Where did you get the idea from?
‘It came up when I was on holiday in Cambodia and visited the Angkor Hospital for Children. The terrible things I saw in the hospital touched me. And the idea of a sponsored climb grew out of that. Of course you have to come up with something attention-catching and that was the Luzzone dam in Switzerland, at 165 metres the highest climbing wall in the world. Annelise, a fellow member of the student climbing club IBEX, was enthusiastic about the idea straightaway.’
Already training hard?
‘Yes. It is new to us to climb in stages, making a hold for yourself every time. We have to do that because we cannot take up enough rope for the whole climb in one go. But the main thing that makes the climb so tough is the psychological factor: you are climbing a totally flat wall. All around you, you can see nothing but concrete. That’s enough to make even the most experienced climber feel a bit queasy.’
Luckily all your efforts will not be in vain.
‘That’s right. We hope to raise 10,000 dollars in the end, which will all go directly to the hospital. We are busy raising funds. Even a small amount makes a different: for one dollar you can vaccinate five children. That thought motivates us tremendously.’