Matterhorn Ascent with Dad!
Donation protected
As many of you may know, my Father was a keen mountaineer...
He always dreamed of conquering the iconic Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, but unfortunately never achieved it. For those that aren't aware, my Father sadly lost his battle with lung cancer on 23rd of May. I am so grateful that lock down kept us grounded in the UK, when we were due to be in India all this time. We got to spend everyday with him for the last 10 weeks of his life and shared many amazing moments that I will cherish for ever.
He got to see our business skyrocket during lock down and finally understood what we were doing. This was so important for me. I always wanted to make Dad proud...even though he always was no matter what I did!
With our passion for travelling and no fixed abode for the last few years, Dad playfully called Vaida and I 'digital gypsies' asking when we were going to settle and 'get serious!' However, when he witnessed us working 15 hour days over lock down, with clients from Australia, Japan, Puerto Rico, to all over the States, Canada and Europe, he soon realised how serious we were and what we where achieving, working with and helping people all over the world. Being a Harvard Business School man, he was absolutely fascinated and blown away by our online global business. I used to sit in his Harvard chair in his office and debrief him every night, as we would discuss all things life, poetry, classical music, economics, death...and of course The Matterhorn.
Even well into his 70's he would come downstairs and announce to us all that he would still climb the Matterhorn, to which my Mum jokingly replied 'Jon...you cant even make it up the bloody stairs!'
I guess it was pretty ambitious of him, at his age with two false knees...but then again Dad always was a big dreamer!
Even in the last few weeks before he passed, I used to walk into his study in the evening, only to catch him doing virtual climbs and helicopter tours of the mighty Matterhorn on Youtube. He really did find it so captivating and mesmerising.
Dad's unwavering positivity and courage throughout his terrible illness were truly inspiring. He developed a very bad cough and I would frequently run into his study to see how he was...to which he always replied 'Fine Scotto, just a drink going down the wrong way'. Literally hundreds of drinks must have gone down the wrong way over the last few months!
We used to head out for walks as much as possible, but of course the walks got shorter and shorter. Every time he would say 'I've really got to do something about my fitness when I'm better'. Of course it was his 'fitness' in his eyes and nothing to do with having stage 4 lung cancer!
A few days before he passed, mum and I went into the bedroom to see how Dad was doing. He woke up and gave us a smile and big thumbs up and proclaimed 'I feel great...I haven't had a power nap like that in years! I think I've turned a corner now' Haha...Power nap! Dosed up on morphine and fighting the latter stages of his illness, he'd literally been asleep for the last 24 hours! Mum and I love this story as it epitomises Dad! Positive mental attitude until the end.
He also developed a a very bad back in the last few weeks, as the cancer moved to his spine. Of course Dad would just say that he had pulled a muscle though and that he had felt this many times before. I used to give him long massages and tell him how I could feel the tightness and knots in his muscle, of course knowing full well what was going on.
When we had carer's, doctors and nurses coming to the house towards the end, Dad would spend the whole time complimenting them telling them how amazing they were. He would tell them jokes and stories about Australia and Skiing adventures!
What a guy!
So I have decided to honour my Father and finally get him up the Matterhorn. I will climb it with Vaida (my fiancee) and we will sprinkle his ashes on the summit. We aim to summit on 31st August - Dads 80th Birthday!
I contacted a few guide companies and when they asked my climbing experience, they sounded somewhat bemused and astonished when I said I did a few climbs in Wales with Dad when I was 15 years old. They said how about any work with crampons and ice axes at altitude? I said no but we have done a few sessions on indoor climbing walls!
I insisted that Vaida and I are both super fit though and determined to make this happen!
So one company has put together the following training program to get us up there.
> Bonjour Scott,
>
> Here is a program made for you:
>
> Day 0 : meeting with the guide and night in a hotel*** Chamonix
> Day 1 : rock climbing day in Chamonix - night in hotel
> Day 2 : Albert 1er training glacier - night hut
> Day 3 : Summit 3000m : mix rock climb with mountain shoes + glacier +
>
> night hotel
> Day 4 : Chapelle de la Glière , rock climbing with normal shoes-
> night
> hotel
> Day 5 : driving to Zermatt, Hornli hut - night in the hut
> Day 6 : summit Matterhorn
>
> The first 4 days you have one guide for you 2 and then for the climb
> of
> the Matterhorn you have a second guide joining you.
>
> The price is 3600 € per person for this program including:
>
> 4 nights in a hotel *** B&B
> 2 nights hut (albert 1er + Hornli) half board
> packed picnincs for lunch
> cable cars (except day 1 as you probably will stay in the valley)
> going to Zermatt with the guide's car
There are lots of additional costs of flights, insurance and equipment and I estimate the whole trip will cost around 9000 Euros.
If you would like to contribute to my Dads last journey up the mighty Matterhorn, any help would be greatly appreciated.
I shall be keeping you posted and sending you pictures of us at the summit!
Thank you so much and hope to see lots of you at my Dads full memorial service, so we can share lots more amazing stories about the life of this incredible human being!
He always dreamed of conquering the iconic Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, but unfortunately never achieved it. For those that aren't aware, my Father sadly lost his battle with lung cancer on 23rd of May. I am so grateful that lock down kept us grounded in the UK, when we were due to be in India all this time. We got to spend everyday with him for the last 10 weeks of his life and shared many amazing moments that I will cherish for ever.
He got to see our business skyrocket during lock down and finally understood what we were doing. This was so important for me. I always wanted to make Dad proud...even though he always was no matter what I did!
With our passion for travelling and no fixed abode for the last few years, Dad playfully called Vaida and I 'digital gypsies' asking when we were going to settle and 'get serious!' However, when he witnessed us working 15 hour days over lock down, with clients from Australia, Japan, Puerto Rico, to all over the States, Canada and Europe, he soon realised how serious we were and what we where achieving, working with and helping people all over the world. Being a Harvard Business School man, he was absolutely fascinated and blown away by our online global business. I used to sit in his Harvard chair in his office and debrief him every night, as we would discuss all things life, poetry, classical music, economics, death...and of course The Matterhorn.
Even well into his 70's he would come downstairs and announce to us all that he would still climb the Matterhorn, to which my Mum jokingly replied 'Jon...you cant even make it up the bloody stairs!'
I guess it was pretty ambitious of him, at his age with two false knees...but then again Dad always was a big dreamer!
Even in the last few weeks before he passed, I used to walk into his study in the evening, only to catch him doing virtual climbs and helicopter tours of the mighty Matterhorn on Youtube. He really did find it so captivating and mesmerising.
Dad's unwavering positivity and courage throughout his terrible illness were truly inspiring. He developed a very bad cough and I would frequently run into his study to see how he was...to which he always replied 'Fine Scotto, just a drink going down the wrong way'. Literally hundreds of drinks must have gone down the wrong way over the last few months!
We used to head out for walks as much as possible, but of course the walks got shorter and shorter. Every time he would say 'I've really got to do something about my fitness when I'm better'. Of course it was his 'fitness' in his eyes and nothing to do with having stage 4 lung cancer!
A few days before he passed, mum and I went into the bedroom to see how Dad was doing. He woke up and gave us a smile and big thumbs up and proclaimed 'I feel great...I haven't had a power nap like that in years! I think I've turned a corner now' Haha...Power nap! Dosed up on morphine and fighting the latter stages of his illness, he'd literally been asleep for the last 24 hours! Mum and I love this story as it epitomises Dad! Positive mental attitude until the end.
He also developed a a very bad back in the last few weeks, as the cancer moved to his spine. Of course Dad would just say that he had pulled a muscle though and that he had felt this many times before. I used to give him long massages and tell him how I could feel the tightness and knots in his muscle, of course knowing full well what was going on.
When we had carer's, doctors and nurses coming to the house towards the end, Dad would spend the whole time complimenting them telling them how amazing they were. He would tell them jokes and stories about Australia and Skiing adventures!
What a guy!
So I have decided to honour my Father and finally get him up the Matterhorn. I will climb it with Vaida (my fiancee) and we will sprinkle his ashes on the summit. We aim to summit on 31st August - Dads 80th Birthday!
I contacted a few guide companies and when they asked my climbing experience, they sounded somewhat bemused and astonished when I said I did a few climbs in Wales with Dad when I was 15 years old. They said how about any work with crampons and ice axes at altitude? I said no but we have done a few sessions on indoor climbing walls!
I insisted that Vaida and I are both super fit though and determined to make this happen!
So one company has put together the following training program to get us up there.
> Bonjour Scott,
>
> Here is a program made for you:
>
> Day 0 : meeting with the guide and night in a hotel*** Chamonix
> Day 1 : rock climbing day in Chamonix - night in hotel
> Day 2 : Albert 1er training glacier - night hut
> Day 3 : Summit 3000m : mix rock climb with mountain shoes + glacier +
>
> night hotel
> Day 4 : Chapelle de la Glière , rock climbing with normal shoes-
> night
> hotel
> Day 5 : driving to Zermatt, Hornli hut - night in the hut
> Day 6 : summit Matterhorn
>
> The first 4 days you have one guide for you 2 and then for the climb
> of
> the Matterhorn you have a second guide joining you.
>
> The price is 3600 € per person for this program including:
>
> 4 nights in a hotel *** B&B
> 2 nights hut (albert 1er + Hornli) half board
> packed picnincs for lunch
> cable cars (except day 1 as you probably will stay in the valley)
> going to Zermatt with the guide's car
There are lots of additional costs of flights, insurance and equipment and I estimate the whole trip will cost around 9000 Euros.
If you would like to contribute to my Dads last journey up the mighty Matterhorn, any help would be greatly appreciated.
I shall be keeping you posted and sending you pictures of us at the summit!
Thank you so much and hope to see lots of you at my Dads full memorial service, so we can share lots more amazing stories about the life of this incredible human being!
Organizer and beneficiary
Scott Wilkie
Organizer
Vaida Vaiciulyte
Beneficiary