2005 started with a party for Simon’s niece’s first birthday before we headed north for the Mountaineering Club’s January Lakes trip and annual dinner.

In February we spent a week in Scotland with Jagged Globe on one of their winter mountaineering courses revising all the skills that we hope to put into use in the Alps at some later date. Unlike most mountaineering trips, we stayed in the very comfortable 4 star Ballachulish Hotel just outside Glen Coe and were treated to gourmet cooking every night. The instructors were first rate and we got lots of graded winter climbing done during the week.

One of the highlights of the week was meeting Alan Hinkes, Britain’s leading high altitude climber and the first British climber to summit all of the worlds 8000m mountains, at the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven and getting some technical pointers from him on ice climbing technique.

The remainder of February was spent finalising training for the High Peak Marathon which took place on the first Friday in March. At 42 miles in distance and starting at eleven o’clock at night in teams of four, this was not your average run. Unfortunately, four hours into the race, after running across the frozen peat bogs of the northern Peak District, one member of our team badly twisted his ankle and we had to retire from the race. Disappointed, but undeterred, we all agreed to have another go next year.

After a few weeks rest we were off to Val d’Isère for our annual skiing trip. Having been downhill skiing every year now for many years, next year we may try our hand at cross country skiing as we both fancy having a go at hut to hut touring in Norway.

On his return to work, Simon was told that his and a lot of other jobs were likely to be made redundant due to a major global restructuring. This was not the best start to a Monday morning! Redundancies were eventually handed out in May and Simon found himself with a period of enforced leisure to enjoy. At least the summer was now on its way!

As we spend a lot of our summers in French speaking areas we decided it would be a good idea to brush up on our French. So, at the end of August we spent two excellent weeks in the Loire valley on an intensive French language course where we both absorbed lots of French (not to mention lots of French wine, cheese and gourmet cooking!)

October finally arrived and with it the long awaited and long trained for Beachy Head Marathon. This time it was a conventional length marathon but one with over 3,500 ft of height gain including all of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head! Along with four other members from the Mountaineering Club, we both managed to complete the run in a respectable time (Simon in 4:41 and Jillian in 4:48).

We’re both looking forward to a quiet and relaxed Christmas at home before another full and active year. We hope to catch up with many of our friends over the festive period and wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Simon and Jillian, December 2005