The saga continues
Written by changthai11 on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
NEWS Makers
The saga continues
Nick Spencer is looking to do some good on his birthday
KRISSIE NA KLONGTOEY
About half a year ago Newsmakers ran a story about former Thailand-based expatriate, Nick Spencer, who has allegedly been going through what his wife, Kai, calls “a particularly severe case of late life crisis”.
Instead of celebrating his 70th birthday in the way most other people like you and I would, he decided to forego his birthday party and embark on a mountain trek - an attempt to climb two 7,000-metre peaks in the Himalayas in fact, and to donate $70,000 (2.38 million baht) to two of his favourite charities: The Karen Hilltribe Trust (Registered charity No. 1093548), with foundation honorary Chairman MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra a patron of the Nick Spencer 70th Appeal, and The Cairn Trust, Child Aid in Rural Nepal (Registered charity No. 1120038). His hope is to convince friends to add to the kitty and bring the total donation to $250,000 (8.55 million baht). Hence, the appeal.
Although Nick keeps extremely fit, his last major climb was almost 30 years ago. To prepare for the adventure, he has done almost 3,218km of fast walking over the Cotswolds since the beginning of the year, recruited an ex-army personal trainer to whip him into shape, and did a Winter Mountaineering course on Ben Nevis in Scotland, which, at 1,344m, is the UK’s highest peak.
When the story reached the ears of HRH the Prince of Wales, he sent Nick a letter of support saying, “I am full of admiration for Nick’s extraordinary determination and generosity in undertaking these climbs. Whether very brave or foolhardy in the extreme, he is undoubtedly a genuine British eccentric - but thank God for individuals willing to risk their all in a noble cause.”
Meanwhile, back to Nick. His plan had been to attempt the climb the Tibetan side of Everest in May 2008, but he hadn’t counted on the unrest in Tibet, which has prevented him from getting an entry visa.
He postponed the climb to August/September 2008, and if things had worked out according to plan, he would be now on the north side of the Everest preparing to summit. As it was, despite declaring Tibet was now safe and open to visitors during the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has yet to open up access to the Tibetan side of Everest, which will remain closed through 2009 (the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet, interestingly enough).
So Nick started exploring other opportunities, and has decided instead to attempt to conquer Mount Aconcagua in Argentina this December, spending the Christmas and New Year holidays on the mountain and summitting in early 2009.
Though Mount Aconcagua does not boast the magic 2,133m number, Nick says it is “the nearest attainable peak close to those in Tibet I was originally trying for.”
He is consoled by the fact it is the highest mountain outside Asia, and considered more physically strenuous than Everest because of its harsh environment, with very unpredictable weather at that.
“The plus side is that I can tango in Buenos Aires afterwards with my wife, Kai,” he added.
To overcome the frustration with all this delay, he recently joined his daughter’s boyfriend, Stuart Forsythe, in a parachute jump Stuart had organised to raise funds for the two charities. The jump required a 4,114-metre free-fall “for 40 seconds at a terminal velocity of 193 kilometres per hour and five minutes under the parachute”. Kai, for one, was not amused.
And just in case you’re worried, Nick’s expenses are coming out of his own pocket, not the donations.
DONATIONS:
Karen Hilltribes Trust Foundation, Khrung Thai Bank, Asok branch, account no. 015-1-53414-4, account name Foundation for the Karen Hill Tribes in Thailand; or see http://www.karenhilltribes.org.uk/ or http://www.cairntrust.org/ for the Nick Spencer 70th Appeal.
