Climbers set for cancer cash assault on Everest

TWO mountaineering friends are planning to scale Everest to raise money for research into cancer.

Phil Purdy, 50, of Brighouse and Jeff Crooke, 60, of Norwich, share a love of adventure and a determination to help beat cancer. Leaving in March 2012, they now plan to climb to the top of the world and raise £150,000 for Cancer Research UK.

The pair are no strangers to climbing. In 2009 the Yorkshire Post told how, after 18 months of planning and training, Phil and Jeff scaled Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, the sixth highest mountain in the world (8,201m) and just 20km away from Mount Everest.

By doing so, they managed to raise more than £100,000 for Cancer Research UK to support research into bladder cancer at the Leeds CRUK Centre.

From the top of Cho Oyu, which took them 45 gruelling days to climb, they could see Everest in the distance and the seed for their next challenge was planted.

Married with four children, Phil lost his father to lung cancer in 2002. He works for Yorkshire Water in Leeds and is a keen fell walker and runner, having completed several marathons, including the London Marathon in less than four hours.

“It’s our ambition to climb Everest and it’s Cancer Research UK’s ambition to beat cancer,” says Phil.

“Both challenges take a great deal of stamina, team work and the support of many. By supporting Cancer Research UK we’re hoping to help some amazing research make a real difference and give others the chance to make and meet their own challenges.”

Jeff, managing director of Lintott Control Systems Ltd in Norwich, is married with two grown up children. He has had a lifelong fascination with high, snow-capped mountains.

“I am extremely fortunate in that I have never experienced the suffering caused by cancer at very close hand but, like many others, see the devastation it causes to those who do and to those often left behind.”

To conquer Everest, Phil and Jeff will follow Hillary and Tenzing’s route via the South Col. It will take about 72 days for them to make the Everest ascent to the summit at 8,850m, allowing for acclimatisation to the treacherous conditions that include the debilitating effects of lack of oxygen.

This time they have chosen to raise money specifically for research into oesophageal and pancreatic cancer at the Cambridge CRUK Centre, as people close to them have recently been touched by these diseases.

They have set a target of £150,000 for this, their biggest challenge.

Phil and Jeff share a love of fell walking, which helps tremendously when developing fitness for their expeditions. They have done all of their mountain climbing together and their summits include Mont Blanc (4,800 metres), Chopicalqui (6,400 metres) in the Andes as well as Cho Oyu.

They will be doing a series of training and fundraising events in the lead up to the Everest expedition, including cycling, running and climbing.

Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, Harpal Kumar, said: “Cancer Research UK has made enormous progress in the fight against cancer. However, we have only been able to do this thanks to the dedication and commitment of our supporters, without whom we would not be able to fund outstanding scientists, doctors and nurses. I’ll never be ceased to be amazed by the lengths that some people go to in fundraising for our research, and Phil and Jeff are certainly no exception. On behalf of everyone at Cancer Research UK, I wanted to pass on my very best wishes to them both for the ascent of Everest next year and to thank them for their incredible fundraising efforts.”

For more information on Phil and Jeff’s Everest challenge and to support their fundraising, visit www.everestchallenge2012.co.uk

“SACRED MOTHER” HAS CLAIMED 216 LIVES

Mount Everest is also called Chomolangma, meaning “Goddess Mother of Snows” in Tibetan and Sagarmatha, meaning “Mother of the Universe” in Nepalese. The mountain, which is sacred to those who live in its shadow, is the world’s highest, with a peak at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas on the Nepal side of Nepal-China (Tibet) border

By the end of the 2008 climbing season, there had been 4,102 ascents to the summit by about 2,700 individuals. By the end of 2009 Everest had claimed 216 lives.