‘If you raise €200 that’s 10 hours of one-to-one counselling’

Community worker to climb arctic mountain as SOSAD fundraiser

Sarkofagan is the name of the mountain rising up from the white expanse of the Arctic, and one which Daniel Downey intends to scale for charity in the coming weeks.

“I don’t know,” admits Daniel when the Celt asks what the name means. “I did look it up and I couldn’t find a translation at all, but it sounds ominously close to sarcophagus,” he laughingly jokes.

If you are inclined to sponsor those who undertake perilous or gruelling quests, this is about as dangerous as Daniel gets, so it would be best to skip to the last paragraph in bold and do the decent thing. If you prefer your heroes to be Ordinary Joes and Josephines, with a life-affirming outlook enduring some mild discomfort for a good cause and only an outside chance of being mauled by a polar bear, then stick with us.

Still there? Good.

The Cavanman is set to trek up Sarkofagan to raise much-needed money for SOSAD.

“A tour company comes and brings you up the mountain and brings you down because it’s pretty dangerous,” he says, undermining any sense of jeopardy.

“There are more polar bears than humans - there’s 2,600 people and over 3,000 polar bears.”

Daniel’s admiration for Irish giants from the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’ has seen him fill his holiday bucket list with slightly unusual destinations. Previous trips to Iceland and Greenland are the nearest he’s got to a Pole, north or south.

“Svalbard is as far north as you can get on land - it is the closest town to the North Pole.

“When I was about maybe 16, 17 I read about Tom Crean and I just devoured books on polar exploration, so from that point on I just became obsessed with out-of-the-way places.

“So I managed to get to an island off the south coast of New Zealand, Greenland, Himalayas - I like places that are very out of the way and on the edge of human civilisation. It brings you back to that raw beauty.”

And he has a particular grá for icy regions, quoting exiled Russian poet Joseph Brodsky: “beauty at low temperatures is beauty”.

“It’s astounding, the stillness,” he says reflecting on his time in Greenland.

Daniel describes the climb that lies ahead as “a good hike”, estimating three hours up, two hours down and however long they spend on the summit of Sarkofagan.

“The mountain itself is a little under the size of Cuilcagh to give people a local perspective.

“It’s not a very steep gradient to get up but it’s cold. You’re talking no temperature will be above five or seven degrees during the day time and it will be day time for the entire 24-hour period.”

Svalbard’s seasons are a little quirky from an Irish perspective: 127 continuous days of 24 hours of daylight, and a further 111 continuous days completely devoid of sunlight.

“When I arrive it’ll still be 24 hours of light, there won’t be any darkness.”

So what do they advise?

“They advise you get used to it,” he replies, noting many people in polar regions experience “a tension” as the end of summer approaches and they’re craving the darkness.

“It should be interesting.”

The prices are also interesting.

“It’s expensive, but it’s not like exorbitantly expensive.”

He recalls from Greenland that imported items - which is most items - cost more.

“You could get yourself a reindeer burger for about €4, but if you want an apple it’s going to cost you €6 or €7.”

Obviously Daniel is covering all costs himself, but he also intends to raise some funds for mental health charity SOSAD.

“I wanted to do something that’s a challenge, something that’s a bit different. There’s no point in going doing these things unless you throw a hand out for a local charity.”

Mental Health Ireland were the beneficiaries when Daniel undertook the Camino, and SOSAD received cash from a previous trip to Greenland.

“It shows people that there’s people who are thinking of them. A counsellor could be €15 or €20 an hour, if you raise €200 that’s 10 hours of one-to-one counselling. That’s the way I see it, and all the money goes directly to SOSAD Cavan which is great.”

A suicide survivor, Daniel has huge admiration for the support service SOSAD provide. He notes that beyond visiting your GP, there was limited support available when he endured his darkest time in 1999.

“Even going to the doctor was just a massive step - and it was six months after I attempted when I went to a doctor to talk about it.

“I was just so embarrassed and didn’t want to admit weakness, and admit that I didn’t want to be here, so that was the reason why I didn’t reach out. Even if there were supports everywhere, I still probably would have found it difficult to reach out. You could be living beside SOSAD and it still feel a thousand miles away.”

Daniel recognises that today is very different with fantastic supports available and with groups like SOSAD expanding to smaller towns like Mullagh, it can only get better.