Success At The Three Peaks Challenge!

On Saturday 5th July, Giles Hawke, Haydon Williams and Bob Dixon from Carnival UK together with Simon Robinson, Marc Bennett and Steve Vaughn from Thomas Cook took on the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mt. Snowdon within 24 hours. The day was to present us with many challenges, some natural and others quite unnatural. One of the unnatural challenges was transport between the peaks. Even at the height of his record-breaking powers, Roy Castle wouldn't have attempted to cram 6 large fellas and all their mountaineering clobber into a Vauxhall Zafira. Poked in the ribs by each others walking poles and taking it in turns to inhale, it was as cosy as an iron maiden.


But of the five climbers four were ex-holiday reps, men toughened by seasons of flight delays and hotel overbookings. Heroes of this calibre laugh in the face of hardship and chortle at the prospect of discomfort. (Marc had never been a rep but he used to play rugby for Harlequins which is nearly as tough!)

Our first peak was Ben Nevis, which was a delight. A very pleasant tab (Paratrooper word for 'walk') up a beautiful mountain with some well marked paths. The recommended time was 6 hours and we polished it off in 4.31. Scafell Pike on the other hand is a piece of hell that has burst through the earth's crust and just kept on growing. Every one of nature's best ankle-snapping devices thrives in great abundance on this accursed peak and we were very happy to be off it but still managed to chip a half hour off the recommended climb time. We started our ascent of Snowdon at 11.30pm, wearing head torches. Looking like a delegation from the NUM, it was a solid yomp (Royal Marine word for 'walk') to the summit, part of which was along the track of the railway, the head beams reaching eerily into the foggy gloom. At the summit we established that we had two hours remaining in which to reach the foot of the mountain.

Exhausted after nearly 22 hours of climbing everyone knew that it would take a supreme effort to make the deadline. At this point, the weeks of training kicked in as we unsheathed our muesli bars and popped our dextrose tablets with practised ease. Charging off the mountain everyone closed their minds to the complaints issuing from respective feet, knee, calf and thigh departments, arriving at the finish post more or less on our chin straps but crucially in time to complete the challenge in 23 hours and 46 minutes. We felt that there was a certain cavalier panache in cutting it so fine!

Standing: Steve Vaughn, Marc Bennett, Giles Hawke, Bob Dixon
Crouching: Simon Robinson

Our success was in no small part down to the navigational skills and nerve of the driver, Haydon Williams who navigated unerringly (well almost) between the peaks as speedily as possible. Bearing in mind that Haydon is normally a Porsche driver, he extracted a level of performance from the Zafira (kindly donated by AVIS) which you won't ordinarily find in the owner's manual.

In all it was an amazing experience and the muscle aches were soon replaced with the warm glow of achievement. Most importantly, thanks to the generosity of those people who sponsored us, we have managed to raise a substantial sum for Action Medical Research and know that this will be spent wisely in funding further advances in medicine. If you would like to sponsor us 'after the event', you can make a donation at www.action.org.uk/~gileshawke

This coming weekend, Giles Hawke, Haydon Williams and Bob Dixon join a team from Thomas Cook (together we're the 'Carnival Cooks' - we spent hours dreaming that one up!) to take on the challenge of the Three Peaks. Starting at 4am, the team will climb Ben Nevis before navigating unerringly to tackle Scafell in the Lake District and then proceeding to Mt. Snowdon in Wales, which we aim to ascend at about 11 pm that night. The Three Peaks Challenge is a supreme test of physical endurance and team work, undertaken only by the supremely fit or the hopelessly insane. (We're still not sure in which camp we belong.) Every year, many people who attempt the feat never return and the shrieks and wails of the lost souls can often be heard echoing off the valley walls. Even some of those who do make it are never quite the same again, adopting the thousand yard stare of the terminally bewildered and often given to bouts of speaking complete gibberish (e.g. Peter Shanks, Michael Whales, Rachel Noel and Katy Rabjohn who have all done this before!)
This year, we will be walking in aid of Action Medical Research. This is a charity which has been making medical breakthroughs for over 50 years improving the health and quality of life for millions of people. Among the advances Action Medical Research has been wholly or partly responsible for:
The first British Polio vaccine
Artificial hip replacement surgery
New treatments for epilepsy
Specialised treatment of burns injuries in children
New tests to improve the chances of successful bone marrow transplants
Utrasound scanning in pregnancy
Action Medical Research continues to make important discoveries and advances. The Charity is currently looking for answers to premature birth, sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy, stroke, epilepsy and osteoporosis.
Any one of these medical challenges puts climbing three peaks in 24 hours into perspective. But with your support and a little bit of sweat and foot odour on our behalf, we hope to make a significant contribution to advances in these areas.
We would be really grateful if you could sponsor us on our quest. To make an on-line donation, please click on the link below, it's perfectly safe. Because Giles occasionally errs on the side of egocentricity, he has created the donation site in his own name. However, I can guarantee that any donation made on that site is in support of the whole team!

Baby Joy For The Mults Team

We're delighted to let you know that Paul Beale, Account Manager for the Multiples is now the very proud Daddy of Oliver Clive, born at 13:55 on 13th June weighing 7lbs 11oz.

Baby, Mummy & Daddy are all doing well!

Three Peaks Challenge - Update

Bold and intrepid Carnival UK sherpas Giles Hawke and Bob Dixon report that training for the Three Peaks Challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell and Mt. Snowdon within 24 hours) is going well. Giles has purchased some walking shorts with a guaranteed anti-cshafing mechanism and Bob has moved down to low tar cigarettes. Ever wise after the event, we realised that the restaurants and cocktail lounges of Ventura, were possibly not the best venue for pre-season training. However, a recent 23 mile preparatory walk over the South Downs lead to some important learnings for the team. Learning 1: Don't have a curry the night before. Learning 2: Boots which aren't broken-in, cause blisters. All valuable intelligence in our preparation. Otherwise the day was a success. Deciding that oxygen cylinders and crampons were a tad OTT, we left them at base camp (carpark in Winchester) before advancing carefully up the northern face of Twyford Down. Here, with the aid of a complicated system of ropes and pulleys, we liberated the potato salad from Giles' rucksack. After this restorative, we proceeded with the technical assent of Old Winchester Hill, pausing at the trig points at the summit to admire the view, salute the Queen and eat a muesli bar. Our final assault on the lofty peak of Butser Hill (270m) was a supreme test of will and equipment. With iPod batteries spent, no bars of service on our mobile phones, and suffering from the twin scourges of the high altitude mountaineer (sore feet and boredom of each other's jokes), we opted for the eastern traverse before ducking down the craggy gully to the base of the mountain. This got us to our goal of the QE2 Country Park where we enjoyed a manly ice cream.

Meanwhile, team anchorman and IT Director Hayden Williams is boning up on how to work a Sat Nav and learning the curves and bends of the road between the three peaks so he will be able to drive it in his sleep. This will be a salutary competence since that is almost exactly what he will be doing come July 5th.

Our colleagues at Thomas Cook who will be joining us on the day are preparing with equal vigour, though as with their mergers, they prefer to keep tight-lipped about their training. We will be meeting up with them for one more practise, this time on 22nd June, when we'll all get our first sight of a real hill - Mt. Snowdon.

If you would like to sponsor the team 'Carnival Cooks' for the 3 Peaks Challenge in aid of Action Medical Research, please go to www.action.org.uk/~gileshawke & sign up!

Many thanks in anticipation of your sponsorship.

Congratulations to Ruth!

Congratulations to Ruth, Sales Assistant for the South East & London on becoming Mrs Ruth Venn 2 weeks ago out in beautiful Mexico.

More Baby Joy For Complete Cruise Solution

Following the arrival of baby Thomas in the North East region last week, we're delighted to say that Hayley Legg, Account Manager for the South East gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Sunday night. The baby has been named Harley Thomas & weighed 6lbs 9oz. Mum & baby are doing well!

Giles & Bob take to the 3 Peaks Challenge

July brings a massive challenge for myself, Bob Dixon and four other travel industry friends, when we aim to conquer the UK’s 3 highest peaks in less than 24 hours. Our fitness, willpower, mental strength and teamwork will be put to the test when climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon to raise funds for our charity Action Medical Research.

Action Medical Research is one of the UK’s most forward thinking charities. They believe diseases and disabilities can be beaten, and through medical research they are creating a healthier future for everyone. They have been making medical breakthroughs for over 50 years – including helping develop the UK polio vaccine, ultrasound scanning in pregnancy and the hip replacement operation – saving countless lives and preventing disease and disability.

Currently the charity is looking for answers to many serious illnesses, selecting the best research projects in areas where they are most likely to find cures or treatments.

£3,000 Fundraising Target!

I would be delighted if you could sponsor myself and the rest of the team in this amazing challenge and help us to achieve our fundraising target.

If you would like to make a donation, no matter how small or large, please click here.

If you can also indicate with your donation whether you are happy for gift aid to be collected on your behalf,
Action Medical Research can claim back the tax you have already paid on that money. Thank you in advance for your support. Updates and photos from our training climb on 18th May and after the challenge will be posted here over the next few months!

Best regards,

Giles

A New Addition To The North East Team

Congratulations to Rachel Wood, Regional Sales Manager for the North East who gave birth to Thomas on Saturday 15th March. Mum, Dad & Baby are all doing well!

Well done Rachel, we can't wait to see a photo of the new addition to the family!

Midlands Field Team Survive Earthquake

It started at 1am on Wednesday 27th February in Lincoln.....

Helen Green, Regional Sales Executive reported; "The earthquake measured 5.2 on the richter scale & it sounded like a cat was trying to get out of my wardrobe"





Sarah Phelps, Trade Relations Executive who was staying overnight in Peterborough, said; "I was shaken but not stirred by the event"

Complete Cruise Solution Member Saves A Life

Lucy Guy - Sales Assistant Extraordinaire, was just going to sleep last night when she heard a noise outside . At first she thought it was a car alarm and peered out of her window. She realised after a short time that it was a smoke alarm and that it was coming from her neighbours house. Lucy alerted her father who went next door and couldnt get any response. Lucy could see what looked like steam through the windows and realising it was smoke, she called the fire brigade. Two fire engines came and saved her neighbour who had accidentally fallen asleep whilst waiting for his dinner to cook. Lucy is being very modest about it but we think she is a hero.

The New Additions to the McIntosh Family Have Arrived!

We're delighted to say that Kirsty McIntosh gave birth to twins on Monday 28th January. Kirsty & her partner Jamie have named the new additions to their family Emily & Finlay and all are doing very well, see below for a sneek preview....

Congratulations to Mark Pilkington & Julie Warne

A huge congratulations from all at Complete Cruise Solution to Mark Pilkington on his promotion to Head of Sales and also to Julie Warne following her promotion to Head of Reservations.










Picture: Mark Pilkington