He’s lost track of the number of times he’s done this now, his body and brain chilled to the bone and his head is starting to loll with fatigue, his eyelids getting heavy. An icy slip could derail his whole quest to complete his metaphorical, and literal, descent into the darkness. Things are getting dangerous.
Hall’s mission that night was the same as it had been for the previous 24 hours – to descend, in distance, to the deepest point on earth, a place where little life survives, the Mariana Trench. The idea was to raise money for charity Movember and raise awareness of men’s mental health issues, depression in particular.
Why the Mariana Trench? “It relates to that idea of spiraling down and that spiraling out of control. But also, there’s a way out of it, you can climb out, and you can get out of that situation as well.”
But why do it on Box Hill, one of the busiest climbs in the country? “We were talking about the 2018 suicide statistics, and it really quite shocked me. Any suicide is a tragedy, the person could have been saved, or it could have been prevented. But what shocked me is three-quarters of all suicides in the UK are men. That’s 13 every day, 91 a week, or one every two hours,” says Hall.
Denne historien er fra December 31, 2020-utgaven av CYCLING WEEKLY.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra December 31, 2020-utgaven av CYCLING WEEKLY.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
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Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
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Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike