In January 2010, three Le Tournoi committee members will be taking on a challenge to raise many thousands for charity. Michael Fitzgerald, John Hanley and Andy Le Seelleur will be attempting to scale three of Guatemala's highest volcanoes in just three days.

 

To celebrate Le Tournoi's tenth birthday, we will cast aside the event planning and get out there to raise some hard cash by ourselves. Although we will be undertaking the Challenge under the Le Tournoi banner, the main beneficiary, and event organisers, will be the Education for the Children Foundation (EFTC).

 
     
     

EFTC was founded six years ago to save a small Guatemalan school from closure. Since then the pupil numbers supported by EFTC has blossomed to a massive 427, from pre-school to university, and an additional 33 kids have been re-housed or taken into their care.

 

Through your generosity, Le Tournoi is proud to have funded five of these kids from funds raised from our challenges. All children have come from some of the worst imaginable backgrounds - slum housing, abuse, zero sanitation and tin homes where the smoke from open log fires lingers 24 hours a day to destroy the lungs of even the youngest of occupants. The funds we raise will not just go towards education, but will also be used to provide families with cast iron stoves, which will drastically improve the health and living conditions of our kids.

 

 
     
            
 

 

EFTC is a charity supported by many former and current professional footballers, including Shaun Wright Phillips, Steve Sidwell, Wayne Bridge and Tommy Johnson. These guys give loads of their precious spare time to raise the profile of, and funds for, the causes supported by EFTC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Do Le Tournoi Support?

 		  
     

Anabela Camey                                    Christian Ruiz                                     Yacqueline Avila

 

Pablo Mejia                                      Indi Castillo

 

 

What Are We Letting Ourselves in For??! 

 

 

DAY ONE
 
VOLCAN PACAYA (2552m / 8370ft):
 
The famous Volcan Pacaya does not disappoint on this, the "easy" leg of our expedition. - a warm-up, if you like. The hike will take us to our camp in roughly one hour where we will set camp, prepare dinner and wait for an amazing sunset. After dinner and after dark, we'll be heading up into the lava fields on the hunt for the red stuff, marshmallows in tow, for what will be a once in a lifetime experience on this feisty little volcano.
 
DAY TWO
 
VOLCAN ACATENANGO (3976m / 13,041ft):
 
 
Climbing Acatenango will be a huge challenge but it is a reward in beauty and a rare Guatemalan experience that we'll not soon forget. We will ascend 5,000 feet (1,500m) over roughly 4 miles and through 4 different temperate zones (high farmland, cloud forest, high alpine forest and volcanic). The climb is steep and will be a very physically demanding hike. The day will finish at sunset at the peak camp, at roughly 13,000 feet. The sunset from this vantage point does not get any better.
 
 
DAY THREE
 
VOLCAN FUEGO (3763m / 12,342ft):
 
 
Breaking camp just after sunrise, we will head over the crater rim down the flanks of Acatenango, in and out of the gullies and rock formations until finally the steep trail reaches the meseta of Volcan Fuego. We'll drop the bags then climb the ridge to the barren knife-edge ridge of the angry mountain itself. We'll break for lunch with the smoking peak looming overhead. We'll chill on the ridge for about an hour, then head back to the saddle and then on to the base, to make our way back to the town of Antigua for some well-earned food.