Firefighter scales the heights for a very good cause
Chris and his friend showed the youngsters how it is done...
A FORMER firefighter and his climbing partner showed the youngsters how it was done when they scaled a 13,435ft mountain in Malaysia.
Chris Bilby, 56 climbed Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia as part of the centenary celebrations of the Institution Of Fire Engineers (IFE).
Along with partner Ash he also raised over £1,300 for the Fire Fighters Charity to help fellow firefighters in need.
Now a highways officer, Chris and Ash set out on the climb on April 21.
They reached the summit, following an overnight stay, in time for dawn the following day.
Chris said: “Outside of myself and Ashley there were only three others that were in the same age range (old) and none of the other three made the top.
“The other competitors average age was approximately 32, considerably lower than mine and Ashley’s average age of 53.
“The climb was always going to be challenging and neither Ashley or I had expected to achieve anything other than getting to the top hopefully in the allocated time. The temperature was in the 30s with humidity high.
“The times for the competitors were based on; 1st day, starting at Timpohan gate/ Panalaban Base and getting to the lodge at Laban Rata. And then the 2nd day from Laban Rata to the peak.
“We started off in high spirits and in true English style insisted on carrying anything we needed for the two days in our packs, albeit that there was an option to hire porters to carry anything required for the overnight stop at Laban rata, an option that all other competitors took advantage off!
“The climb was well worth it, the first day was slightly cooler and as we reached Laban Rata the low cloud that had obscured the peak and the view over the Kinabalu National Park cleared to give fantastic views.
“The second day started at 1am with several dozen independent groups and all of our group’s competitors heading up the final 800m towards the summit. A line of head torches in front gave us the incentive to pace it out and by the time we reached the plateau at 3929m we only had a handful of climbers in front of us, and none of our own group!
“We pushed on and made the summit at approximately 5am.
“As always with any climb the downhill is always as hard and in most cases the slightly tedious part of the adventure but not on this day; the achievement of getting to the top and the views as the sun rose left a feeling that could not be surpassed.”
The Kinabalu climb was organised to mark the cente- nary of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) which was established in Leicester in 1918.
A dad-of-four and grandfather of two, Chris said he and Ash were funding the trip to ensure all donations went to fire fighters in need.
Despite carrying their own packs, the pair managed to post the fastest climbing times of all the teams.
Chris said: “Overall it turned out that Ashley and I managed to beat all the young whippersnappers with the two of us taking the 1st and 2nd fastest combined ascent times (Ashley was second.)
“The Malaysian IFE branch and organising committee and the national park authorities were the very best of hosts and we were looked after in a manner that left us humbled.
“Overall the trip was an unmitigated success.
“We both got to the top, we won a great victory for all us older folk, and more importantly we have, to date, raised over £1300 for the Fire Fighters Charity.”
You can still donate to reward Chris and Ash’s efforts at their Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chrisbilby