SA man aiming to climb Table Mountain every day is well on his way to reaching his target
Remember at the beginning of the year we reported on a man who wanted to climb Table Mountain every day for 365 days in order to raise money for various charities?
It’s now April and we thought we’d give you some feedback on how Andrew Patterson, now aptly referred to as ‘Mountain Drew’ is doing in his endeavour to climb a mountain a day on every day of 2018.
Since he began this mammoth task on 1 January, 38-year-old Patterson has hiked more than 667km, with 70km of that being vertical climbing. This is the equivalent of almost 19 Mount Everest climbs.
About his achievements so far, Andrew says, “I’ve learned how patient I am, and relearning how steadfast I am when it comes to committing to something bigger than myself. Truth be told – I’m only just beginning to learn what I’m capable of as I scratch the surface of my challenge this year.”
And although this was his initiative, Andrew has never been completely alone. So far, 184 climbers have accompanied Andrew up Table Mountain and have also contributed generously to his BackaBuddy campaign.
At the time of this story being published, Andrew had raised a total of R169 094,04 because of almost 160 generous donations.
Overwhelmed by the response, Andrew says, “This entire experience is even greater than I ever imagined. The people I get to meet, the conversations that we have on the mountain, the enthusiasm for people to get behind this to make a real difference in this country (from as far away as New Zealand and Iceland) has been mind-blowing. It goes to show that you can never fully grasp the full power of an idea until you act on it and start to see it blooming.”
On days when it hasn’t been as easy to get up and go, Andrew is spurred on by his engagement with other hikers and his beneficiaries.
He says, “I was invited build a house with Habitat For Humanity and had the privilege to interview Masande, one of the daughters that would be leaving the shack with their new home being built as we speak. It gave me tremendous spirit to hear her speak and share her dreams ideas and aspirations.”
Andrew admits that it hasn’t always been easy, and recalls that his 26th climb was the most difficult.
“The wind was exceptionally strong with gusts of up to 80km/h at the top. The Tablecloth cloud was essentially reaching the road it was so strong. Walking up in wind like that is dangerous in the sense that once you stand tall after taking a step you can get blown off the mountain, so each step you need to remain as close to the ground as possible and pretend to be Gollum from the Lord of the Rings!”
Today, the 10 April, Andrew will complete his 100th climb and he’ll be conquering one of Table Mountain’s most challenging routes – The Left Face Mystery, which is set to take about 3,5 hours to complete.
If you’d like to get involved with Andrew’s campaign, click this link to make a donation which will also enable donors to attend a climb with Andrew on the day of their choosing.
