Paul’s crawl for 12 HOURS to conquer big Ben
ADOUBLE amputee from Widnes has crawled to the summit of the UK’s tallest mountain.
Paul Ellis, 57, climbed Ben Nevis using only a pair of gloves and knee-pads to support himself.
After conquering Snowdon last year, Paul climbed to the top of the Scottish Highlands mountain in 12 hours, raising more than £5,000 for child amputees in the process.
He said climbing Ben Nevis was “about 10 times as hard” as climbing Snowdon.
“It was just hard graft all the way to the top,” he said.
“We had about 30 people there in support on the day, which was smashing. Twelve hours it took us - 12 hours of crawling.
“I was quite emotional when I got to the top, just because of the effort and what it took to get there - the emotion of being there with everyone on the mountain. It was a big team effort on the day. everyone was behind me.
“I couldn’t move. I was bad for about two days and couldn’t stand up or walk.”
Paul was joined by fellow amputees Debbie and Ben Lovell, founder of charity Amp Camp, which sends amputee children on much-needed holidays to Tenerife.
Paul describes the Amp Camp team as being “like a big family”, having previously walked the Brecon Beacons and Devil’s Kitchen in Wales with Ben.
“The one I was raising funds for [Amp Camp Kids] was for the children, so they can all be together, and they go on activities. It’s all paid for by [fundraising].”
“They do all sorts of things, from trips to exercise, all together.
“It’s just an amazing charity to be involved with.”
Sherpa Keir Nicholson organised the climb and accompanied Paul.
He described the journey: “Conditions in the morning were lovely.
“There [are] a tough few points in the early stages to crawl over and Paul negotiated them with ease.
“We were fortunate with the weather and, with the help of his support team and sherpas around him, arrived at the base camp around 11.30am.
“A monumental effort was put in by Paul to achieve this and we couldn’t have been prouder of his morning’s work - we’d smiled, laughed, sung and danced our way to the base camp”.
After a pitstop, the team began the second leg of their journey. Keir said: “Taking in the impressive waterfall, Paul rolled up his shorts and crawled through that, around the first looming bend of Ben Nevis and into the imposing Zig Zags.
“[The] weather started to become unfriendly and rolling mist brought colder, damper conditions. [At] around 1,000m of the 1,345m Paul was attempting, he was now starting to stop more and more frequently, becoming quieter and starting drained.
“Paul had hit a wall head on at about 5.30pm and with concerns for daylight hours and a safe return, was asked how he felt about going on, knowing the even tougher conditions he’d have to face in the last 200m of ascent.
“Paul told us he was going on and he could do it in the time left.
“This seemed to give Paul the second wind he needed and within an hour, he’d crawled through the final snow-filled boulder field, crawling through 2ft-deep snow.
“The summit stone was now in sight and the speed Paul went over the plateau and onto touch the summit stone was electrifying, like he only just started out crawling.
“The view Paul had for his achievement was breathtaking - clear skies and snow-covered rock faces all around us; the team had become Arctic explorers, too.”
Keir added: “Once out of the cloud we were able to enjoy the views and took a leisurely walk down to meet the rest of the team waiting to greet us, with cheers, applause, and homemade steak wraps from our friend Craig.
“We all reflected on what Paul and the rest of the team had achieved.
“It was my pleasure and privilege to be given the opportunity to arrange and lead this climb with Paul this weekend. I couldn’t be prouder of my friend and the cause he raises the funds in need of, Amp Camp Kids.
“Paul spent the rest of the journey home thanking me, but, in realty, it was the team that had to thank Paul, because none of this was possible without ‘The Machine’ Paul Ellis.”
Paul, who surmounted Ben Nevis on Easter Sunday, April 17, is continuing to raise funds for Amp Camp Kids. to look extremely