Whose a Silly Billy on Kili, then?

Joyous news from Tanzania where it has emerged that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and chums -  including former Chelsea manager and current Russian football boss Guus Hiddink -  failed in their attempt to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro the other day. If this sounds mean-spirited this is not the intention. But, as someone who climbed the tallest free-standing mountain in the world last year, I was beginning to think anyone could equal my achievement when the likes of Cheryl Cole and Chris Moyles sauntered up its slopes. Then along comes the Russian billionaire, complete with personal Boeing 767, and expecting to arrive unannounced and trek all the way up to the 19,300 foot summit without any training whatsoever, using the shortest route which meant allowing even less time to acclimatise. Reports say he and his five friends turned back at 15,100 feet suffering from symptoms of altitude sickness and needing medical attention. Over 30,000 attempt to reach the Roof of Africa each year, and around 50% succeed, but 30 die from altitude sickness, and many more become seriously ill. The moral of the story is that you can buy a lot of things in life - and that includes Premiership football clubs - but you can't purchase the elements, and you certainly cannot buy earth's natural wonders.