The three Pietermaritzburg mountain bikers who cycled up and down the Sani Pass 10 times in aid of Nepal’s earthquake victims completed their gruelling task after 30 hours, ending on Sunday at 2pm.
Husband and wife Martin and Jeannie Dreyer and Kevin Benkenstein endured freezing cold, the risk of sliding over the edge because of ice and they were caught in the middle of a snowstorm.
The challenge, known as “Everesting”, involved picking any climb in the world and then riding repeats until notching up 8 848m – upwards – in one ride.
“The weather was absolutely brutal,” said Jeannie on Sunday night from Underberg.
“At about 9pm we were doing our sixth summit and it started to snow, it was freezing with conditions reaching -10ºC and it was treacherous with a lot of mist,” she said.
Jeannie said they spent some time waiting for the rain and snow to subside while her father, Paddy Bomford, made them warm food and tea.
“It’s not easy to sleep in such miserable weather, so there was no sleep for us,” she said.
The trio have raised $1 200 (about R14 500) of their $5 000 target so far and remain hopeful the money will be raised. Jeannie said there had been a great response and she hoped more people would donate to help the Nepalese quake victims.
To donate to the Everesting Sani Pass, visit: www.morethansport.org/team/hells-500/everesting-sani-pass#