Clubs back Denis in Everest bid
The Sunday morning snow, driven by an easterly wind, swirled around the Cois Abhan community hall in Freemount last weekend, while inside the members of the Duhallow Vintage Vehicle Club gathered to register, prior to the start of their first run of 2018.
The members were oblivious to the biting cold outside and enjoyed coffee, tea and scones before they embarked on their day trip to Bunratty.
The group was welcomed to their first gathering of the year by chairman Willie Hogan, who wished everybody well on the day. He also had another very pleasant duty to perform as he presented Freemount mountaineer Denis O’Brien with a cheque, on behalf of the club members, to defray the costs associated with his attempt to climb Mount Everest in May.
John O’Sullivan also presented Denis with a cheque on behalf of Duhallow Wheelers Cycling Club, with which Denis was a former cyclist.
Accepting both cheques, Denis thanked the members of the Vintage Club and Duhallow Wheelers Cycling Club for their support in his quest to summit Everest. Denis explained that he had been active in athletics since 2003, running and cycling with the Duhallow Wheelers Club, and latterly in mountain climbing. He related briefly to the members how he had come to this point where he was attempting to meet the ultimate challenge to summit Everest.
“I climbed Kiliminjaro in Africa, Mont Blanc, Mount Eiger, the Matterhorn, the latter on two occasions, and Aba Dablam, which is the nearest peak to Everest in technical terms, to win a place on an international team to climb Mount Everest this year,” he said.
“Like undertaking any challenge in life, one has to be prepared both physically and mentally for climbing these peaks, and that entails long hours of training and hard work to achieve the required level of fitness, for success. I think I have reached this stage of preparedness and I hope to come back and tell you all about it,” concluded Denis.