Northamptonshire childhood friends climb Island Peak to raise thousands

Leeches, snowstorms and aching muscles did not stop two childhood friends from taking on the almighty challenge of climbing in the highest mountain range in the world to raise thousands of pounds for Breast Cancer UK. 

Over the course of three weeks, Oli Caswell and Ashley Marshall not only trekked to Everest base camp, a whopping 5,364 metres high, but then went on to climb nearby peak Imja Tse, more commonly known as Island Peak. 

The pair, who grew up together nearby in Northamptonshire but now live in London, have been best friends since primary school. The idea of trekking to Everest Base Camp first took root over a few beers during their university days. However, it became a reality sooner than they’d expected. 

Why Breast Cancer UK?

In 2020, Oli’s mum Lesley was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Lesley had been diagnosed with breast cancer twice previously and thankfully recovered both times. But in 2020 she received the news that it had returned and was stage 4. As well as having to cope with the devastating news, she also had the added complications of the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic at the hospital.   

Oli’s mum’s diagnosis prompted the duo to rethink the Everest trip and to now do it to raise money for a charity close to their hearts. 

Oli said: “It was obviously very, very unlucky for her to receive such a devastating diagnosis in the first place, but it’s been a miracle since then as she went on a relatively new drug called Ibrance and it’s been extremely effective.  

“Due to the incredible success of her treatment, she was able to have both the primary and secondary tumours removed. She now only needs check-up scans every three to six months and has been no evidence of disease for the last year or so. Breast Cancer UK is a fantastic charity that is close to our hearts so we’re so glad we could raise money for it.” 

‘The start to the trip was not the smoothest…’

The start to the trip was not the smoothest as the weather was ‘brutal’ due to being very early in the trekking season which normally starts in September. 

“We had literally two sunny days in three weeks. The weather was absolutely brutal. Steep uphill climbing whilst covered in mud and drenched through, even though you’re wearing waterproofs. We also had one section where we got covered in leeches. At first, I thought it was a stone in my shoe but after looking I realised it was this huge leech. Then Ash pulled his trouser legs up to reveal that he was covered in them!” Oliver added. 

For the first few days of the trip the friends, both 28, stayed in Kathmandu and planned to fly to Lukla Airport – one of the highest airports in the world and the closest airport to Everest. Previously dubbed as one of the most dangerous airports in the world, it is regularly closed due to bad weather.   

“It’s this tiny little runway off the side of a mountain, it looks extremely dangerous. On the day that we were meant to fly into Lukla all flights were cancelled which meant instead of flying in, which took about an hour or two, we had to take a 15 hour Jeep ride into the mountains travelling in the same storm responsible for the flight cancellations!” Oli said. 

The detour meant the friends had to walk further than expected on their first day, clocking up about 13 hours. 

When they reached Everest base camp, after a gruelling week and a half trek, it was a very misty day but as the sun rose it started to clear and they were rewarded with an incredible view of the mountain range. 

Oli recalls: “It was mind-blowing really. These huge peaks, the biggest peaks in the world, all around us and it just takes your breath away. It was quite magical in a way.” 

Not satisfied with one mountain endeavour, the pair walked a couple of days to reach base camp of Island Peak which features a 150 metre steep gradient known as the ‘Ice Wall’ and is often climbed in preparation for Mount Everest itself. As they neared the summit, the weather took a turn for the worse again and 200 metres from the top it was unfortunately deemed too unsafe to go any further, with the pair even witnessing a nearby avalanche. 

Oli, an avid traveller, had some previous mountain climbing experience having trekked in Nepal before and Ashley had climbed some UK peaks, but both had never hiked these heights previously. 

Surprisingly, the pair only underwent some basic climbing training before the trip and were instead given a ‘crash course’ once arriving in Nepal. 

“Once we’d actually completed Everest base camp, we then had a crash course in climbing which was a little bit hairy to be honest!” added Oli.  But the duo were in safe hands and accompanied by two very experienced climbers who had summited both Everest and Island Peak many times.  

Looking back on the trip, Oli was glad to have his best friend with him. 

He said: “I was so relieved and happy to have him there because it was a big mental battle at times. Having your best mate there, you can just laugh about stuff when things go a little bit wrong. So that was massively helpful in the tough times.”  

Oliver’s employer NeoHealthHub, which is now part of Cencora, has been a great support and were already supporting Breast Cancer UK. The company helped with a significant donation to the trip and lots of his colleagues also helped in sponsoring via their JustGiving page which now totals nearly £6,000. 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Over 55,000 women and 390 men a year are diagnosed with the disease. Yet around a third of these cases are preventable. Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding different chemicals and other environmental factors that could affect breast cancer risk can all help to prevent the disease. 

If you would like to take on a challenge like climbing the Island Peak to raise money for Breast Cancer UK, check out our fundraising page here.

• awareness
• BCUK
• Breast cancer
• breast cancer prevention
• Breast Cancer UK
• cancer
• Challenge
• charities
• Fundraise
• prevention