Do you remember how I said that Wikipedia didn't list Mountains in the Andes less than 4,000m high? Well, I was wrong. On another list, the fount of all modern knowledge takes a more catholic view of what constitutes an Andean mountain worthy of our attention.
And why, I hear you ask [1], is this significant? Well, since my last post, we've passed two very significant fundraising milestones. Thanks to very generous donations from Lisa, Ian, Laura, Tim and Ruth, we've reached £2,410 - over one third of the way to the summit of Aconcagua. Which means an even better milestone for our journey: we've reached South America, and the Andes.
Mount Sarmiento is a pyramidal peak [2] at the very tip of South America, in the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego. A glacial saddle has carved the peak into two distinct summits, and it's a beauty. Charles Darwin called it "the most sublime spectacle in Tierra del Fuego." What a way to arrive in South America.
We're also only £170 short of reaching the altitude of Penitentes [3], the resort where Jeremy and I will spend our last night of comfort before starting the trek.
To celebrate, it's time to launch my new fundraising initiative. I've had to make a few changes in fundraising plans over the last week or so. One of my proposed prize draw prizes proved to be unworkable, and a change of plans at work meant that a quiz I'd planned can't now happen in the way I'd intended. But the quiz itself was written, and that gave me an idea:
The virtual Christmas pub quiz [3]
I've put my quiz in a spreadsheet [4]. It's got six rounds:
1. Christmas Carols (and, in the interest of balance, one for the atheists as well)
2. Christmas Traditions
3. Christmas Tipples
4. The Man in the Red Suit
5. Mystery non-Christmassy Round
6. Mystery Christmassy Round.
7. Tiebreaker.
For most of the rounds, you even get the answers - all you have to do is match the right answer to the right question. And now the voices are telling me that you want to know how it works:
In the first step of Quizmas, assemble your quiz team. Then go to http://www.justgiving.com/Jason-Whyte-Aconcagua and donate £5 per team member (or more, if you like). [5]. Drop me an email at jason@jasonwhyte.com and I will send you the quiz. Fill in your team name and answers, send it back, and I will score it.
The highest scoring team whose answers I receive by midnight on 14 December will win a Christmassy goodie bag - and the more entries we get, the goodier the goodie bag gets.
Oh, I almost forgot. In a pub, people can rat on you if they catch you using your phone to look up the answers. I can't do that, and the temptation will be there. All of the questions on the spreadsheet bar the tiebreaker are very vulnerable to a quick trip to a well-known website that rhymes with frugal.
So I'm relying on your honesty. I'm also asking everyone to include the following declaration when they email me to ask for the quiz:
"I do solemnly declare that I shall not cheat or if I do I shall make an extra donation to the NDCS and that I shall if at all possible complete this in the true and proper manner of a pub quiz, with some drinks and some mates (who will each make a donation) and preferably in front of a roaring fire in an actual pub"
Enjoy.
[1] It's a common phenomenon for would-be mountaineers to hear voices in their head, though as any good statistician will tell you, correlation (two things happening together) does not imply causation (one of them makes the other one happen). In this case, for instance, my hypothesis is that the underlying cause of both "wanting to climb mountains" and "hearing voices" is "not being entirely there up top".
[2] The term used by geographers to describe a mountain sculpted by glaciers eating away at it from each side, producing the sharp-edged mountain shape that is for most of us the Platonic form of a mountain. Many of the world's most famous peaks are pyramidal, including Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and dear old Snowdon.
[3] See earlier footnote. I reckon this one may have common cause with the other two, too.
[4] Because I'm a geek. Deal with it.
[5] But note that because you're getting a quiz - and possibly a prize - for it, you can't claim Gift Aid on it. HMRC have been known to audit donation websites for comments like "for my raffle ticket" or "for the quiz" and the charity can get into hot water if they find any with Gift Aid on them.
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