Stairway to the Stars

Posted by Patrick

November 24, 2008

Apparently the stars will be following in our footsteps after we climb Kilimanjaro next year.

Yep, according to the reports of a certain daily newspaper, the likes of Ronan Keating, Gary Barlow, Cheryl Cole and Denise Van Outen will all be scaling the heights for another worthwhile cause.

Gary Barlow who is organising the trip said: “The other people on the climb feel similarly, so it made sense to ask them to join me. I have chosen the people I want to be stuck on the side of a mountain with, even if we are the least likely you would expect to find there.”

I guess this is a valid point. Will our cheeky office banter transfer to the side of a mountain slope when Neil and I get our walking boots on? Put it this way, if we do tire of each other after a fifty mile walk up a steep gradient, it probably makes sense for us both to keep away from the edge once we reach the top!!

Joking aside, it is only as the training schedule unfolds and my research into past and future climbs continues that I really begin to comprehend the mental and physical challenge that lies ahead.

4,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro every year, although only 1,400 actually reach the top of the 5,895 meter peak. Around 100 climbers die of altitude sickness on the mountain every year.

I’m comforting myself with the fact that celebrities wouldn’t risk such an unglamorous demise!

Hmmm, with that in mind, I am debating on whether I should hit the pub after work or the treadmill?