Day 7 - The finish line!

Man gets tired, Spirit don't

Man surrenders, Spirit won't.

Day seven of the challenge and the body is tired.  I can't help noticing that mine is not the only tired looking climber in the car park.  Mixed feelings this morning.  Delighted that I am fit and well and able to turn up for the final day and a little hint of sadness that it is all over after today's climbs.  Its been some week.  Another early start today.  I arrived in the car park at 7.30 am and spotted Lisa and Caroline.  I haven't seen Caroline since Matt 365 Loughrey's Valentines climb on the 12th of Feb when that gate to the real world I mentioned in yesterday's blog had some very unwelcome news for her.  It was her first time back to the Reek since and it was good to see her!

I found my climbing partners for this morning's climbing loitering around the coffee pot.  They were keen for me to get a coffee before we set off.  I think it was their need for coffee and recovery time needed rather than my welfare that they were interested in!!!  Late night in Campbell's methinks!  I am of course referring to Dermot and Karen who have been great company for various climbs over the week and I think I am partly responsible for dragging them up the mountain more times than they had intended!!  Good to have met you guys and we will climb or have pints someday soon!

The climb is so routine at this stage it is more about who you meet than where you are on the mountain.  I think I got to met and speak to every one I have met throughout the week today which is good.  My brother in law, Henry and Harry were with us on the ascent for a while and if it were not for Dermot and Karen stopping to talk to every dog that passed we probably would have stayed with them to the top!!  

Eamon and Henry

I also got to meet my old friend from an earlier bolg entry who flies up and down the mountain despite the double knee replacement!!  I didn't get his name so if anyone has it pass it on!  Here he is on his way up this morning for his third time this week.

Down in good time and we refuelled and waited for the arrival of my wife Dairin who was doing my final climb of the week with me.  Dairin has not climbed the mountain since she was a teenager and then did it in a pair of winkle pickers!!  Preparation and the belief in onself is all you need to tackle this mountain and Dairin was well prepared and I had belief.  I was prepared for a leisurely hike up the mountain but I was mistaken.  Dairin set a good pace and we reached the summit in around the 1h 30 mark.  Impressive!  Quick snack (yes Colette it was chocolate!!) and a photo or two and off with us! We made it back down in about an hour and twenty minutes.  I am very proud of Dairin and I couldn't have chosen better company for my 14th climb of the week.

Met loads of people on the way up and I think Dairin enjoyed the camaraderie between climbers and the respect and support shown to each other.  Met Aoife, Ann and Co again and they have become one of the compulsory stop and chat groups!!  We also met the happiest man on the mountain all week, Patrick, climbing with his brother today.  What will you all do tomorrow?  Sleep more than likely!!  You all deserve it!

The track was almost clear at this stage with just a little stubborn snow hanging about near the top.  Made for safer and easier climbing although the melting snow did make the gravel slippy in places and difficult to get ones footing on the cone.

Some other people we bumped into today included Matt '365' Loughrey (I wonder if the insertion of 365 in his name is annoying him yet?!!!) who was climbing with Rory and his camera.  Looking forward to seeing some of that footage!  If you enjoyed this blog and the whole climbing the Reek this week I suggest you follow Matt's page on Facebook  (Croagh Patrick 365)  Matt is climbing the mountain every day for a year and has already completed 286 of those.  You know how it feels to have done 7 in a row so just try to imagine what this guy is going through.  You will never hear him grumble either.  I have had the pleasure of his company on a few occasions on the Reek and hope we will climb together again before 365.

Ian Mc Keever started out this week with the intention of climbing the mountain 5 times a day for the five days.  Many said it was not possible and I would be included in that number before I did a bit of research into the man and subsequently met the man.  I as yet did not hear if he has completed his challenge but I did meet him on his third ascent of the day and 33rd of the week and he was in good shape.  I would say the pain that man is in tonight is something else but hats off to you sir that is some achievement! 

I also met Ann.  I have seen her a few times over the week.  She qualified for Team Marry which is a group of people that are attempting to climb the Reek 12 times in under 24 hours.  To qualify for this team you had to climb the mountain 3 times in under 5 hours.  She did and I think is now regretting it!!!

 These are the Lawrence Brothers from Ballina.  Gas men.  Said I could take their photo if it would be in the paper!!

Peggy works with Johnny and Pat and climbed four of the days but has been bitten by the bug and will more than likely be a 7 day climber next year.  I met Peggy on all 4 of her climbs I think.

This is Jimmy.  I climbed with Jimmy once last year and although I didn't climb with him this year we met and chatted every day in the carpark or on the mountain.  Jimmy has a real interest in everyone he meets!  His misson this year is to climb the mountain 60 times.  Good luck to you sir.That's Pats Mum and my dietitian for the week!

 There was also Lorraine and the girls who we met most days and today the were resplendent in green!!  "Are ya mad doing it two times in a row?" came the shout followed by "fair play to ya".  Well fair play to you girls.  You did seven days in a row!! I'm sure a lot of people said fair play to you too as I have said to Enda Lonergan who has completed 15 climbs this week and I will say to anyone that climbs the mountain only once.  It is an achievement for anyone this week whether it is one climb or 35 climbs never mind 365 climbs!!!

We have all heard about and seen people climbing the mountain in their bare feet and today there was a lot of people doing so.  I stopped one young man and asked him how they were feeling to which he replied "not as bad as I thought they would be" and then I asked "why?" to which he said "I had nothing better to do today!"  He had his shoes on him on the way down!!

I have paid credit to all the crew that are behind the challenge in earlier entries but it needs to be said again.  The effort that goes into the preparation for an event starts not long after the the previous event ends.  The closer the event come the more time is put into it.  It becomes as busy as a full time job to make sure everything goes according to plan and everyones needs are met.  I don't know about you but I found the whole challenge better than many business and services I use on a regular basis.  The main man behind the admin in the build up and during the event is big Pat.  Always the smile and chat for every climber be it a one or seven day climber.  Cheers Pat and Siobhan!!

Not forgetting the team of caterers that worked all day every day to keep us all fed and watered all week.  Never left waiting for your grub when you came down and they always served with a smile and a kind word.  Disappointing however that they never got my full Irish breakfast organised for me!!! 

And then of course there is Johnny!  Always on the mountain making every climber welcome and always first with the news of whats happening on the mountain.  He spent more time on the mountain on his one climb a day than some of the double and treble climbers would spend on all their climbs.  Todays news for us was that one climber proposed to his girlfriend on the summit and as Johnny was on a radio interview at the time he got the proposal on the airwaves!!  We were later to hear that the girl that got engaged fell near the bottom of the reek and broke her wrist!!! Ouch!  Anyway, Fair play Johnny you played a blinder.  I only have the one shot of Johnny this year so apologies for the repeat picture!

So once again we were nearing the end of a climb.  This one more significant than the rest as it was the final one.  As part of my current studies I am learning about group work and how difficult it can be for group members to acknowledge the ending of a group.  When confronted with an end, the group invariably finds many good and logical reasons for continuing.  All of us involved in the 7 days were a group whether we realised it or not and we behaved like any group does.  Any of you involved in groups at work or school/college should see the similarities.  On the first day you recognise someone you know and form an attachment.  Maybe you meet some one at registration and spark up conversation, maybe you set off on your own but as the week goes on you start to make connections with people, notice peoples routines, form groups, etc,etc.  Well it is no surprise.  We all had an obvious commonality.  So like any group towards the end of of the week people started to look for a way out of the end of this group!  Did you say or hear said at any stage in the last two days "what will we do with ourselves next week?" or "we'll have to do this at least once a week from now on"  Well ended it has.  The only 7 dayer that is going to be on the mountain tomorrow is Matt for as he said to me on the phone during the week "sure I have to go up anyway"  The rest of us will be chilling out tomorrow no doubt and for those of us that have to work will be telling of our heroics over coffee with colleagues.  My ending came when I reached the babbling brook towards the end of the climb that signaled the start of the each climb and provided the soothing music that played for each successful return from the holy mountain.  Until next time.........

Thanks you to all of you that have stopped by to read the blog and that have made a point of coming up to me on the mountain to let me know that you have read and enjoyed reading.  Blogging is another first for me in a week of firsts!

Greg

Day 6 - Three climbs in one day!

Wow!  Can you believe it is day six over and done with all ready?  One day to go.  What are we all going to do next week?  I bet there are a lot of sore and tired bodies out there tonight!

Today was another first for me!  I climbed three times today.  At the outset of this challenge whenever it was Pat sent out the registration pack and sponsorship cards I made the decision that I would do one extra climb for every €200 over €1000 I raised.  I did this to encourage the more evil friends and family to cough up some real cash!!  In the last few days I have had an influx of donations and the total was pushed to the €2400 mark (thanks for that Paddy!!!)  I discovered this on the summit of my second climb and as I could only do one on Sunday I had to decide if I was able for a third.  I figured I would be as I had no pain and energy levels were good.  I was also overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement on line and on the mountain that I did not want to go back on my word.  Because of the fact there were three climbs today and I am shattered physically and mentally I can’t remember which story relates to which climb so this blog entry will be a general overview of the day!

This morning for me started at 6.30am.  Very foggy and frosty out.  Is it going to be a cold one?  Will I bring the rain gear?  Blimey if that fog doesn’t lift the visibility on the mountain will be poor.  Anyone else start their mornings with all these thoughts?  Driving through the fog all the way over to Westport and at the top of Sheeaun its completely gone!!  Beauty of a day!  Clare Island in all its glory sitting out in Clew Bay and the Reek with its sprinkling of icing sugar towering over the town.  As it was an early start I couldn’t get a coffee for PK as shops weren’t open yet.  One of the rituals of the week had been bringing the hard working Pat Keriens his morning coffee.  Dermot and Karen were ready and waiting for me when I arrived and as there had been talk of a third climb the deal was there was not diversions and no playing in the snow on the first climb!!  Never works like that!!  On the way up on this fantabulous morning we looked back once we got to the ridge and saw a beautiful scene of low cloud lying over clew bay back towards Westport.  We had to stop to get a photo of this and in order to get the best shot we ended going off track again!!  The photos this little diversion yielded were worth the delay that resulted.  I hope you agree!

Are we still in Mayo?

We even found a pyramid!! 

 

This is us!!

Eventually we got back on track had our photo taken with Ian Mc Keever and off to the summit. There was another distraction in store today.  Fr. John Kenny, a regular on the mountain, had on his last trip had hidden chocolate on the summit for Matt 365 Loughrey.  The challenge was extended to me yesterday so this morning I described a picture clue of the location and Dermot Henry knew exactly where it was!!  If he was correct its location yesterday was covered in a deep blanket of snow.  I was not willing to dig for it if that was the case today!!  As it happened  it wasn't!  Dermot and Karen like two kids at Christmas shot off to the location and bingo!  We had the treasure.  Like the parent in the trio I had to make the bold kids put the chocolate back!!  I divided out some of it and we replaced the rest for Matt to find for himself.  Thanks for the treat and the fun JK!!

Recharge with the ever welcome soup and sandwich's and the now comfortable conversation with every climber coming and going i felt we were getting too comfortable so up we get again.  Karen can only do the one climb today so Dermot and I register for climb 2 and are met with the usual "you're not going up again?", "Ye must be mad"  Dermot set a good pace which I was happy with as if three climbs were to happen it had to be a pacey climb.  Ordinary enough climb this one but good deep conversation all the way up.  Its is not the easiest of things to do.  Deep conversation and breath sapping climbing!!  Any a lot of the worlds issues were put right over the last few days.  I was telling Dermot that the wooden gate at the start of the ascent is very symbolic to me.  At that point I leave the "real world" behind and clear my mind for my time on the mountain and when I get back to the gate I re-enter the "real world".  Some-day's I hate that gate.  Anyone else have this view of the gate or is it just a gate?


The portal!

This week has been all about people for me.  I have had great reaction to the blog form climbers on the mountain.  "Are you Greg?",  "like you're blog", etc.  Sometimes I think to ask their names other times I just chat and forget to ask but you all know who you are!

These two ladies arrived on the summit at the same time as us on climb 1 and they had decided that they were going to attempt two climbs today and were asking what it was like and is it hard.  Fair play to them they did it and at an impressive pace too!  I know they are blog readers but I never got the names!

This is Cyril who I mentioned in yeaterdays blog entry.  I thought it only right to get a snap of him as we meet everyday.

Johnny Oosten who most of you know spends so much time out on the mountain meeting as many of you as possible during the week.  Today he escorted Mary from Cavan to the summit and down again which I find an admirable  quality in Johnny.  Keeping people motivated and encouraging them to reach the summit.  Here is a shot from yesterday of Johnny with Paddy McGuinness.

This is Patrick and his buddy Stephen.  I have been meeting Patrick every day since the weekend and he is always this happy!!  The smile is not just for the photograph.  Seems to be really enjoying the week and always has a new climber with him.  Looking forward to seeing the video diary of the week he is putting together!

We met a group of lads on the summit having a great old time in the snow doing backflips and handstands.  Didn't get this guys name but liked the photo!

So Climb 3 start as a solo and no music with me!!  Could be a long one.  I was surprised at how much pace I seemed to have in my legs.  I caught up with Ian Mc Keever on the start of his 4th climb of the day.  He has now as I type this completed 30 climbs in 6 days.  Climbed with him to the summit and part of the way down.  I showed him a quicker route down from the cone which he seemed happy with.  He is in pain on the way down so he is slow enough on the descents.  His speed on the inclines is impressive.  He left me looking stationary at times but thankfully I was always able to catch up.  Good company and I wish him all the best for his final five climbs tomorrow.  A massive achievement.   I said goodbye to him on the ridge as the pace was too slow for me and I wanted to get down.  Met a lot of dogs this week but my favorite this afternoon.  A fabulous Huskie pup.  Stopped for a chat!  Then I met Tiny again.  Tiny is an eleven month St Bernard.  No whiskey around her neck so I didn't chat to her for too long!!


So my day start at 8am and ended at 4.30.  I am happy enough with that.  Celebrated alone in the canteen with a cup of coffee and sambos :-(  I had a nice surprise a little later when an old school friend, Jeff, who is home from the States popped into the registration cabin.  "I thought I might find you here".  I used to have a right good laugh with Jeff in school!  Good to see you today!  Hope you enjoyed your walk and I am not that big a sinner!!


Nearly time for day 7!  Having and early first climb and then my wife is joining me for my 14th climb of the week.  I am looking forward to that one the most!  


I will leave you with some more photos of today and hope to see you all at a sunshine soaked Croagh Patrick for St Patricks Day! P.S.  If anyone is passing through Westport on the way to Base camp at 9ish could you stop off at Hobans Centra and grab Pat a coffee, milk no sugar, and tell him I sent it!!!  Thank you!


Slan


Greg

Day 5

There was a good covering of frost this morning when I got up and looked out the window.  First thoughts were the condition that a night of frost would leave the mountain?  Otherwise it was a smashing morning with clear blue skies and good sunshine.  Climbing a little later today as I have to bring Aimee to school before heading over to Westport.  I packed up the car with all the bits and bobs that make up a day at the Reek.  I have for the first time today a decent camera with me thanks to my brother David.  He arrived down on Sunday to give me the loan of his camera for the rest of the week.  Today was the first day I was happy to bring it with me as it looked like it was going to be a dry one.  The body was tired and the calves were sore this morning so I had to drag myself up and out.

The drive over to Westport was nice with the Reek coming in and out of view all the way over.  It looked fantastic with the sun shining on its white blanket of snow.  Flutters of nervousness and excitement tickled my stomach on each bend that exposed the view of the mountain.  I finally had to stop on the way into Westport to take a shot of it.

I got to the carpark and found Dermot and Karen sipping coffee in the canteen.  Climb one day five began.  What a fabulous morning for a climb and a complete contrast to the weather of the last few days.  There was still snow on the summit so I expected the cold weather and snow climbing for part of the trail but on the early stage there was more than a hint of summer.  First part of the climb was full of chatter and passing salutations to fellow climbers.  Passed Johnny Oosten and his sister and a few others on the way up.  Had a brief chat with Paddy Mc Guinness about politics and the hope for the future of the country with our new leader.  Onwards towards the ridge.  The end of the first testing climb and considered by many to be the toughest part of the climb.  There I caught up with other regulars that I have normally been passing in the opposite direction.  Today as we were all going in the same direction and having a break at the same time we all got to chat and to take photographs for each other.  One of the group, Aoife, introduced herself as knowing my wife and having read the blog.  Everyone in great spirits and probably a lot to do with the sense of achievement at getting to day five and to be rewarded with such a beautiful day and the magnificent view that accompanied it.  Onwards up the Holy mountain.  The snow has definitely  receded and the regular track is becoming clearer.  The cone still has a good cover of snow on climb one but offers the choice of climbing on the loose stone or on snow.  I chose a mixture of both.  The way I see it, I can climb on stone any time but snow is a rarity so experiencing climbing on it while it lasts appeals to me.  On the cone a climber, Tracy, asks if I am Greg.  I say yes and she said that she has been reading the blog and congratulated me on it and I thing she thanked me.  Anyway it was great to get that feedback and puts pressure on me to keep the blog going!  Once again on the summit chatting to a guy (sorry didn’t get your name!) he asks “oh are you the guy with the blog?”

On the summit today there were 360 degree views of the whole of the county.  If my geography was better I could tell you all what I was looking at!!!  I know one side!  Clew bay with Clare Island looking majestic, Westport, Newport and Nephin in all their glory.  Breathtaking stuff.  Lots of great snow up there too!  A lot of messing about in the snow before heading back down!!!  Good fun.  Just before we headed down Johnny and his entourage arrived up.  Denise was a first time climber was delighted with herself and seemed genuinely euphoric at her achievement. I was later to discover that her climb today was one of the things she wants to do before she dies and is currently battling cancer.  She has made the decision to come off the medication in favour of a better quality of life and it opting for a mind over matter approach to her illness.  I must say you would not know she was ill.  Every climber has a story and I was thinking after meeting Denise that the likes of Ian Mc Keever (5 climbs a day for 7 days!!!) miss out on this side of the Reek in pursuit of their personal records.  I like to have the time to hear the stories.

Down at base safe and sound and refuel with soup and sandwiches and the decision was made to do climb 2 and a better pace.  That’s just what we did.  The quicker pace resulted in much sweat and a lot less chat! 

The rate of thaw on the mountain was something else between climb one and two and even the return from the summit on climb two saw a lot less snow.  Thankfully there was still more than enough snow for my preferred route stomping down though the deep drifts.  I reckon it is easier on the joints going this way on the soft stuff over the stones.  Today may have been the last opportunity to snow climb any so why not do it!  Only downside to that route is that you miss out on meeting people on the cone.  The remainder of the climb down was a very pleasant chatty one in brilliant weather.  One lair was even removed for the first time this week.  It would be fantastic if this weather held on till the last climber finishes on Thursday!  No snow and safer climbing conditions mean that Dairín will accompany me on my last climb of this years challenge!  Great news.

There are a few people that deserve a mention on this blog.  There are a small number that are keeping this whole 7 Day Challenge on track.  Johnny’s wife and Pats mother and their team providing sustenance with a smile to every weary climber all day long.  I have never seen them in bad form or heard a cross word from any of them.  They are super troopers!!  Next to Pat and Siobhan.  The husband and wife team that are making sure that all climbers are accounted for and see everyone off with a smile and a wave.  Long days for a couple who have a family to look after and the parents of the child who was the inspiration for this event.  And then there is Johnny.  Johnny climbs every day and spend a lot more time on the mountain than it takes it him to climb!  He does this so that he can meet as many of the one day and seven day climbers, have a chat, tell them how well they are doing and to thank them.  We were just saying today how important this is to climbers and that they feel valued for their efforts by this personal contact.  Thank you one and all behind this wonderful event.

I would also take this opportunity to thank Karen & Seamus, Patrick, Gwen, Coleen and John for their donations today.  Wow! I am delighted with how much money I am going to be able to hand over to Mayo Autism Action.  Making every step of every climb so worthwhile.  You guys have been so generous!

Right ho!  Time for the laba!  Two more climbs await!  See you all tomorrow! Photos of today below!

Greg

Day 4 - Half way there!!

Firstly I would like to say thank you to Rosalind Hohenstein-Conway for the donation received today!  I am guessing it has come through this blog?  Thank you for your kind words also.  It is a timely reminder that we are not doing all this climbing for our own purposes but to raise awareness of and much needed funds for Autism services.

So day four begins with me sitting into my car at 7.45am and my power steering not working!!!  What can I do?  Dairin needs her car to bring Aimee to school later.  I know!  I will do what I do with anything electronic that starts playing up.  Turn it off and turn it on again!!!!  It worked!  So off I go.  I had arranged yesterday to meet Dermot Henry for today's climbs and he was waiting in the car park when I arrived.  There was an air of uncertainty about today's climb as yesterday afternoon as weather conditions deteriorated and there were a few injuries they had to stop the climb.  When we registered we were told that todays climb was to the ridge and no further.  the cone was out of bounds.  We met a few early climbers who had been to the top and the said that it was no worse than yesterday and just to take care.  As Dermot is an experienced climber and he had been up during the real snow of November/December we decided we would climb to the summit independent of the Challenge.  Not a bad morning this morning and the early part of the climb passed quickly.  Chatty climbs always do.  There were frequent stops for chats with other climbers and at this stage of the week these breaks are most welcome!  The legs were a little stiff this morning.  The cone still had a good covering of snow but seemed to be an easier climb that yesterday.  The summit was amazing today!  There was a covering of ice on the church (no photos to do it justice!!) and the snow was  deep.  We spent a bit of time messing about in the snow like two excited kids for a while and tool a few shots before popping into the church for a snack and water.

In an earlier blog I had a shot of Patricks bed where the rails around it were still visible but today they were completely covered!!  I decided to take a nap only to be disturbed by Dermot and his camera!!

We met a guy as we were approaching the summit who was starting his descent.  He was struggling to put his socks over his shoes for better grip!!  I gave him a hand after I took his photograph!!

Took a fun off track route down again today!  Plenty of fresh snow to mess about in!  Although it is off route is is safer and quicker that taking the traditional path.  I did manage to get Myself stuck!!

No trick photography!  The snow was this deep in places! 

Towards the end of climb one we met Priscilla and her camera man from Mayo TV  (goolge them!)  They were filming a piece with Ian McGeever (the guy doing 5 climbs a day for the 7 days!!).  Chatted to them for a while and headed back to bacecamp.  When we refuelled with soup and sambos again supplied by the wonderful volunteers at bace camp we met Mayo TV again with Matt Loughrey (him of 365 climbs!!) and somehow talk got to us doing two climbs a day.  Priscilla said they were looking for stories like that for the piece on Croagh Patrick and asked if we would mind doing a piece to camera.  We agreed and they set it all up and as they asked the first question the camera man had to call a halt as the rain was too heavy and he was concerned about the camera!!!  Fame has eluded us for now!!!

Climb two was busier.  Seemed easier than the first for some reason.  A lot of people are recognising me now and it is great to have all the chats for rest reasons and for general comradery reasons.  Dermot became an add for the strength of O2's network coverage on this climb!!  His phone was hopping and never seemed to be out of coverage!!  I took advantage of one of these phone call stops to try something I have been meaning to try for ages.  To see can I throw a stone from the shoulder into the pond below it?  I failed! It looks closer that it actually is!   I'll try again!

Similar climb to the first with lots of chats and with fellow climbers.  The snow looks blue.....well has a blue hue about it.  I keep thinking Daz blue white!  It just looks so pure!  I love disturbing fresh snow!!  Had to mess about in it some more on the second summit!

Just as we were about to set off for base again a friend of Dermots, Karen arrived over the brow.  One banana opened monkey style later she joined us on our juvenile jaunt down the mountain.  The two gave me some of the folklore of the mountain and the area and I was brought over to the "Bowl" which was amazing and I has only experienced it through Matts blog prior to today.  Photo does not do it justice but I have been working off camera phone all week!

We did get some views today as every now and then the cloud would lift for just long enough to see the beauty that surrounds us all!


I was greeted in base camp by my girls which was lovely!  We all went to the Tavern for lunch and a pint in front of a roaring fire! What a great way to celebrate 7 climbs!

Rabbitt and Micka Wallace sand a few songs and both were top class!  Outspan (Glen Hansard) didn't sing.  His role in the band was guitar and backing vocals and he seemed happy to do just that! What a modest man!  A bloke I would like to go for a pint with.  The Castlebar gig was their first major gig of the tour and they seemed to get a real buzz from the crowd.  Possibly photos tomorrow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob2TsJHf3ic&feature=fvsr
Sorry if the standard has dropped but it is late and I am exhausted!!  I just want to go to bed!!  Thank you to all that have made contact through Matts FB page, email and directly through the blog.  Your support and comments get me up the cone!  I will leave you with one or two photos Dermot sent me from todays climb.  Until tomorrow!!