On the banks of Lake Geneva in late June, Ben Spencer and Peter Smorthit looked out towards the Alpine peaks. Over the next 18 days, the friends would embark on a 262 mile-journey across one of Europe’s most extreme landscapes, reaching heights of 6,500 metres. Unlike other hikers, however, they would be setting themselves apart – by becoming the first to make the journey using only manual wheelchairs.
Their aim was to inspire other wheelchair users to take on more outdoor activities, all the while raising awareness of a rare neurological condition Ben has called progressive cerebellar ataxia.
“Coming from a point where I didn’t want to travel, to doing this, has been a big journey. It’s shown me – and I hope other disabled people – that you can do it,” Ben said, reflecting on the colossal expedition.
Ben was only diagnosed in 2022 after experiencing symptoms for 15 years. Since then, Ben has been raising awareness of the condition by competing in the London Marathon, as well as enduring a 16-and-a-half-hour journey up Mount Snowdon in 2023.
After summiting the Welsh peak, however, it was time to take on an even larger challenge. Hence the trip to the Alps to raise awareness for Ataxia UK, a charity which researches treatments for the condition.
Not long into starting their journey in Vevey, Switzerland, the pair were hit by an “absolutely brutal” heatwave. It meant the extreme climbs of the Rhône Valley took two days, which was much longer than expected.
After that, the temperatures started to drop, but the challenges continued.
The athletes used EuroVelo routes through the Alps, which are designed for cyclists. The network comprises a mixture of roads, cycle paths, and trails, but a few says into the journey, the pair came across a less-accessible rough gravel track, complete with stones, boulders and tree roots.
Read more: Europe’s perfect one-day journey: Travel Switzerland by rail and bus, from deep south to far north
At that point, Peter had no choice but to drag himself up the hill, pulling his chair behind him for over a kilometre.
The athlete had drawn on this sort of determination before. Peter sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 19 following a scaffold…
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