Project Altitude
12th August 2009 15:43
World renowned GB swimmers Marc Woods and Steve Parry, both Olympic medalists and close friends have been learning some new mountaineering skills in the Alps with My Peak Potential’s Dave Bunting and John Doyle.
Marc Woods, who had his left leg amputated because of Cancer when he was just 17 years old, has already climbed some pretty impressive routes including Mera Peak in Nepal and Cotopaxi in Ecuador. Since then he has managed to persuade friend and fellow Olympian Steve Parry to join him to find out what all the fuss is about!
The aim of the weekend was to give Marc and Steve an introduction to Mountaineering and prepare themselves for their up and coming venture which they are currently working on with the help of My Peak Potential..Project Altitude.
The training consisted of; a couple of days to cover the basics in technique and rope work, a trip onto a glacier to learn about mountain safety and exposure to the snow and ice, Culminating in a day’s climbing to one of the higher Alpine summits.
Dave and John started them off on some good classic rock climbing routes, closely followed by their camera crew who were recording the start of this fantastic project for the two friends! They both progressed very quickly and seemed both surprised and pleased with what they had achieved so far!
Day two saw them learning both new skills and practicing the previous day’s lessons. Crampons and Ice axes at the ready, they made their way up the glacier. They were then allowed to strike their ice axes in anger as they attempted a great Ice climbing route and stepped into the realms of the real mountaineers!
With all these new skills under their belts the next day’s plan was to reach a high summit. However 60-70 mph winds higher up the mountain put paid to this excursion. As luck would have it though, that evening the boys bumped into an old friend and local guide who pointed them in the direction of a brand new Kelttersteig or Via Feratta as it is sometimes known. He rated the route highly and so it was decided.
Both Steve and Marc thoroughly enjoyed the day on the Klettersteig and with elements such as increased altitude and exposure they still had plenty to test them. Having achieved so much during their three day Mountaineering introduction the two former Olympians will now continue their close partnership with My Peak Potential as they move into the next stages of Project Altitude. My Peak Potential’s experience in Expedition planning, climbing and leading will put Marc and Steve in a fantastic position to make Project Altitude a huge success.
