We made it!!

Greg and I completed the trek - just over 35km, across 5 days, at between 3500 and 3900m, in the magnificent Himalayan landscape of Ladakh. The trip exceeded every hope and expectation. The scenery was achingly beautiful and ever changing. The people of Ladakh took us into their communities and homes with great warmth. Our group gelled wonderfully, sharing moments of great emotion and forming friendships and memories that will last a life time. And though the trek was punishing at times, Greg and I both held up very well. We achieved our dream and all of us felt privileged to take part in something that felt very, very special.

The film and photo journal are going through post production and will be released around early August, I hope. Here are a few photos to whet the appetite.  These were taken by our mountain leader Alan Ward - stunning photos that show he is a man of many talents! But if you think these are good, just wait tip you sees what the film crew produce!  

Arriving in Leh with Viv, my therapist. We both felt the effects of the 3500m altitude - a slow first day!

Day 2 - a practice run, down the steep slope from Tsemo Gompa, Leh

Tsemo Gompa

Day 3 - we visited Stok, an hour's drive from Leh, and stumbled upon the village archery competition.

The road out of Leh (in the valley in the distance) towards the Nubra Valley, where we spent two more days acclimatising

Its a long, steep, winding 8 hour journey..

…with very little space..

… and no room for error

the road is part of the old Silk Route, which was once part of the "route to market" for Johnnie Walker! Here's Alan Ward, our mountain leader, with a photo op with our sponsor!!

the pass, Khardung La, is the highest motor able road in the world (open just a few months of the year)

Greg and me, at the top!

Its worth the journey…. Hundar in the Nubra Valley….

… where Angie, Viv, Greg and I took a camel ride across the sand dunes!

Diskit Gompa, one on the many spectacular monasteries perched precariously on the mountain sides

the trek…. in the most breathtakingly beautiful, awe inspiring landscape imaginable 

the group descending from one of the high passes, with Rigzin Tsewang,  our local guide, ahead of the ponies.  Rigzin took great care of us - thanks my friend!

Celebrating reaching one of the 4 high passes, with Mike Rogers our film director and Scott Woodward, our photographer

This is the big climb on the 5th day. To give the photo some scale, I've circled Mike and Scott in the middle ground and two French trekkers towards the top of the climb. From where Mike and Scott are, we descended the valley, to about 3500m and then climbed to the pass at just under 3900m

The climb took me around 1 hour. It was exhausting and exhilerating at the same time. Here I'm approaching the last swtch back before the final climb to the high pass. Just a few meters ahead from here, I found a rock to sit on to rest and enjoy the views. My words can't do the view justice, nor really describe my emotion - I found myself sitting there with pure joy and deep gratitude. This quote came to mind "He who stands upon the highest mountains laughs at any misfortune, real or imaginary". I laughed out loud!!! 

Greg and I complete the final stretch of this gruelling climb to the final high pass, topping out at 3850m. The path was not only long and steep but also very narrow and, in parts, very unstable under foot. It was a huge test for me....and I had the luxury of doing it forwards, using my walking poles and arms to support my legs. Greg climbed this sideways, using his arms only. That's when I really understood the immense physical and mental strength of my friend. Awesome!

at the finish line - after 35km, a moment of celebration, followed soon after by a lot of emotion

after the trek we took another 8 hour, high mountain pass trip to Pangong Lake, a 128km lake much of which is in China

…and yet again we were left speechless by the raw beauty

our last night by Pangong Lake, with a bonfire and Johnnie Walker to stave off the cold!

Greg, Angie and Alan have arrived in Leh. They say the weather is awesome - great news considering some of the weather forecasts have been predicting close to freezing!!

Viv and I start our journey tomorrow morning, and we reach Leh on Friday morning.

Greg, Angie, Viv and I have spent the last few months training at a high altitude simulation facility here inSingapore. Initially, I went there to get comfortable that I didn't face any specific risk caused by the damage to my neuro system. I got happy with that pretty quickly. Since then, and for Greg, Angie and Viv, the main aim has been to try to condition our bodies to hypoxia. We've all made good progress on that front. So, two big boxes ticked providing a great deal of comfort (for me, and I think the same for the others). And then, as the icing on the cake (excuse the pun), the gym installed an ice bath. I know my shiver reflex doesn't function well and the ice bath was a great opportunity to get myself prepared for the cooler temperatures (and see if I got any of the other recovery benefits its supposed to provide). Another box ticked. And I enjoyed it - bizarrely!

A big thanks to Stan Tan and the great team at Altitude for your support. See you all when we all get back.

Here's a few shots Viv took from our last session this morning.

The "Step Forward"

Last Friday night Gregory and I spoke to my colleagues in the Singapore office. That was our first time speaking together in public - we really enjoyed it, and it seemed to go down very well. To mark the occasion Johnnie Walker had a special cocktail made - the "Step Forward". How cool is that!

“When your reality changes, your dreams don’t have to”

Marc Herremans is a Belgian triathlete. In 2001 he competed in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, widely regarded as the toughest triathlon competition in the world. He was expected to compete for one of the top three positions the following year. But in 2002, Marc fell off his bike during training, landed on rocks and broke his back. He was paralysed from his stomach to his feet. Only 3 months after the accident, Marc began training for the Ironman as a wheelchair athlete and, just 10 months after his accident, Marc participated in the Ironman of Hawaii. In 2006, he became the first wheelchair athlete to finish the Ironman of Hawaii!
Here is a film Marc made with Johnnie Walker. Very inspiring!
 

http://vimeo.com/41167626

Viv - my stretching solution!

One of the lasting effects of spinal cord injury is excessive muscle tone, myofascial tightness and spasticity. No-one knows whether or when that will subside or go away and until it does managing it remains a big part of my daily life (twi...ce daily streching, good breathing, massage etc). Exercise can and does help, but over exertion can increase the tone. I live in a hot climate, but I know from trips to cold places that my shiver reflex doesn't function well and that can make the tone worse. In Ladakh, as well as keeping myself warm, I will need to stretch well before and after each day's trek. Fortunately, I'll have Viv Spanopoulos with me to help me out! I first met Viv many years ago at one of her yoga classes (she's kind of renowned here in Singapore, and has a big following). After my accident I went to see Viv, expecting a gentle re-introduction to yoga. Instead, she introduced me to a modality called Meridian Resistive Stretching, which targets the fascia and has crossovers with yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and elements of psychology. Last year Viv had a spell in Boston, specialising in the system and has worked on me since she came back to Singapore in January. I'm lucky to have her coming along....and I know she'll be great fun in the group!

 

 

Our mountain leader

Meet our mountain leader, Alan Ward. This photo was taken in Ladakh back in February when Alan went out there to do a recce. Alan knows Ladakh, has a big focus on safety and, having led blind and partially sighted trekkers to Everest Base Camp, is experienced in leading groups of people with disabilities. Safety is paramount, and I feel we are in good hands!

Meet Angie Tan

I'm trekking with a very talented, creative bunch of people! Angie, Greg's wife, is a photographer. Here's a link to Angie's website. I won't be packing a camera!!

http://www.angarts.com/www.angarts.com/about.html

Up and running

Yeah! I'm up and running on the donations. Many, many thanks to Danny Walsh for getting us going.

You all know how much this matters to me, so please help in whatever way you can - donate, share the link to my donations page, spread the word, whatever you can. Cheers

Fundraising - Spinal Research and Wings for Life

I've set up a fundraising page with Virgin Money Giving. Here's the link.

Many of you donated very generously to my 10k fund raising just a few months ago and it does not feel right to ask those of you who did so to donate again. Instead, can I ask those friends to share this link with anyone who you feel might like to follow our journey and might wish to donate. Your support in doing that would be really appreciated.

This time I am raising funds for Wings for Life, as well as Spinal Research. Both charities share the goal to find a cure for paralysis.

For last December's fund raising I set an initial target of GBP 5,000 and ended up raising over GBP17,000! I honestly don't know what to aim for this time. I've gone for GBP20,000, which I hope isn't too ambitious!! Let's see!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PaulFairhurst3

Gregory Burns

Here's a link to Gregory's website. An amazing, inspirational guy. Great fun too!!
http://www.gregoryburns.com/


"I believe that rather than hindering my creative spirit, being stricken with polio challenged me to develop areas of my character that enhanced my message and communication skills. Speaking before international audiences of all sizes, I stress that we must learn to harness the setbacks in our lives which are what push us forward and bring us inner strength."