We had our family moon in Tenerife. Myself and Joanna were married in October '23 and our friends and family had put towards our family moon, this was to be a very special holiday, our first holiday abroad as a family of 4. It felt like an age for the holiday to come around but it was finally here.
As part of our holidays we try when we can to put a fundraiser together and involve the kids. On this holiday it was for myself to solo summit Mount Teide 3718m and then also summit Pico Viejo which stands at 3135m with Cameron in aid of Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. A lot of planning had went in before leaving for Tenerife but the weather for the mountains was looking unstable for the 2 week outlook. Although I had the fitness and Cameron is now very comfortable with the osprey bag. I had also made changes to the bag to protect Cameron from the elements which we have tested successfully in the Scottish mountains in winter conditions, it would still be the weather that was the final decider to this challenge.
We had 2 weeks in Tenerife so plenty of time to pick a weather window. It turned out there were 2 windows. One window on the night of the 20th which I would use to climb Teide and then 5 days later conditions calmed which would allow an attempt with Cameron on Pico Viejo. On the night of the 20th I left the car at 20:30 and successfully summitted Teide at 2am, I'll put a separate blog for this one as it was epic. The idea was to get a bit of altitude acclimatisation, although it was only 1 trip and no where enough time at altitude it would allow me to gauge where my fitness was and how the altitude would effect my adventure with Cameron. I had solo summited Mont Blanc last year so was very aware of the effects on altitude on the body and that was with me doing a full week of acclimatising before attempting Mont Blanc.
In-between Teide and the planned hike of Pico Viejo myself and Cameron completed a few hikes in and around Los Cristianos. Nothing too big but enough to get the legs working and Cameron comfortable in the osprey. I find if he doesn't use the bag for long periods it takes him a little time to get used to it. These hikes were great and he enjoyed walking in the sunshine when out of the osprey. We found ourselves spending more time sitting around and playing, very different to winter trips in the Scottish mountains.
On the morning of the 25th we set off early to arrive at the car park at the start of the hike. We were going to use the number 3 trail which joined the 23 which would lead us to the summit. We would start at 2000m and climb to 3135m so just over the hight of a Munro from sea level. The forecast was good and although there was fresh snow fall on Teide it was not as low at Pico Viejo, you can see in the picture of Tidie, Pico Vijco is lower to the left. We arrived at the carpark and it was 5 degrees. The terrain is like something from another planet and was used for the film planet of the apes where the astronauts land on a planet not known to them, I'm sure Cameron could relate to this. The peak was looking to be in the minus side of the thermometer by the time we reached it but we had our heat pads at the ready. As always safety was paramount so we had all our winter gear and emergency shelter plus our Garmin In reach device as a back up.
We left the car with Cameron holding my sticks and walking happily along, he was full of beans this morning. The full scale of what we were attempting lay before us and it felt good, really good. We passed a few people and Cameron was on top form interacting with them and he kept pointing to the top of the mountain. He went back in the bag after 30 minutes and I got the bag pipes on the speaker. We have found a love for the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. They take modern songs and play them with the pipes, its truly inspiring listening to them. They almost give you a lift when your needing a little extra motivation.
We had reached 2400m quite quickly and I was surprised at how easy it was feeling. I had prepared mentally for 6 hours of pain but this wasn't coming to much but there was still plenty of time for that to change. At around 2500m I felt a change in the temperature mostly due to the wind that was starting to blow. At this point I wasn't worried as these peaks are renowned for winds and there had been a constant blow since leaving the car. Cameron was good and by now he had fallen asleep and was unaware of the chaos about to be unleashed by the weather. Whilst he was sleeping I was constantly checking the thermometer inside his suit just to ensure his temperature was spot on.
Then it hit us, at 2700m it was like someone had flicked a switch and we were in a wind tunnel used to test aerodynamics. It was blowing a hoolie. I quickly took shelter behind some large rocks but even at that it was still catching us. I assessed an updated forecast and this wasn't predicted. At this point I knew we would need to retreat down the mountain. We had reached the limit of the risk involved when it comes to the wind. I'm super clear with my limits whether it be daylight hours, turn around times or I'm just not feeling it, if it goes beyond what I have committed to before leaving for the hike with Cameron then we turn around, same goes for Faye.
Its the first time I have failed to complete a fundraiser and it didn't feel good. I've rode 400 miles in one go, summited Mont Blanc solo, climbed Ben Nevis in winter dressed as Santa and the list goes on but this was the first time I felt what I was feeling just now. Cameron was still asleep at this point so thankfully he only woke up with around 30 minutes back to the car at which point we were low enough the wind had slowed considerably. I got him out of the bag and I could see some confusion in his face. Why hadn't he been allowed to touch the top, I'm sure he muttered bad dad lol.
We arrived at the car, we left with only a few cars in the parking area but by now it was carnage. Its the carpark used for viewing the area the planet of the apes was filmed. It took us 20 minutes to get out but as we left we looked once more at the peak we had aimed for, inside I know myself and Cameron will successfully summit it, just not today.
On reflection there is nothing I would have done differently although I would have waited to launch the just giving page after the attempt. We will now do something just as tough but will be in the UK. When you have such a precious cargo the usually tough decisions become very easy.
Well done Cammi....you got so close!