Day Eleven

Drove to the ferry port at the Scrabster and went over on the last ferry. Got a great view of 'The Old Man' from the boat. Boys getting excited.

Decided to stay on a campsite and head to the council one in Stromness - the best site I have ever stayed at, it had just the most amazing views out over the water. Sun shining and a guy even turned up the play the bag pipes for us.



Early start in the morning in thick cloud, we left the van on the Main land and took the little ferry across to Hoy, the taxi up to the start of the 3 mile walk in and its now raining!

I setup the camera at the top looking across where we thought 'The Old Man' should be, great day for me! Not!. Boys go down the path and all I hear is voices in the mist!


After about an hour I get woken by Simon on the radio saying "wake up and start filming!", Wow what a view, the mist starts to clear and I can make out 3 little figures on the rock infront of me. Yes 3 as Simon has always wanted to climb this route.


Back to the great campsite and a great day was had by all.

Day Ten

Well we are on the road again, this time all the way to Hoy! Looking forward to that.

Here is a list of the routes so far to keep you up todate.

Coronation Street
Malbogies
South Ridge Direct
Gob
Dragon
The Scoop
The Great Prow
Swastika
Shibboleth
Yo yo
Carnivore

The boys are a few routes down but the weather is not looking good for the next few days so we will be back in Fort William in a few days. The van is now fixed (at last) so all ok logistically. The boys are really starting to get tired, legs and arms aching! Still up beat though and having fun.

Photos below from last few days

Cheryl before we got her electrics fixed in Inverness.

The Sherpas getting ready to carry the bags! I thought this was supposed to be 'Hard' for them?

Day Nine - edition two

Check out this Video Link -

http://www.army.mod.uk/news/army_news_current_stories/hard_rock_climb.htm

I so should not have warn that lipstick :0)

Photos below from the last few days.

Day Nine - edition one

Sat at friends house in Inverness, thanks Kathy and Geoff. I will tell the story about Geoff later in the blog, he is one of the reasons we need to raise money for the mountain rescue teams!

We are here because 'Cheryl' is having the electrics fixed (we hope). The boys left early this morning to climb Yo yo, Trapeze and hopefully Carnivore, Rain is falling here in Inverness!!

Dave Simmonite arrived yesterday and getting some great shots, which hopefully I can get on the blog later tonight when we go back to the pub.

Plan is that we have one more day here and then head to do The Old Man. Hoping that the weather inproves as we come back down to finish off the Scottish leg!

The boys are really tired now, but not moaning at all. Dont know how long that will last though. I am very proud at the moment, but they still have a long way to go.

Be back later tonight to let you know how they got on.

Sam

Day Seven and all on Track!

I am sat at the pc in the Lovely Claichaig Inn, its just like The Orange House only in Scotland. Thanks to the guys here for helping us out and letting us sell T shirts etc. Only problem is that the machine is dial-up so no photos until tomorrow when we get to Inverness.

The Scoop was completed when the boys got back to the van at 11pm, another long day, they had a roast dinner and then we started driving again. Only this time we only went half an hour as we had found the most amazing beach at the end of the road. A great view in the morning and Simon even went for a swim! Not sure I will put that photo on the blog though!

Ferry taken at 12 back across to Skye and we sent the boys climbing again at 2pm. The Prow was completed in good time and back at the van at 8pm for homemade soup. I am doing really well with all this cooking!!

Another long drive through the night (I am doing all driving by the way as we did not get Simon on the insurance) to arrive at the foot of Etive Slabs for an early start. Boys left the van at 8am and we hope to meet them any minute now to get them across to do 2 more routes today.

I will update the blog again tonight when we get back in here for a pint!

Thanks for all the comments everyone, they are great. Hard Rock Team

Congrats to the boys they completed Swastika and Shibboleth in one day! well done.

We then all had a great night here watching a band, Rich even managed a little dance!

Day Five - The Scoop

Arrived late at night in strong winds and had to drive up the most scary road! under a large water pipe.

Had an early night, but even so the boys would not get up early in the morning, are they trying to delay me thinks!

We all walked in with every bit of climbing gear the boys have.

No rain and the strong winds have dropped slightly so all looking good, until we try to scramble to the bottom of the climb! too wet and dangerous so the boys rope up! Gues what Rich has the wrong climbing shoes with him (he picked up Marks!) so Simon has a long walk back to get the right ones.

Pitch one at A3 takes Mark 5 hours, then Rich leads pitch two A1 in one hour. They then come back to the van for tea and to refresh ready for tomorrow.

We have booked the ferry out for Thursday so the boys have to do it all today!

Day 5

Base Camp has not managed to get contact with the intrepid explorers today. We can only assume that this is a good sign and that progress is still going well.

Hopefully they made it onto 'Harris' successfully and therefore have no signal to the outside world.

We should have a report back from them sometime tomorrow so will update everyone as soon as possible.

Hope to see everyone in Glencoe on Saturday to cheer on the guys and sell some Hard Rock T-Shirts!!

Pictures from Day One

I have just received some fantastic pictures from Dave Simmonite from Day one, which I thought you would all like to see.

The First two are of the guys climbing 'Coronation Street' and the final picture is of Rich climbing 'Malbogies'

A Long Day Three!!!

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, I have just had a phone call this morning, saying they had another successful day yesterday. The boys had 15 hours on the hill yesterday and got back to 'Cheryl' at 11pm last night. They managed to get both routes climbed on Carnmore and are now heading across today to Harris to begin The Scoop first thing tomorrow morning.

Hard Rock Team Here - (Monday Lunch Time) we are in Portree stocking up on Mountain Food, Keith I hate you for putting up that photo. All ok although the boys are all a little stiff! Also 'Cheryl' is ill she keeps blowing the main fuse for the electrics! why is life never easy?

Day Two completed!

We drove from Bristol to Ardrossan in 7 and a half hours! So a late night for Simon and myself, the boys slept on route.

Alarm went off at 6am and a bit of a panic to pack, make sandwiches and film a short piece to camera! 7am ferry crossing and the boys have left me. Good job really as I need to sleep!

Taxi took the boys to Glen Sannox and then a nice walk up following a good path, pity about the rain.

11,000ft in the rain, all slimy and the wind decided to blow strongest as they attempted the crux! The Y cracks! Sun came out as the boys walked off. We then went and had a nice meal by the sea looking out across the water the Arran.

NEXT MOVES!!!

Tonight we are now driving to Poolewe in the far north west of the highlands so the boys can climb Dragon and Gob tomorrow.

Then off the Skye on Monday morning then the Harris crossing in the afternoon.

IMPORTANT - Next weekend we will be in Glen Coe so come and say hi and bring your wallets as you can buy the T-shirts from us. Saturday night in the Clachaig Inn.

First Day Completed!!

After a great evening in a Cheddar Gorge car park (we managed to have a party in 'Cheryl' with 12 people), the day had finally come to start the challenge.
The day started off well, with the Courier company managing to deliver the Hard Rock Challenge T-shirts which should have arrived two days ago. Thanks to Fluidbranding.com, with all their help getting them to us.

After two hours of radio interviews and filming, the boys finally kitted up and started 'Coronation Street', Rich made great progress on the first pitch, which was not in good condition, the rain then started!!! Mark climbed the second pitch well, with Rich then finally topping out on a wet and slippery route (yes the boys did complete the route in 3 pitches and in a time of 3 hours).

The guys then went on to Avon and also manged to climb Malbogies in under an hour.

That actually means we have managed to complete the first day on schedule (How long will that last for!!) The team are now on their way up to Scotland, with 'Severe Weather Warnings'. So lets just see were we end up tomorrow!!

Thanks to everyone for all the support we received today, especially from Dave and Mikey, and the guys from the Avon and Somerset Rescue Team.

The Hard Rock Challenge T-shirts are now available to buy, and cost £10. All proceeds are going to Mountain Rescue. They are currently being transported in 'Cheryl' around the country, however if you are not going to see them on route, Keith at Rock and Rapid Adventures is also selling them, and you can contact him on keith@rockandrapidadventures.co.uk or 01984 630123.

Only 19 hrs 52 min before we start!

Base Camp looks like a bomb site!! poor Keith, its a good job he is out at work!

'Cheryl came back from Chelston Motorhomes this morning, all fixed and looking great, they have even fitted a flat screen tv! Shame I will have to re mortgage the house in Spain to pay the bill!. In seriousness though we have to say a big thanks to them as they pulled out all the stops and did all the work we needed.

Rich and Simon have just headed off to Exeter to collect Evolv shoes for Rich (not last minute at all!), I have even given him his credit card so he can treat himself. Lets hope he remembers to ask Cotswolds for a discount.

Before they left though I asked them to help me load up 'Cheryl' they messed around too much so I sent them on their way!

The plan is to leave here at about 7 tonight, after a meal, and head up to Chedder to spend the night at the foot of the crag, I could even stay in bed and watch the boys climb!

I will update later this afternoon if anything else exciting happens - watch this space.

Only 1 day 13 hrs 13 mins before we start!

Last night we had our first team meeting at The Mill Adventure Centre, where we are holding our end of Challenge party- Hard Rock Fest - in August.

The first parcel had arrived from North Face and the boys had fun trying on the t-shirts and first layers. Only one problem no water proof jacket for me, and I think the way the weather is looking I might need one!

We have been told that The Army Press people are coming along to Chedder to film the start, and hopefully the local TV will also turn up, I suppose it depends what else is happening in the South West on Friday morning.

Today was a bit of a rest day, Rich and I went shopping in Taunton, mostly for 'Mountain Food', but could not resist the special offer on cheap DVDs, so bought 13 new movies just in case we have to spend hours waiting for the rain to stop! Vertical Limit should keep us all laughing.

David Simmonite has also confirmed that he is coming down on Friday to take photos, I am sure I also heard that he has arranged for some of 'The North Face Team' to come and join us, how many people can we fit in our small motorhome?

Off out now for a meal with friends in a 'real English pub' cant wait.



Meeting now resumed at the Rock Inn, Waterrow nr Taunton.

Simon, Rich, Sam, Keith, Hazel, Jon, Caffrey and Tufu.

Only 3 days to go!

"Cheryl" is now based at Chelston Motorhomes in Wellington. We should have dropped her off yesterday, but the journey from London took longer than we thought!

She is having a new shower fitted and they better make the fridge switch over to gas or we are in trouble.

The Hard Rock Team has now set up "Base Camp" in the kitchen belonging to Keith from Rock and Rapid Adventures. So whilst he is out at work teaching kids to abseil we have a table full of laptops, printers, mobiles phones and loads and loads of maps!

Keith is the guy behind The Hard Rock Festival. This is our end of challenge party on the 18th and 19th August. The Mill Climbing Centre are holding an exciting weekend of activities, talks, Competitions etc.

Check out the website for more details.
www.hardrockfest.co.uk


Only 4 Days to go!

We arrived in the UK late last night after a bit of an epic. We turned up at the ferry port in Boulogne just before midnight to be told that their boats (horrible Speed Ferries) don´t take motorhomes as we are too wide! Even though they took my booking! GREAT!. We have about 5 hours to get Tufa across the channel before we have to find another vet, pay more money and waste more time.

We decide to take a risk and drive fast to Dunkirk (whilst on the phone to my sister to get the ferry timetable for Norfolk Line). We arrive and rush to the ticket desk and buy a ticket for the next crossing! Brill we are so lucky - NOT! the girl who issued the ticket forgot to put Tufa on, so we had to go all the way back around and missed the boat. A few hours later we are finally sat crossing the channel, tired but on our way!

We arrive in London at 4.30am having already done 3,000 miles!

Sitting at my sisters lovely apartment on the Thames we should be getting worried, but not yet, the sunshine is a nice surprise. Will it last thought?

Thanks to Outside shop in Reading, Dan helped Rich to get the right size of Evolv climbing shoes. Now we need to get down to Taunton to set up "Base Camp".

Only 2 weeks to go!

Well in 2 weeks time we will be on the road, which road we don´t know as the rain is causing us some worries!

The van came back yesterday from the signwriters, -Thanks Chris and Teresa she looks great!

Scottish Mountain Rescue donations will soon be able to be made through - Justgiving.com

The Home page on the main website will be updated over the next few days.

The weather is still causing concern, when will it stop raining seems to be all we are saying at the moment.

Simon has now finished plotting all the routes etc and the total miles in the UK to drive is just under 3,000. But, that depends how many times we have to drive up and down to places due to the weather!

We leave Spain in only 3 days time so things are starting to be packed, we will be taking a small break with friends who live in the South of France. Lets hope we can relax and pray for it to stop raining in Great Britain.

Only three weeks to go!!!

Thats right three weeks and we will be on the road.

The British weather is causing concern at the moment, but lets hope that all the rain falls NOW and we are lucky.

We have a new Team Member on board - Simon Fisher.

Simon has taken the role of Logistics Manager and having planned our previous trips to the Alps and Russia he really is "The" man for the job! Si has spent the last week plotting the routes, carparks, even service stations with wifi into his laptop.

We should be able to publicise some sort of itinery in 2 weeks time so people can start to plan when and where to meet us.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Only 5 Weeks to go!

We only have 5 weeks to go and things are starting to get a bit frantic in the Hard Rock Office! (Sun shining outside making it hard to stay on the PC and phone all Day).

We are starting to think hard about the schedule for these 60 climbs. The only fixed thing at the moment is the start date and place - Chedder Gorge.

Then it will be the weather that decides which area we go to next!

It would make sense to go North and tick off the routes as we go, but life is never that easy - Don´t forget the bird bans in place and the ferry crossings needed at the busiest time of the year - we are in for a fun time!

If the weather has been kind then at the moment this is the plan.

Chedder - North Wales - Lakes - Scotland mainland - Old man of Hoy - Scotland main land - Skye - Isle of Harris - Scotland mainland - Arran - Yorkshire - North Wales - Peak District - South West.

Hard Rock goes Public!

Thanks to a few more people....

Look at this great design..........

Duncan Bourne for designing a T -Shirt which you will be able to buy soon! - www.duncanbourne.co.uk

UKClimbing.com published a news item this week and the support we have had from the climbing public is very welcome. A few special mentions need to go to the list below.

Mike Robertson for sending photos to use on the web and blog site - www.wildartproductions.com

Stephen Reid for making the first large pledge - www.needlesports.com

Mike Robertson - Moonraker

We are also in discussions with a few people to make sure that this challenge is caught on film, something which I think has to be done, although I have been told that I could end up as the Sharon Osbourne of the climbing world!! oh dear what have I started?

Lastest News! March

Start Date confirmed Friday the 13th July.

Meet Cheryl - she is going to be our transport, home and office for the challenge! She will be sign written very soon with the Main Sponsors so she will be very easy to spot when we are on the road.

I had a conversation this week with Hugh Cornwell, Director of Chedder Gorge and Caves and he has given us the go ahead to climb Coronation Street. Normally no climbing is allowed in July and August. So thanks Hugh and also Martin Crocker for putting in a good word.

The only condition placed on us is to climb on a Friday, so that seems like a good place to start this challenge.

I am also happy to report that DMM Climb now work later! have confirmed as our main equipment sponsor and UKClimbing.com are on board as the exclusive online news reporters.

Hard Rock - Now part of the AMA 50

The Hard Rock Challenge is now officially part of the Army Mountaineering Association´s (AMA) 50th Anniversary celebrations.

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The AMA, formed in 1957 has been a key player in the development of mountaineering within the armed services. Mountaineering skills are a vital component in warfare and have been put to good use in the Falkland Islands, the Balkans, and the mountains of Afghanistan. The armed forces benefit hugely from allowing their men and women to face the challenge of the mountains and the AMA has a central role in developing these mountaineers.

2007 is the AMA’s 50th Anniversary and major expeditions are planned to celebrate this milestone. This includes a team in the Himalayas attempting Shisha Pangma (13th highest mountain in the world), expeditions to Greenland, Morocco, and the Canadian NW territories and now in the UK this summer - Hard Rock Challenge.