Lisburn Architect Faces Everest Challenge  OCT 28 2009

It’s not a challenge that would entice many people – coping with long miles of climbing, freezing temperatures, sudden blizzards and the threat of altitude sickness, but the chance to climb part of Mount Everest comes but once in a lifetime.

It has been the yardstick for personal challenges since Sir Edmund Hillary set foot on its summit in 1953 and now Aaron Hill, project architect with Lisburn based Knox & Clayton architects, hopes to go some way to emulating that achievement when he sets off on October 29 to Nepal to climb to the base camp at Mount Everest.

The former Wallace High pupil who lives in Hillsborough is tackling part of the tallest peak in the world. The trip sets off from Lukla in Nepal heading northwards towards Everest Base Camp, a 12-day effort culminating on the summit of Kala Pattar at 5545m (over 18,000 ft). This is over 700 metres higher than the greatest peak of Western Europe, Mont Blanc. The hard days spent trekking will be punctuated with rest periods to allow walkers to acclimatise to the high altitude. Aaron hopes through his efforts to raise money for Cancer Research UK, the UK’s leading cancer charity.

Aaron will be joined on the challenge by his girlfriend Nicky Finch, an HR manager in Northampton. The couple first met on a previous charity challenge when they both signed up to cycle from St Petersburg to Moscow, a distance of 570km, in aid of Action Cancer.

This time they are raising money for Cancer Research in honour of the memory of Nicky’s late step Dad, Chris Abbotts, who lost his painful battle against cancer only last year. To date they have received pledges of donations totalling more than £1,000 and hope to increase this total over the coming weeks.

“Originally the trip was simply an adventure for ourselves,” said Aaron. “But given how many people have since commented on and been impressed by the nature of the trip we plan to undertake, including lots of hard work at high altitude and with the ultimate goal of reaching Everest base camp, we decided to put our efforts to charitable use by raising money for a worthy cause.”

Aaron will be taking three weeks away from his work at Knox & Clayton to complete the trip and Senior Partner Ernie Knox said he was delighted to support Aaron. “As a project architect Aaron is used to tackling new challenges and the team at Knox & Clayton are all very confident he will rise to this one too. “It will be an extraordinary achievement for bothhim and Nicky and we hope people will support them generously with their fundraising.”

To sponsor Aaron & Nicky on their trek, visit their on-line fund collecting website at www.justgiving.com/nickyandaaron

LEFT: Nicky & Aaron
Knox & Clayton project architect Aaron Hill and his girlfriend Nicky Finch getting some hiking practice in Iceland in preparation for their Nepal trek to climb to the base camp at Mount Everest.