Natasha Lambert has completed one element of her latest challenge, Sea and Summit Scotland. She reached the top of the Cairn Gorm Mountain, just after 3pm on Monday. It took her just over five and half hours to reach the summit which is some 1245 metres above sea level, the sixth highest mountain in the UK.
Natasha has athetoid cerebral palsy and uses a wheel chair. However, for this part of her challenge, she used a special device called a Hart Walker. This pulls Natasha upright and enables her to propel herself forward. Natasha also wears a lycra corset to assist in keeping her straight as she walks. This can be extremely hot when the weather changes quickly.
Natasha was supported by her Dad, Gary, Mum Amanda, little sister Rachel (9) and a team of helpers including local Mountain Safety Advisor from the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, Heather Morning. The whole team was needed to assist in guiding Natasha over the rough, steep terrain which, on numerous occasions, required the entire walking device to be lifted bodily over boulders. Weather varied from bright sunshine to hail and winds of over 25 miles an hour at the summit. Surprisingly one of Natasha’s most arduous parts of the day was the descent. Her position in the walker makes walking down feel extremely precarious. The team then have to play their part by preventing her from descending dangerously fast.
Natasha now returns to Fort William to continue the second part of her challenge, sailing from Inverness to Glasgow. The young adventurer sails using only her breath to control her specially designed yacht, Miss Isle Too.
Natasha, and her team, is undertaking Sea and Summit Scotland to raise funds and the profile of her charity, the Miss Isle School of Sip Puff Sailing. Natasha is keen to ensure that others with similar physical conditions as her own are inspired to face new challenges, including walking and sailing.
On completion of the challenge Dad Gary commented “What Tash has just achieved today is awesome. That’s a very big mountain, it’s one of the ‘Munros’ and she’s managed to climb to the top of it. I am in awe.” Mum, Amanda paid tribute to the support the team had received “We are so lucky to have the great support from both the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and Cairngorm National Park.”