2004 started with the arrival of Simon’s sister’s baby, Charlotte Grace Mealing, who was born on 7 January weighing 7lb 2oz. This was a very exciting time for the whole family and particularly for Simon as he became an uncle for the first time.

At the end of January we took ourselves off to Dublin for a weekend of sight seeing including Trinity College and the Guinness Storehouse before sampling many of the bars and fine restaurants.

The annual Mountaineering Club trip to the Lake District provided us with the first chance of the New Year to get out in the mountains. We were treated to the first snow of the year and, fully tooled up with ice axe and crampons, we were presented with plenty of opportunities for winter ridge walking and gulley climbing.

Having fallen off a maniac horse earlier in the year, Jillian thought she would try her hand at the safer sport of orienteering. However, on the first outing of the year she managed to trip up, end up face down in the dirt, and crossed the finish line covered in scratches and with a badly cut lip! Subsequent outing have proved less eventful and we have both enjoyed a number of weekend events since.

In May we enrolled on an improvers rock climbing course at Plas Y Brenin in Snowdonia where we spent the week consolidating and advancing our climbing skills on some of the UK’s classic routes.

On our return, our builder finally turned up and started our long awaited extension which is now finished and awaiting decoration.

Towards the end of August we set off for the Mediterranean island of Corsica to attempt the toughest long distance trek in Europe, the GR20. Having spent many weekends earlier in the year walking and scrambling in the Lakes, North Wales, and Brecon Beacons in preparation, this was the highlight of the year for us.

The trek involved twelve days of relentless slogging and scrambling over the wild, mountainous interior of Corsica, traversing the island diagonally from the north west to the south east, carrying all the kit necessary to be self sufficient. We spent each night bivvying at a different remote mountain refuge where we caught up with many of our fellow trekkers that we had met along the way.

On successfully completing the route, we spent a couple of days sight seeing and sunbathing on the beaches of southern Corsica.

After the excitement of the summer, November saw another big family event in the form of a surprise 60th birthday party for Simon’s mother.

Having not stretched ourselves for some months, we entered the Grim Challenge in Aldershot in December. This involved an 8 mile cross country race across the Army’s tracked vehicle training range, wading through waste high cold muddy water, and scrambing under camouflage netting. Of the 1331 participants, Simon completed the challenge in the top 28% and Jillian in the top 56%.

Next year we have booked ourselves on a winter mountaineering course in Scotland as training for a possible expedition later in the year to climb the volcanoes of Equador.

We have also, rather stupidly, agreed to take part in the High Peak ultra marathon in March. This involves a 42 mile race, at night, in teams of four, across the Derwent watershed in the Peak District.

We look forward to seeing many of our friends over the Christmas period and catching up with others in the Near Year. We wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Simon and Jillian, December 2004