Saga captain Kim Tanner and guest services director Rebecca Heron are aiming to climb the sixth highest mountain on Earth to raise £100,000 for a cancer charity.
The Spirit of Adventure colleagues have already conquered the tallest peak outside Asia, the 22,840ft Aconcagua in Argentina, raising £31,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Kim said: ‘It was a formidable challenge for the average mountaineer – let alone two average seafarers who only started climbing a year ago.’
They are now setting their sights on Cho Oyu (or ‘Turquoise Goddess’ in Tibetan) and hope to reach the summit of the 26,906ft Himalayan mountain during a 45-day expedition in September/October 2026.
As part of their training, Kim and Rebecca have completed a week-long technical climbing course in the Alps and ascended Mont Blanc a few weeks ago.
Kim added: ‘Our campaign is already under way and we have so far raised more than £21,000 of our target, but there is plenty to go! We’re also searching for sponsorship from any company or individual who might want to partner with us to support with expedition costs in return for publicity and so on.’
But that’s not the only challenge the captain is up for. He said: ‘My other passion is sailing and I am about to set sail around the world on my own sailing yacht – a life dream of mine which has been years in preparation. My aim is for this to be achieved in segments during my off time from work.’
Here is their fund-raising page for the Cho Oyu climb:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/kim-and-rebecca-2026cho-oyu?utm_medium=qrcode&utm_source=offline
Read more about Kim and Rebecca’s climbing adventures in this great piece by Rhys Griffiths for the Folkestone Dispatch…
https://folkestonedispatch.substack.com/p/saga-seafarers-conquer-mountain-of