 This will be the biggest challenge of my life but it will be worth it if I can reach my fund-raising target. | | Chris Kerrigan |
While most of us are still tucked up in bed at 4.30am, Winchcombe postman Chris Kerrigan is just beginning his day. When he's finished that, he starts his gruelling training to be one of just a few people chosen to embark on an Everest Expedition Trek to raise funds for the charity Scope.  | | Chris tests out his gear |
It's 50 years this year since Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing reached the summit of the highest and most famous mountain in the world and in commemoration of the anniversary, Scope is aiming to raise more than £150,000 in a special trek by amateur walkers, like Chris. He'll be trekking at high altitude for 14 days to reach the base of Everest and then the summit peak of Kala Pattar at over 18,000 feet high, and is hoping to achieve his fund raising target of £3,500. The money will help those who suffer from cerebral palsy, their families and carers. In preparation for the gruelling event, Chris is devoting weekdays and weekends to training in which he has to be able to climb steep hills for as long as six hours a day, day after day. "This will be the biggest challenge of my life", explained Chris, "but it will be worth it if I can reach my fund-raising target through the support of local people and companies." 
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Chris Kerrigan - preparing for the trek
Chris Kerrigan normally gets up very early to deliver mail in the Cotswolds. But all that's about to be replaced by howling winds and freezing temperatures... (November 2004)
