'Insane amount for incredibly important cause!'

Jantine van Zandwijk is the sister of our founder Bastiaan van Eck. In December, she told us why she wanted to participate in Alpe d'HuZes this year on foot. Meanwhile, Jantine has returned and has conquered the legendary mountain on foot together with her Big Challenge teammates. Here is her report on this impressive event!

We are back from a fantastic week! We left early on Sunday morning, arriving at the end of the afternoon. When you drive up that mountain, you start to sweat: what a twist and what a long way! And then you're still in the car... How will you ever do that on foot?

Cards on candles

For the first few days, we have been busy writing cards on the candles burning at every turn on the mountain. Each candle tells its own story and is for someone who is sick or has died. We also went to the motivational meeting of Big Challenge. With more than two hundred people on top of a mountain! Several people told about their motivation to participate. Maarten Peters sang the Alpe D'Huzes song: "Come, don't give up!".

Volunteers

On Wednesday, volunteers got to climb the mountain once. That day, along with the other participants from our team, I volunteered at Big Challenge's entertainment point. Between turns 3 and 4, cosy music played and there was something tasty for the participants. All provided by our agricultural sector.

Climb

On Thursday, we had to get out of bed early, as the mountain is closed to traffic between 03.30 and 20.00. Around 03.00 we went down by car. At 04.30 the first participants were allowed to leave. At the stroke of 04.50, the first ascent began for us. How impressive to see the whole mountain illuminated by all the candles and by the participants wearing lights!

Boost

After three hours, the first climb was over. In the pick-up point of Big Challenge, we were pampered quite a bit by the volunteers. Down again by gondola and then another stretch by bus. At 11.00 we started the second ascent. By now it was considerably warmer and fatigue was starting to set in. We took more rest breaks and adjusted the pace a bit. It was tough, but giving up is not an option! After almost four hours, the second and final climb was also over!

Insane amount

In the afternoon, we waited for other participants at the finish line. After having something to eat and a nice shower, we all joined the final stretch of the togetherness climb. After arriving, the provisional final amount was announced. More than 17 million euros were raised by this edition! An insanely beautiful amount, for this incredibly important cause!