Age: 16
Occupation: Student
Nationality: British
His goal was to climb 828m, the equivalent height of the iconic Burj Khalifa, up the Adventure HQ wall on January 19th to raise money for the JESS Gold International Award Vietnam trip. It was a pretty big challenge for an ordinary teenager, but it turned out to be an extraordinary day for Harry as he conquered the wall 91 times and finished in 1hr 9mins 60secs.
How long have you been here in the UAE?
I’ve been living here with my family for seven years now and I am in year 12 at Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Arabian Ranches doing the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
Tell us more about this wall climbing challenge for Vietnam. We wanted to raise money to pay for materials and equipment needed to build houses in Vietnam as part of JESS International Award. We also sold sweets around school and other simple activities. We raised around 5,000 AED for this climb. We got donations and sponsorships from people and friends, and all the money is going to that project. The opportunity to raise money for this was a great task, but through this fundraising challenge, we raised a lot. We’re really thankful for all the support. I’m looking forward to getting out to Vietnam and start building for the people that need it the most and to see the whole project finished.
What’s the itinerary for this trip? There are 65 people going from the school and we’re split into groups. We’re there from January 26th to February 7th. Basically, we walk for four days and sleep for three nights in the forest, trekking and camping. We’ll also visit an orphanage, spend a couple of days there and we’ll do our house building project in the Mekong Delta area.
How did you prepare for this climb?
I’ve been ill for the past couple of days, so I needed to do all the preparation while being ill, but it’s been all right. I constantly climb, twice a week, at The Wall and I do a lot of other sports to work on the fitness side. I sometimes do cycling, I also play rugby and football – these activities obviously helped build up my strength.
How did you feel about your performance for this climb? It’s not bad. My older brother Jack did it before for the same International Award and his time is 1hr 50mins. So yeah, it’s good to beat his time and all for a good cause.
How did you get into climbing and the outdoors? My dad [John Snowden] sort of got me into the outdoors. He’s really into climbing and that’s how I got into it as well. For holidays, we go for walks and stuff like that. He, my brother and I recently went to Thailand to climb. I’ve been to Thailand – in the Koh Samui and Krabi area – three times before for climbing, and sometimes we go out to climb in Al Ain.
What’s your best outdoor experience so far? My best outdoor experience yet has been travelling from the north of New Zealand to the south and then back up to the north in three weeks. I enjoyed this a lot as New Zealand was full of fun activities like ice climbing, rock climbing, snowboarding and many more, as well as the outstanding environment and surroundings.
What’s your advice to teenagers who want to take on the great outdoors? For children out there who want to take up an outdoor activity, you just need to get up and go out there. Open yourself up to other challenges and opportunities. Instead of staying in your house all weekend, make an effort to try new activities that could easily become a hobby. Through climbing I have seen parts of the UAE that I would not normally visit. I have been able to set myself goals each week to improve my climbing standard. It gives me something to look forward to each time we go to the climbing area or the climbing walls.
