One man versus seven mountains
The Hamilton man who pledged to climb more than 12,000 metres for the Mental Health Foundation is promising to do it all again.
Dan Cosgrove gave himself the mammoth task of climbing 13 peaks in seven days, which he completed on April 29.
He raised $3,093 - tripling his original goal - but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
‘‘Day One was actually probably one of the trickier ones. It was going up Hakarimata three times and that was always going to be tricky,’’ he said.
It was the climb Cosgrove was fearing the most, and on his final ascend, he almost hit a wall.
‘‘I had my family and friends supporting me and when I came down, I was full of energy. It felt like I could go again.’’
Instead, Cosgrove went home to put his feet up and prepare for Day Two: Mt Karangahake.
The summit sits 544m above sea level and wasn’t the original peak. Cosgrove had to find another mountain to climb after Mt Karioi, in Raglan, was closed.
‘‘That was a bit of a barrier. I had to pick another mountain that was just as challenging,’’ he said.
‘‘It was not as high but was still as much of a mission. It was the only day I did without any support crew and it was quite different having no one there.’’
Day Three was climbing Mt Maunganui three times, which Cosgrove did with ease. He then went on to climb Sanctuary Mountain, Mt Kakepuku, Mt Pirongia and Mt Te Aroha.
And now, Cosgrove is plan- ning to do it all again - in one day. He is scheduling the mission for either early or later summer, with the intention to raise more money and aware- ness for the Mental Health Foundation.
‘‘I had a lot of people approach me and tell me they had close friends that suffered from men- tal illness or even themselves. The biggest problem in New Zealand is not talking about it, and this has shown already that it’s getting people talking.’’