Here we go again!

Almost a year has passed since I sat on this very sofa, with the same over-heating laptop, probably drinking the same Chilean "Buy 3 for £10" red wine, watching the same episode of Friends on E4, when I decided to do my first ever blog! Or, as it was eventually to be known - "A licence for Tim to take his endless waffling and opinionated, controversial thoughts online"

The reason? Well, I was trying to create some kind of extra interest to last year's challenge which was, (just in case the recession and OPEC has wiped out your memory as well as your bank account), the 24-hour 3-peaks charity challenge. Or, at the risk of putting you all through it again - http://3peakscharitychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/03/its-got-to-start-somwhere.html.

So it is with a sense of pride that I can sit here, with a belly-full of Balti and a head-full of timeless "Chandler-isms" that I can say "Been there, done that". (Oh, and "Could I BE any more proud?"

The aftermath of that epic trek was a glorious one. So much to gloat about, so many stories - the tears, tantrums and M74 traffic management systems (Don't get me started again!). But the best feeling of all was the double satisfaction that it was "mission accomplished" and our 2 nominated charities got a bundle of cash to carry on their great work.

It should have been the perfect ending to a perfect year of preparation. But, (and there's always a "But"), it left with me a sense of wanting more. A deep-rooted feeling that what me and my fellow walkers had achieved was great, but we could do better. A bit like a "B minus" on your school report, an MP3 rather than an Ipod, a Burton's suit rather than a Hugo Boss, a Sirloin steak rather than a Fillet! Ok, you get the picture! So inevitably I was going to crave an I-tunes down-loadable slab of Beef which would give me a glorious, "stick-it-in-a-gold-frame" Grade A......with a silk lining......and a posh bag!

So, here we go again! And this time, it's BIG! And by "BIG" I mean,....erm,.... well, really really really BIG! Bigger than the Barclay's Bonus Scheme, bigger than BP's list of enemies in the Gulf of Mexico, bigger even than Stephen Fry's list of twitter-disciples. Actually, I do have a tendency to exaggerate, but hey, I think you're picking up on my over-excitement here.

And "Big" to a fell-walker is that 19,340ft lump of Volcanic Terra-Firma lying, rather obscurely, in the heart of Africa. Yep, it's "Kiliman-Fearn-Cotton-Jaro!" The world's largest free-standing mountain and surely the "Ultimate Challenge" for any fell-walker who has no intention of becoming a permanent ice-sculpture on the North East face of Everest. Conquered by many including, let's face it, Chris Moyles, this magnificent Tanzanian oxygen-thief is worshipped by altitude-gainers the world over and it's mere name conjures up feelings which make the 3-peaks challenge sounds like a mere stroll in the Safari park.

Perhaps it was fate that led me to be sat one fine Autumnal day last year next to Liz Oakes, from http://www.childrentoday.org.uk/ and after the obligatory pleasantries and introductions, she revealed to me that she'd just returned from a successful week-long ascent of "Kili". I was hooked, enthralled, excited, (over excited to be honest) and poor Liz was tortured for the next 2 hours by my endless questions about the African peak. "Is it easy?", "Can anyone do it", "What's altitude sickness like" and "I don't care how much I gotta raise, sign me up".

And so, after another much calmer meeting later that week during which I didn't perspire with excitement at all, (Right Guard works on Foreheads too!) I was left holding an application form. A piece of paper which, if I filled it out, would commit myself to joining the elite club of people who can proudly say "I've done Kili ya know". And even better, I get the chance to support a charity that ticks all my boxes! Job's a good 'un!

Fast-forward several weeks and now we have 3 of us ready to undertake this glorious challenge. My sister Amanda (who also had Kili on her "Bucket List") and the effervescent Nichola Harrison, an energetic and constantly bubbly colleague from Lancaster House who had bravely signed up for the challenge on her own (or so she thought), completely oblivious to the fact that she was going to have to endure 7 days of my torturous company. My heart goes out to her!

This is just the start. The beginning of several months of training, preparation, fund-raising, promoting and, (I'm afraid it's part of the whole package) - Blogging! It's going to be an adventure, a life-changing experience I'm sure, a physical challenge way beyond anything I could possibly dream of. But, just like 12 months ago, the belief is there. And without that, the hopes and aspirations come a cropper at the first hurdle. I don't do failure, and I know I can speak for Nichola and Amanda when I say "They don't do failure either".

Stay with us and join us on a journey to the roof of Africa. Your support means everything and together we can make a real difference to the lives of disabled children living locally here in Lancashire. Join our facebook group here http://www.facebook.com/group.php? gid=10150118264585221, follow my eternal rants (and training progress) on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Spudda73 and details of how you can donate to our worthy charity will be published very soon.

Thank you

Tim and the "Kili-crew"