Back in June, the Salford Star reported how Ordsall's James McLaughlin was training for a conquest of Indonesia's 3,726 metre high Mount Rinjani, which is three times the size of Mount Snowdon and comes complete with two active volcanoes (see here).
James, who had never attempted anything remotely similar, even asked himself the question `Why am I putting myself through this?'...
"Well, aside from a monumental sense of achievement for the guy my loving friends sometimes refer to as Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen's more injury-prone lovechild, I want to raise some money for a charity close to my heart; The Stroke Association" he explained
"My grandmas' lives were shattered in various ways by this horrible disease which strikes more than once every five minutes in the UK alone" he added "They were strong and resilient women who faced and overcame many personal battles throughout their lives and I want to show even a fraction of their strength to beat this colossal peak."
The good news is that James, together with his partner, did conquer Rinjani and has now returned to Salford.
"The scariest and hardest bit was definitely the ascent to the summit on day two" he says "We had to get up at 2am and it was only on the way down after the sun had risen that I realised our path up had only been about a metre wide with sheer drops on either side.
"What made it even harder was that the path was formed from volcanic ash, so for every two steps forward I slid ankle-deep back a step" he adds "My girlfriend even turned round halfway and tearfully asked `Why are we doing this? It's not even enjoyable!' The rest of the hike was much more enjoyable but it was a very dark day."
Apart from the sense of mountaineering achievement, James has raised £595 for the Stroke Association, surpassing his target of £500. The Just Giving page is still open for anyone who wishes to add to the tally – click here
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