Kilimanjaro 2008...

In August 2008 (with my dad and my brother) I successfully climbed to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. I did this to raise money for the Norman Laud Association - a charity that provides unique care for disabled children from their nursery years through to adulthood. This is my account of the toughest challenge of my life…

Day One

The first day of the trek was a fairly comfortable 1,200m climb through the rain forest to the first camp at 3,000m. This was no problem; it wasn’t especially interesting because we saw nothing but trees but it was satisfying because (as the trek started at 1,800m) we were now halfway up the mountain - in terms of height at least!

Day Two

Day two is renowned for some beautiful views but we spent the entire day in cloud. In terms of the job in hand, we had another successful day and we gained 800m getting to our second camp. Although we had now reached the point where altitude sickness could occur I was glad that (at this point) we all felt fine.

Day Three

At the start of day three we woke up to find ice on the inside of the tent and it began to feel like we were being challenged. The trekking had also started to get tougher and we spent the day acclimatizing to the altitude. We climbed another 800m - only to drop down to an alternative campsite that was at the same altitude at which we’d started the day. This was necessary but it wasn’t very inspiring to think that after a hard day walking we were no nearer the final goal!

Day Four

Day four began with what the local guides called ‘breakfast’ - a 300m scramble up, what appeared from the bottom, to be a near vertical wall. This was followed by a demoralizing walk down into a valley - where we again lost all the height we’d spent hours climbing!

The afternoon was a long hard trek but we did rise 700m to base camp at 4,600m. This had definitely been the hardest day so far because the effects of altitude sickness had started to make things very challenging. At 6pm our guides advised us to get some rest and told us that; “At midnight, the climb that will be the hardest few hours of your life begins”. They weren’t wrong!

The Final Day

We began the final assent in temperatures of minus 11 degrees Celsius; wearing everything we had, with only the moonlight and a head torch to guide us. Breathing was difficult (even at rest) and the climb was steep, so it wasn’t long before I could add a pounding headache, sickness and dizziness to my list of woes. Everything we’d heard and read about had warned us that we would feel like this but, believe me, nothing could prepare us for the reality.

As the minutes ticked by the end seemed no nearer and we started to feel increasingly worse. I felt like I’d lost large sections of time from my memory and all I could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other. All I wanted to do was lie down and stop, but somewhere deep inside me I fought the urge and kept pressing forward. I just remember telling myself over and over again; “I won’t let this mountain beat me”.

Eventually, after six hours of walking in complete darkness and sub-zero temperatures, we reached the summit. At a massive 5,895m above sea level I stood on top of the highest free-standing mountain in the world. I went through an unbelievable rollercoaster of emotions - a mixture of euphoria, exhaustion, pride and pain. We had finally achieved our goal!

This was easily the hardest challenge I’ve ever set myself but the thought of the money that I’ve now raised for the Norman Laud Association certainly helped me through it. On behalf of the charity and myself, I would like to say a very big thank you to everyone that has sponsored me. The money you have donated is really going to make a difference.