A sponsored live in the snow above a ski resort without a tent. I attempted this last year but inadvertantly got engaged and thus distracted but now I'm back, still engaged, and eager to give it another go. Currently I'm testing some kit and working out the logisics. There are various things to consider; how not to freeze to death, how to spend time with my fiance, how not to get carried away by an avalanche / yeti and how to not let this interfere with my job.
Friday, 3 June 2005
Day Three, Rain and a Mosquito
I spent a happy day being told by my workmates that it was going to rain, true enough it started to rain. Not that I was worried as I had a cunning plan. After work I went down to the Cotswold camping shop on Piccadilly to buy a Bivi bag (a Gore-Tex sack that is big enough to stick yourself and your sleeping bag in), this way I would not break the no tent rule and I would get to stay dry."Sorry, we have to order them in, should be here in a week" said the chap in the shop helpfully. Hmmmm.Stocked up on food and jumped on the Oxford Tube.Oxford was looking a bit damp when I got there so I was forced to shelter from the elements in The Duke - hard business this sleeping out.Having fashioned a shelter from an Army poncho I had a very pleasant evening watching the river whilst sitting under a chestnut tree. Best of all the shelter kept me dry so I felt very pleased with my self. Earlier in the day I had bought a small radio alarm clock but had not set the time, I guessed what time it was before I went to sleep.Had quite a comfortable night that was only disturbed by a mosquito buzzing in my ear every hour or so. I awoke to the dulcet tones of radio 4. I looked over at my alarm clock not realising that when the radio was on it displayed the frequency rather than the time, 9.38 it said. Leaping from my bed I was packed in a flash, no afraid that is not true. Ah ha I thought, I am already late for work and it will take me a couple of hours to get there so what is the point in rushing? None. I turned the radio off and the time flashed up, it really was time to get up; dammit. Begrudgingly I got up, packed, checked I had left no sign of my presence other than crushed grass, and ran (ish) to the bus stop.The Oxford Tube in the morning is great; they give you a paper Danish and a carton of fruit juice. They also have a clock on board; it said it was 6.09, a very different time to my alarm clock which I had set by guess work. There is very little traffic on the road that early in the morning and so I was at work by seven thirty. I went for a shower before breakfast, looking at the mirror I discovered an egg shaped lump on my forehead - a gift from the mosquito.