Last weekend, our #EBC2020 team (plus our adorable guest Wilma the cocker spaniel) reunited for our second training weekend in the charming town of Keswick. As with tradition, the weekend started with many a Cow Pie and drinks at The George pub (our natural base camp for training), before hitting the sack in anticipation for our hike the next day.

 

We started our Saturday morning raring to go with all the gear and rather more idea of how wet and windy the Lake District can be, so we donned all our waterproofs! Our guide for the day, Tim, took us up to High Seat which is unsurprisingly quite high - even though the view was mainly fog, rain and more fog. Although our hike took us through boggy earth and wind, we kept the fire going and reached 738m at our highest point. We walked 700m of cumulative ascent and made it back to Keswick town in one piece after our 15km stroll.

 

Saturday evening saw us at The George pub, out for a well-deserved team dinner and then back at The George (is it really a surprise?!)

 

We spent our Sunday morning at Moot Hall, where we talked through fitness regimes and our fundraising efforts so far. We shared our top ideas to raise as many donations as possible over the coming months – including golf days, speed dating and dog walks to name a few. It was encouraging to see all the great ideas which have raised donations already and especially motivating as Hazel took us through a history of SNC and our specific fundraising project was announced - funding a Vocational Training School in Kathmandu for young people from across Nepal, furthering their education and skills upon leaving school which is an amazing project to work towards.

 

Roger took us through his top tips of what to pack and more importantly, what not to take to make sure we use our limited luggage allowance for Lukla airport as best as possible. The weekend once again sparked our excitement for the trek and has only built more anticipation for our trip!

 

Thank you to our fabulous team for another great weekend - I’m already looking forward to our next weekend in May and of course, making it up the mountain together in November!

 

Jaiminee Patel