This June, world-class mountaineers Andy Kirkpatrick and Ian Parnell will be traveling to Yosemite with Major Phil Packer, helping him on his quest to climb the mighty El Capitan in order to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes.

Help for Heroes was set up in 2007 to provide info, contacts and sports opportunities for injured service personel and the wider disabled community. Injured in an incident following a rocket attack in Basra on 19 February 2008, Major Packer suffered catastrophic injuries, losing the use of his legs and is now a paraplegic.  Originally told he would never walk again, Phil has worked extremely hard at his rehabilitation and astounded the world in April when he managed to walk the Flora London Marathon on crutches, taking two weeks to complete the course.

Earlier this year, Phil set out to raise £1 million for Help for Heroes by undertaking three diverse challenges. Although he has already met his target, between the 9th and 11th June, he will be attempting to pull himself up the gigantic 3000 ft block of granite that is El Capitan in Yosemite.

Andy Kirkpatrick climbing El Capitan

The expedition will be lead by Andy Kirkpatrick, who is one of the world’s leading experts on big-wall climbing and has climbed El Capitan 12 times.

I asked Andy what will be the most difficult challenges facing the team on this climb?

“The priority on the climb is safety, especially regarding Phil, who has never climbed before.  I think the hardest part for Phil will be being able to cope with the unrelenting exposure, but I'm sure his officer training will kick in. The toughest parts for the whole team will be getting to the bottom of the climb, and down from the summit.  This will involve everyone supporting Phil, lowering, carrying, piggybacking - in fact anything it takes to get him to and from the climb safely.”

Andy climbed the same route with his partner and fellow adventurer Karen Darke in 2006, so when a friend of Phil’s approached Andy to ask if he had any ideas for how to raise money for Help for Heroes, he suggested repeating this challenging route with Phil.

Also on on the trip will be fellow mountaineer and film-maker Ian Parnell. As well as being part of the climbing team, Ian will also have the job of cameraman for ITV and stills photographer for the British papers and Help for Heroes, which will require him to swing across the rockface to get the best angle to shoot from.

I asked Ian what made him want to help Phil on his challenge:

“Two things really, the first just straight inspiration.  For someone who's been through what he has in Iraq to then pull himself round so quickly and be willing to take on a challenge like El Capitan just over a year after he was injured is very impressive.  It's rewarding for me to be able to use my skills to give something back and help Phil with this challenge.  The second is the personal challenge of getting the best photos and footage I can get back from what will be difficult and dramatic situations.  Hopefully it will look amazing.”

We wish Phil, Andy, Ian and the rest of the team all the best for the climb and we will keep you updated on their progress.

If you would like to donate money to Help for Heroes, please follow this link: