This month our very own Head of Commercial Projects and Furniture, James Hand, will be taking on the ultimate climbing challenge. James and his friends will be taking on the highest peak in Africa and one of the 7 Summits in the World, Killamanjaro. It will take the team 5 days to reach the top and 1 day to descend.
Before he sets off, we spoke with James to find out more about his challenge.
What’s the challenge you are completing?
I’m climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, via the 5-day Machame route.
Tell us more about what motivates you along the way.
It’s all about getting to the top for me and seeing what I’m capable of. I’ve never done a challenge like this before and I want to achieve something that I thought was beyond my limits. Having a young daughter and achieving something like this will make her proud and that will be my main motivator when the going gets tough. I hope by achieving this, it will help give her a “can do” mindset, that would be a wonderful bonus.
What other challenges have you completed in the past?
Nothing like this. The closest I suppose, was completing the Yorkshire 3 peaks in 9.5 hours, and in hindsight, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically. This is a very different challenge, but knowing I came through that, and having to dig deep mentally gives me lots of confidence that I can succeed here too.
Tell us your top 3 tips for a climb like this.
I’ll tell you after I’ve done it! But of course, I’ve put a decent amount of research into this and the main things I’m picking up are to have trust in your preparation and enjoy it. I have prepared well and recently had lots of opportunities to test my kit out, so I’m confident my kit will hold up.
I’m going with a great bunch of friends who will put everything into helping each other get up that mountain. I’ve been told even though the food they provide is nice, taking some of your favourite chocolate bars and sweets can help enormously both physically and mentally, so I’m now the proud owner of lots of Jelly Babies and Fry’s Turkish Delight.
What part of the challenge are you most excited about?
Summit night. I think it's quite well-documented that the last push for the top is the most grueling part of the climb. You start at midnight with the aim to get to the top for sunrise around 7 hours later and of course, all the elements are against you. Oxygen is at 50%, temps are at -20, it's pitch black, it's horrendously steep, and no doubt you’ll be pretty shattered after the previous 4 days of climbing and no sleep. But weirdly that’s the bit I can’t wait to do. That’s the bit when most people drop out and that’s the bit when I’ll be really challenging myself, which is what this is all about. I’m absolutely petrified about it too, so excitement and dread in equal measure.
Where can we follow your journey and any updates?
I’ll be taking regular videos/photos and hopefully a daily video recap in camp each night which I’ll try and send back home.
What charities are you supporting?
I’ll be raising money for the British Heart Foundation. It’s a wonderful charity that Sharp work closely with and does incredible things with the donations they receive around the world. So it didn’t take me long to decide this was the right place for my money to go.
If you’d like to support James and his friends amazing challenge, you can donate here.
