from Elderjuice.com (who sponsored the Munro) and even a fellow campsite in-habitant, James, who was on holiday with his family. Despite a thick mist on the ascent, the air was surprisingly close and it wasn’t long before warm kit was shed. Having spent a very long time on the bikes the previous day and climbed very steep, unknown Munros, Tom, Ceri and Alex’s legs took about an hour to warm up and about an hour into the climb the team emerged from the mist with sweat on their brows. The reward for having climbed above the mist was a fantastic view of the surrounding peaks and the low lying valley bathed in cloud. By now the Gurkhas were showing just why they make such fantastic soldiers. With the same cheerful smiles they had at the beginning, the lads paced the team up the mountain and arrived looking like they had just gone out for a Sunday afternoon stroll. They kept the Munro Team’s spirits up the whole way, even when they decided to show-up Tom, Ceri and Alex by running up some rather treacherous and steep slopes!

Having summited at approximately 09.45am, in glorious sunshine (very rare for Ben Nevis), the team were met by Bernie, Corbin and Milo Mackin. They were there to remember the son and brother they had lost during the Afghanistan conflict. A heather posy was laid by the team in memory of Lance Corporal Travis Mackin, Royal Marines, Captain James Philippson, Parachute Regiment and Major Alexis Roberts, Royal Gurkha Rifles.

At 10.00am, Tom, Ceri and Alex left the majority of the supporters in order to summit the rest of the peaks they needed to do that day, including Sgurr Choinnich Mor that was kindly sponsored by Cunning Runnings
and Aonach Beag kindly sponsored by NRG Direct Mail. At the same time the support team were now swinging into action to make sure everything would be ready for the end of the day. Before Sally, Lucy and Henry Munns could trek into the bothy where the team were due to finish, they needed to pick up a very important addition from the station; Becky Roby.

Once all the kit had lugged down the 4.3 mile track to the bothy, Lucy and Sally were tasked with preparing supper whilst Becky went to show the boys how Munro climbing should be done and Henry Munns went to show them how it shouldn’t. At 7pm, whilst the team were still out on the mountains, there was a knock on the bothy door and it was none other than Henry Snell, bearing great gifts; Burgers, Bacon and Bread, fresh lettuce and more Jura whiskey. James Fish followed on behind with the stove and frying, claiming he didn’t want to break into a sweat having just showered and changed his clothes at the camp site. At about 8pm, the boys, along with Henry Munns and Becky arrived and they feasted not only on Henry Snell’s ‘Burger and Booze Combo-meal’, but also a delicious chicken curry supper, pre-prepared by Sarah back at the Glen Nevis camp site.  Alex, Tom and Ceri were all very pleased to have finished a second arduous day, despite the fact Tom’s legs had been practically munched away by the native wildlife (midges). James and Henry left at about 9pm, bidding the team good night and god speed for the next day. What they hadn’t banked on was the massed battalion of midges wait outside the bothy door (they had probably heard there was free whisky on offer). What ruined the night time stroll further was stumbling across a particularly eerie statue known as the ‘Wee Minister’. In fact Henry Snell came very close to discover exactly why the statue is called the ‘Wee Minister’.

Alex rising above the mist on Ben Nevis