sportscotland Glenmore Lodge couple summit Everest
Thursday 18 May 2006
sportscotland Glenmore Lodge employees – and husband and wife – Pauline and Phil Sanderson have become the first married couple from the UK to successfully summit Mt Everest together.
The Grantown-on-Spey duo, who met through their love of the outdoors, reached the 29,028ft peak at 0600 BST on Thursday.
Pauline also set another record by becoming the first person in the world to go from the lowest to the highest point on earth in a single journey. The National Outdoor Training Centre Marketing Manager was one of a team of five who departed from the Dead Sea on the 21st of December 2005 on what has become the world’s longest ‘climb’, totalling 9,300 m.
Pauline cycled from Jordan through Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Nepal, China and finally Tibet, to the Base Camp at Everest, where she was met in March by her husband Phil, a mountaineering and paddle sport instructor, and other members of the EVERESTMAX expedition.
The couple are currently on their way back down to Base Camp for a rest. After this they will endure a long journey by vehicle to the Tibetan/Nepalese border.
Expected back to work in June, the Sandersons took unpaid leave to go on their charitable adventure. The EVERESTMAX expedition, whose patron is Sir Ranulph Fiennes, was fundraising for three charities: SOS Children’s Villages, Practical Action and Merlin. The couple was sponsored by TISO and Marmot, also sponsors of Glenmore Lodge.
Nigel Williams, Head of Training at Glenmore Lodge, said: “All of us at the National Centre have been following Pauline’s bicycle journey and Pauline and Phil’s joint Everest climb and are thrilled for them both that they’ve made it to the top. We look forward to their safe return to Scotland and Glenmore Lodge and hope that, for our sake, Pauline keeps her marketing day job!”
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland, said: “We at sportscotland congratulate and commend the Sandersons on their epic Everest journey.
“It is fantastic to see staff members participate in both an adventurous and charitable outdoors expedition. I am sure that their efforts will inspire many and we look forward to Phil and Pauline’s safe journey home to the Highlands.”