TRIGLAV TREK 2022- I WILL SUMMIT UP FOR YOU

Every year the team at Messagemaker Displays with friends like to push themselves above and beyond for charity. Over the past few years, they have trekked Toubkal, dashed around Dingle, swapped their beds for cardboard boxes in winter, slept rough for the night, and more. This year we have taken it to a whole another level. That level is above the clouds! Yes, we went to the clouds and above. After two failed dates, now third time lucky it was finally time to take on the mighty Mt Triglav! This is Slovenia’s largest mountain and it stands at 9396ft, just shy of 3,000m in elevation we climbed this mountain for over two days. Who are we fundraising for? The charity for this year’s challenge is The Children’s Trust, the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury. Located in Tadworth (local to our Messagemakerdisplays HQ) the trust runs a range of specialist care, education and therapy services for children and young people from across the UK and is the UK’s largest rehabilitation centre for children with acquired brain injury. Day 1 The only way is up… we climbed a total of 5,025ft elevation. The team walked just over 5 miles to get to the mountain hut, which doesn’t sound like a lot but with the steep elevation and rocky terrain it took the team just under 5 hours to climb. Starting out at the bottom the adventurers were all very chatty but it didn’t take long for it that change to breathless chatting. The beautiful Slovenian landscape included a walk through a beautiful herd of cows and they were lucky enough to spot a couple of Ibex, who looked incredibly graceful walking up and down the side of the rocky mountains, unlike our scrambling team! After a tricky steep hike, the team reached their base for the night on Mount Triglav and were greeted with blue skies and a well-earned Slovenian beer. When they finally decided to lay their heads down for the night, they were not in for a quiet night. On top of the snoring and sleep talking, an almighty storm surrounded the mountain hut, throwing in hail, thunder, and lightning … very very frightening! Day 2 Winter is coming! Up to the Summit, 1200ft elevation. Forget whatever heat wave England is having, after the storms and hail and snow, the team got dressed for North Pole weather…never underestimate extreme and unpredictable mountain weather. Leaving the mountain hut at 4.30am with the mountain guides, the team was all ready with the safety equipment to make the journey to the summit. The summit is about a 2.5km scramble and climb, taking around 1.5 hours each way the climbing route (via Ferrata)… What is a Via Ferrata, you may ask? Well, a Via Ferrata is a mountain pathway that consists of a series of rails, cables, and bridges that lead you from the starting point to the end, walking next to the rock’s face, is a tad scary. There were so many technical sections, if you are not one for heights then this is not for you. That climb was an uphill battle, the struggles some of them were facing were not fun. The fear of falling, fear of heights, and the concentration on where your next footing is got the adrenaline pumping. When we made it to the top it was all downhill from then! Eventually, after scrambling and climbing on feet, hands, and even our bottoms, they finally made it. The views were beyond incredible, with all the endorphins kicking in, the team felt (literally) on top of the world. While they were physically tired climbing up to the peak, it was more about the mental fatigue going down. There was a lot of sliding on bottoms and crawling down, there was no graceful like the mountain goats! The Messagemaker Displays team was joined by friends from Balfour Beatty, Gatwick Airport, Nebosh, Tennants UK, and more. They are proud to share with you that just over £15,000 has been raised for the Children’s Trust. Thank you all for your support and donations, this fantastic amount of money, and will go a long way in helping this fantastic charity.

For more information on TRIGLAV TREK 2022- I WILL SUMMIT UP FOR YOU talk to Messagemaker Displays Ltd