Date 7 December 2010
I have returned totally exhausted but otherwise unchanged (my apologies) from my Mount Kilimanjaro Climb! Here is a brief summary of how it went…
The journey out was relatively straightforward save for the delights of Air Ethiopia which involved a stopover in Addis Ababa where we stretched our legs for four hours before boarding our next flight which then stopped at Nairobi before the final leg which eventually hit Tanzania after a total journey time of 20+ hours.
Stepping off the plane dressed in walking boots and thick jackets to save luggage space we were met with a wall of heat and made for an uncomfortable and sweaty wait before passing through customs and being loaded onto a minibus to be driven along roads highly populated by pedestrians and vehicles both moving at great speed and in a rather erratic manner. It was no surprise when there was a bang and the bus skidded to a halt with a puncture (a bad omen perhaps – only time would tell!) which resulted in a wait at the side of the road for a couple of hours until a new tyre was fitted or a replacement bus came to pick us up. With the new tyre on, we were on our way again and reached the hotel without further incident and in great need of water both to drink and to wash with.
We checked in, had a briefing to ensure we had the required kit then re-packed and headed for some much needed food and then an early night ready to rise at 7am. As we had had said before I left if Chris Moyles could do it how hard could it be. I was about to find out!
After a bright and early start, a good breakfast we were loaded back into the minibus for the 60 to 90 minute journey to Machame Gate and the start of the climb. We arrived to be taken to the foot of the hill (probably the wrong description) where we watched the porters assembling all the items they were to carry. There were 26 of us and 80 odd porters who would be carrying our 15kg rucksacks and all the sleeping tents, mess tents, food water etc, an amazing sight.
We were then introduced to our guides and after a quick warm up session strapped on our backpacks, positioned our hydration tubes and off we went.
The first day passed through rain forest so we were sheltered from the sun and the walk was steady although relatively steep but the pace of walking seemed to be extremely slow and took some getting used to. The day passed relatively peacefully and was warm and dry and we arrived into camp early evening. We were camping at just under 3000m.
This was my first introduction to my tent and camping in general and trying to dress, undress, wash, sleep, eat and be civil to the person you are sharing with (even though he was a mate who I had known for 40 years!) is something I have no wish to repeat. The food however was fine!
A 6am start on day 2 of the climb which would be narrow, steep and a bit testing in places for those with no head for heights (yours truly).The pace was deliberately slow to enable us to acclimatise to the thinning air as best we could. The temperature was dropping all the time and after a chilly lunch we set off again into an alien landscape both barren and rocky and treacherous underfoot. We came to a section that had a narrow ledge and had to step across and all was going well until one of the party missed her footing and took a fall, she was extremely lucky in that only grazes and some bruising appeared to be all the physical damage suffered although mentally she was very shaken indeed and in her own words she thought that she was off to meet her maker! That evening we arrived at the second camp which was almost lunar in appearance and needless to say without my trusty Slumberland mattress this resulted in a very uncomfortable night.
Next day heralded the now familiar 6am start with a quick warm up (very quick) as today we needed to get a wiggle on to reach the infamous “lava tower”. However the weather was extremely unpredictable and when we reached the tower the cloud cover made the same appear both eerie and threatening. At 4562m the lava tower was the highest point on our trek so far. Later on in the day I had my first glimpse of the Barranco Wall which was my nemesis having a fear of heights and sheer drops. It was this part of the trek I was dreading the most. However from a distance it did not look too bad (appearance certainly can be deceptive). We carried on to camp for a much needed rest before an even earlier start at 5am the following morning to face the Barranco Wall for real.
We did not so much walk but scramble and climb up the Barranco Wall and you simply focused on the feet of the person in front and kept as tight to the wall as you could as a fall here could be your last! The help and support of the rest of the group and the expertise of the guides was invaluable. It was extremely hard going and absolutely terrifying in places but we made it to the top (without loss!). We still had to travel down the valley and up the other side, then a further dip down into another valley and up the other side and this was before lunch! When we reached the mess tents for lunch we were completely shattered but once we had refuelled we set off again to finally arrive at summit camp at 6pm. After more than 12 hours scrambling, climbing, walking, descending and ascending we were exhausted. The entire camp was on a steep slope covered in huge rocks. We ate and crawled into bed. The summit night was about to begin.
We were awoken at approx 1am the next morning awaiting the weather conditions to see if a summit attempt could be made. Happily (although I did not think so at the time) all was clear and perfect conditions for the attempt. It was however absolutely freezing. We put on as many layers as we had, donned our head torches and set off. The initial pace was slow and got even slower as the air became thinner and the full effect of the altitude began to kick in. Everyone tells you that as a result you will not remember too much of the summit night and that is certainly true – although I am probably still in denial a bit! I do recall seeing stricken fellow climbers who had failed to summit being rushed down into better air supported by gaggles of porters. Some of the poor people were clearly unconscious! By this stage my pace had slowed to nothing more than a shuffle and after each 30 shuffles (about 5 metres) I would have to stop and rest for a couple of minutes before the next 30 – and on it went. At some point I recall beginning to feel really strange and for a while began to hallucinate seeing rocks in every colour you can imagine and then faces began to appear out of the scree beneath my feet – quite surreal but in a strange way would not have been unpleasant had it not been for the accompaniment of a thumping headache and nausea! Finally after what seemed an eternity (I was later told was about 9 hours) we finally reached Stellar Point which is officially the summit of Kilimanjaro! The only problem was that the highest point of the summit Uhuru Peak (that’s where the iconic sign is) was still nearly 2 hours further climb away. Still you do not trudge all that way without having you photo taken by the sign so off we went again finally reaching our goal (and a height of 5893m) about an hour and a half later. Out came the cameras, flags, scarves and in my own case my brown paper bag (don’t ask – speak to Amanda Broome) emblazoned with good luck messages from my colleagues at SA Law. It seemed like we had no time to take in what we had accomplished or even admire the spectacular glacier at the summit (on reflection though all you really want to do is get down asap as by this time with the altitude you are really not feeling your best) before we had to tackle the descent. In it’s own way the descent is equally challenging and no less treacherous than going up given that by the time you start it you have had barely a few hours sleep over the last 36 or so hours. It took about a day and a half (with the added joy of another night under canvas) to get down to the point where automotive power takes over and you fall into the bus to transport you back to civilisation which was our hotel in Arusha.
The party (after party and after after party) went on well into the night and a fair part of the next morning and it was a bedraggled bunch that boarded the bus back to the airport the next afternoon.
Of the group of 26, 19 reached the summit which in percentage terms we were told was pretty high (they don’t mention that when you sign up!). However all 26 of us came away unanimous in that this had been the hardest, strangest, most rewarding and amazing thing we had ever done (or are likely to) and certainly in my case not one that I will be repeating any time soon!
Thanks to donations from friends and colleagues too numerous to mention we have managed to raise over £3,500 for The Chris Ryan Trust, which will hopefully go some way to helping Chris achieve his 2012 dream of being on the GB Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team. A big thank you to you all.On a final and somewhat spooky note there we were back at Heathrow, in the lift, going down to the car park when the lift doors opened and who should walk in and stand right next to me but none other than Chris Moyles! The temptation to tap him on the shoulder and compare war stories never really emerged though and I kept my counsel – he will have his own memories of Kilimanjaro and I certainly have mine! Smaller than he looks on the TV though!