18 Year Old Dominic Roberts Climbs Mont Blanc
There is nothing we love more than seeing one of you, the Chillisauce Blog faithful, strike out on your own attempt to discover a life less ordinary. For all the whacky things we report on, for all the death defying endurance we tell you about, nothing replaces our glowing pride at witnessing one of our own starting out on their very first proper adventure. As I write this avid Blog reader, Dominic Roberts, is dangling from some piece of Mont Blanc, hoping to complete the climb that as recently as two weeks ago put paid to several lives of very experienced climbers.
Eighteen year old Dom is making the climb with his dad David Roberts and his dad’s school friend Berwyn Evans – a triumvirate so Welsh sounding they could easily be the new Wales’ front row. We spoke to Dom last week as he was setting off and the disaster that struck the mountain was obviously very much in his mind, ‘Obviously with the recent avalanche we will be taking each day as it goes and seeing what happens, it really hit home when the news came. There have always been risks but it makes you think when something like that happens just before you leave! ‘
Against all odds
Dom’s story also gets a little bit more amazing the more you look into it. A keen sportsman, he was prevented from playing sport by a crippling back pain which at the age of 14 saw him undergo two operations to remove a tumour. Dom, quite stoically refers to his Mont Blanc expedition as his ‘first big challenge’…only somebody with granite like robustness could discount tumour removing operations as challenges. They are going to be taking exactly the same route as the one taken by those who so recently met their end, and it must take a lot of nerve for somebody so young to muster up the courage and resilience to overcome all those fears that must be going through his head but from where we’re standing Dom seems to have all those qualities in spades.
Of his ambition Dom said ‘I'm excited to finally conquer the back problems I've had and make a start on a hobby I will hopefully keep, just like my dad!’ We’ll be catching up with Dom when he returns and he’s sending us pictures when possible, so we’ll keep you all posted on his progress. Dom the Blog salutes you.
About the Author
Adrian Simpson Adrian Simpson is a writer and TV presenter with a profound love of the outdoors. His family, snow, sea, brewing, vinyl, guitars and VW buses mean the world to him.
