St Mary’s fundraising committee has challenged Sean to a virtual climb of Table Mountain in his cassock to raise funds for St Mary’s.  The height of the mountain is 1085m above sea level but as Ross Rectory is already 60m above sea level he only has to climb 1025m!

He will be beginning his climb (using the rectory stairs) at 7.30am on Monday 11th May and in order to raise some money, you are invited, when you have sponsored him (1p per meter will raise £10.25) to have a guess at how long it will take (in hours and minutes).  Whoever’s guess is the nearest, will win a bottle of wine. 

You can donate here via Paypal. Then use this easy online form to tell us the number of hours and minutes you think he will take. (The form also allows you to register for Gift Aid so that your donation will be worth a further 25% to us at no cost to you.

Sean’s donation form and Gift Aid

Once Sean has completed the challenge, we will publish here how long he took, how much he has raised and who the lucky winner is.

A message from Sean

As so often happens to me, my enthusiasm for a project sometimes runs ahead of practical considerations… I was seized with enthusiasm for this virtual ascent of Table Mountain, especially because it recalls the occasion in 2018 when I was able to tick an item off my bucket list by hiking up the real Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. On that occasion, in thick mist, I hiked to the summit of Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge.  Replicating this feat in the comfort of one’s home didn’t sound all that challenging… until I did the measurements, and was faced with one blinding obvious difference to the real climb.

In terms of measurements Table Mountain is 1085m high. From the base to the top of the Rectory staircase is 2.79m (we had imagined the staircase to be much higher…). I will leave you to figure out how many ascents of the staircase it will take to match the height of Table Mountain… but it is a lot. Then the blinding obvious issue is that after every ascent of the staircase I will need to descend in order to ascend again, so unlike my original climb I will have to travel double the distance to achieve the same height! Also, Table Mountain has a wonderful cable car so you can descend quickly and painlessly… in The Rectory there is no stair lift!

This is going to be tougher than I thought. Will I make it? How long will it take me? I plan to start at 7.30 am on Monday the 11th May and will post live updates on my progress. I hope that you can sponsor me to the tune of 1p per meter climbed. Funds raised go to St Mary’s Church which has done so well to “do church differently” during the pandemic, and has been a beacon of faith, hope and love in our community. There is a prize of a bottle of good South African wine for the person who comes closest to predicting how long it will take me. Donation details are above.