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I must admit, the pledging part was the easiest bit as I had committed to it such a long time ago...

Reality struck when I needed to ‘GET FIT’ and ‘GET THE GEAR’ (getting fit took marginally longer!). My Morgan McKinley Million pledge was to climb 3 mountains (c. 3,000 meters in total) in 3 days, but as the time got nearer I decided to increase the challenge, and completed the whole lot over 2 days instead. 

I completed the first climb of Carrantoohil on Friday morning (1,050 meters) solo in thick fog and the second climb of Mangerton (900 meters) on Friday afternoon solo in torrential rain. By the time I stepped off the second mountain even the sheep had gone home. I completed my final climb of Mount Brandon (950 meters) Saturday morning in glorious sunshine accompanied by a great friend who cajoled me every step of the way.

During the climbs I took some great photographs of the incredible views, including some shots of Skellig Michael, an island 12 km off the Irish coast. The island served as a filming location for the final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was also used for the next film in the series, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

I have to acknowledge the encouragement I received from the Finance Team at Morgan McKinley and I had the pleasure of accompanying the team, on what was an important practice climb for me, when we climbed Carrantoohil as a team two weeks earlier, again for the #MMKMillion challenge.

The best part for me was exceeding my fundraising target for a very deserving charity LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, providing palliative care and support for children with life-limiting conditions and their families.  

I must say, I am relieved that the challenge is completed, and Mountain Rescue can now relax too... 

I will do it all again but perhaps not any time soon, as my knees need some serious recovery time!

Kieran Rossiter | Chief Financial Officer