A MOUNTAIN rescue team volunteer is celebrating after finishing the arduous 268-mile Montane Spine Race at age 60.
It took Chris Wright more than six days to complete the challenge which follows the entire Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yetholm.
The challenge has raised £2,000 to date for Penrith Mountain Rescue, where he is a volunteer rescuer, and Alzheimers Research UK, in honour of his mum who is suffering from the disease.
The former teacher turned professional mountaineer said: “There was a point about 70 miles in where I was really suffering. I had a conversation in my head where I accepted defeat and that was really hard.”
Mr Wright had known what was in store for him having supported the race as part of its volunteer safety team for the previous two years.
Mr Wright said: “I slept for a couple of hours in the public toilets in Malham. I got up at 1.45am knowing I had a big job ahead of me because Hawes was another 30 miles but I pushed through.”
He eventually completed the race in 158 gruelling hours. “Looking back on it now I just think ‘wow, what an achievement’, because so many people dropped out – more than 50 per cent.”
In the process, he smashed his fundraising goal set at £500 for each charity.
The professional mountaineering and climbing instructor (MCI) said: “My main thrust in life is to inspire people to strive and achieve goals for themselves and get a buzz from doing it.”
Mr Wright is also celebrating becoming engaged to Barnard Castle art teacher Teresa Keeling. She gained gained fame during the coronavirus lockdown by turning her front window into an arts and crafts centre and offering creative things for families to do through her Facebook channel.
Mr Wright said: “I proposed last summer just after I climbed the Eiger. We became engaged in the Grindelwald, in Switzerland.”
The couple plan to marry in 2024.
For more details visit mountainmastery.co.uk or to support his Spine Race fundraising effort, see justgiving.com/team/chrisspinewinterspinerace2023.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
