Mother of all things good

The trip in general has been the brainchildren of 3 guys - Kirt, Wes, and Charlie. Kirt claims to have had the idea whilst saving burning children from a monastery by carrying them on his shoulders bare-foot across broken glass... or something like that... I tend to tune out whenever somebody enters into travel anecdote territory. But I must say, when I retrieved the application form attached to Glen's email from my deleted items (I have an automatic rule setup for his emails), I was impressed.
I was sold firstly on the fact that the sport being played was cricket, and not some activity that was designed to keep sportsman fit such as walking, cycling, or Aussie Rules. Secondly was the uniqueness of the location. I've always been sold on Quirkiness... real quirkiness, not Phoebe from Friends wacky sitcom quirkiness... and this is something nobody has ever done properly before. The PCA did something similar ** last year, however not to this extent, nor was it an actual game of cricket. Upon mentioning this, my mother's first point was 'but you've never done anything like that before'. Upon taking a few moments to rack my brain, it did become apparent that I had never, ever played cricket on Mt Everest before.
Add this to the great causes benefiting from this and it makes the trip something to be genuinely proud of. A fact that inspired some heated words towards the Executive Producer of Cricket AM the other morning. Thirdly was the ol' chestnut, meeting new people. Fourth was the fact that there is a payment plan. And for somebody with all the self-control of a chimp during mating season, the payment plan was the deal-breaker.
Since that cold morning in April I've witnessed what could only be described as outstanding organisation, planning, and enthusiasm from the guys. To coin a phrase, these guys know their shit and it's be an educational experience watching how their plans are unfolding. There have been loads of exciting developments as to sponsors and people willing to get on board, which is a direct result of the effort these guys have almost solely put in. More of which will be revealed later....


** The PCA did raise £35k for their benevolent fund, which is obviously a great effort and nothing to be sneezed at.