Yesterday, Mrs Elphinstone delivered an assembly to update us on her trip to the Himalayas. She told us of her strenuous climb up the mountain, explaining the many hurdles she came across. Each day her journey was packed with challenges. She described how she climbed ‘15-20 kilometres a day’ and saw ‘villagers march on forever with planks carried over their backs’ as they made a new suspension bridge. Mrs Elphinstone talked of her admiration for their grit and determination to succeed, that not one of them could give up as they had to work as a team to support each other.
Mrs Elphinstone made her journey with her daughter, Charis, who she took with her in case she needed some extra encouragement and support. Their journey was by no means luxurious! They would sleep in a barn stall every night; they didn’t eat meat for four weeks; there was no hot water for the majority of the trip and finally, she made us all gasp by saying ‘there were no loos’ just a hole in the ground in a shed outside!
One day while Mrs Elphinstone was climbing, she saw a sign saying ‘LANDSLIDE AREA STEP GENTLY’. This scared her, but she ventured on. Suddenly her guide shouted ‘RUN’ and as she ran as fast as she could she looked behind her and saw that some of the big rocks on the mountain had started to fall. ‘On we pushed’ now climbing at 5,416 metres.
On the last night before they would reach the peak of the mountain, a terrible storm came. This resulted in 1.5 metres of snow, but luckily the morning was bright and clear so they carried on. She told us that ‘my heart was pounding and my lungs bursting’ but on she went and eventually they reached the summit. There were tears of triumph, joy and exhaustion, but most importantly an overwhelming sense of joy that she had fulfilled her challenge that would help raise money for a little girl to come to Francis Holland School, to receive an education that otherwise she might not be able to have.
As Christopher Robin said to Pooh Bear, ‘You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think’. This is so true of Mrs Elphinstone and her incredible challenge!
Leah, Lyra and Rose, Head Girl and Deputy Head Girls
To read more about the Annapurna Challenge, please click here.
