I feel like writing you a letter Planet Earth.

Why do this? 

I think the motivations are two fold. One, to continue from the Eiger Paraclimb 2015 with John's world's first on the Eiger and explore what is possible beyond this.

And two, on a personal level, to continue my journey with John unraveling what personal gains I get from such things as sight guiding in such dangerous environments. I also want to understand what it is about all this that makes me happy and more fulfilled as a human being. It is obviously a meaningful thing otherwise I would never have set foot back on the Eiger, or began plans for this adventure for adventures sake.

Jay & John Churcher on the summit of the Eiger in July 2015

John Churcher is one of the most courageous climbers I have partnered with and I have had some extreme life experiences that have demanded a level of mental control and physical determination to endure beyond what most may call the 'norm'.

So beyond our more obvious personal objectives of paddling a tandem kayak together across 500km of Norway's amazing fjords and rivers that will eventually lead us to the Troll Wall, we will then attempt to climb as a Paraclimb, there has to be something more for me.

On my return from the Eiger Paraclimb, I realised I would need to rest from the big project, not physically, that took a week or so, but mentally recover from the 6 months of planning, the life changes that the Eiger Paraclimb induced, the pulling together of a film crew, funding for the Paraclimbers and equipment sponsorship to make the climb as safe as we possibly could with the best contemporary equipment on the planet.

I thought long and hard about what we could do to genuinely influence some other peoples life's for the better with this project because the Eiger Paraclimb was more obvious in the tangible direct influence it had on the individual Paraclimbers' lives and we wanted to go beyond John's personal benefits of accessing more adventure and personal challenge from just exploring new adventurous terrain from his visually impaired perspective.

 I felt it had to be personal for me also. Because when your shoulders have to grow twice the size to deliver on the physical strength and endurance required to paddle the 500km and my mind cope with dangerous situations involving a tandem canoe through Norway and climb the tallest wall in Europe with my blind partner, then all this has to be worth something more. 

The Eiger brought me exactly what I wanted in my life, a clearer definition of who I was and who I wanted to be going forward in my life and most importantly it brought me to Suzi, my exceptional partner and friend. 

Suzi & I at Charity Climbing Competition for
 CAC in Nottingham, in UK

Isolation is possibly one of the worst experiences you can endure and it turns a human being's view and experience of this naturally wonderful planet earth from an awe-inspiring positive human narrative to a very lonely planet...

Planet Earth

 ... And so we will use the project to try and raise awareness for mental health and well being issues especially within the deaf communities through adventure and climbing…

Dates set, now we begin plans, writing our letters and preparing the story board for commissioning the documentary, develop a workable sponsorship strategy, learn new skills on the water and train hard for the 500km paddle and the long Paraclimb, collaborating with equipment manufacturers and fundraising for climbout.co.uk and deafclimbing.co.uk .


#TrollWallVoyage