Patrouille des Glaciers Route: St Richard’s ICU consultant to take on challenge for charity

Mike Margarson, 59, who lives in Funtington, said: “It isn’t everyday you get the opportunity to do something as extreme as this.

“I am excited but also a little apprehensive as I haven’t done anything like this before.”

The Swiss Army’s Patrouille des Glaciers is a ski-mountaineering challenge that leads from Zermatt via Arolla to Verbier through the high-altitude mountain regions of the Valais Alps. The team will complete the challenge over four days.

It follows the 57.5km high-level route that stems from the Swiss-Italian border patrols of the second world war.

Dr Margarson has been training for a number of months but recently caught Covid which meant he had to put it on hold.

He said: “My training was going really well. I have been going to the gym every morning, then going to Kingley Vale and running up the hills.

“I went skiing with my family at the beginning of February. I was going off piste, finding the more difficult routes to help with training, but when I got back I tested positive for Covid.

“I felt a bit groggy and had a cough which has just gone.

“Thankfully I don’t seem to have long Covid and haven’t felt tired like some people do after catching it so I have started going back to the gym to get back into my training.”

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The challenge was the brainchild of Gary Pittaway, whose daughter Harriet is a junior doctor working in ICU.

Dr Margarson said: “Gary does this sort of thing for fun.

“He saw the impact that working during Covid had on his daughter Harriet and felt more needed to be done, so arranged everything. He contacted the Intensive Care Society who asked for doctors to take part and I signed up.”

The team of six (Gary, David Stroud and Nick Jew, and ICU consultants Sarah Saunders, Sarah Clarke, and Mike) are aiming to raise over £30,000 for Doctors in Distress and The Intensive Care Society.

Doctors in Distress is a UK charity dedicated to providing mental wellbeing support to healthcare workers, aiming to reduce suicide rates.

And the Intensive Care Society is the organisation co-ordinating ICU research priorities and standards in the UK. All funds raised will be split equally between these two charities at the end of April 2022.

The challenge will start on March 21.

Dr Margarson said: “The start will be a steep learning curve but I ‘m looking forward to it.”

There will be updates on www.ztov2022.org and to donate to his page, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/michael-margarson

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