It was dead quiet, freezing cold; but is was also beautiful, pure
white as far as the eye could see, and the white in the distance merged with
the beautiful pure blue of the sky in the distance. It was the most beautiful place I have ever
been to – and I have been to a lot of places!
I summited Kilimanjaro (Kili) on the fifth day of January early this
year. I was part of a small group of six
that my twenty year old son and I had linked up with, consisting of a teacher,
a student, a priest and a pilot. It was
a culmination of months of preparation, training, praying and thinking. It was an achievement of a dream that had
come up in a family conversation three years earlier, which from the look of
things might well become a family tradition. We had discussed possible dream
destinations and climbing Kili had come up, so when my son reminded me about it
two years later, I asked him to figure out the logistics and pull me in when
ready. To his credit, he found a group
and we were set.
Preparation for mountain climbing basically requires lots and lots of walking. Regular walks of at least an hour each day for at least four days a week in the preceding four months before the climb generally gets you into the rhythm of the climb. Besides the walk, one needs to climb smaller mountains in the region to build the energy required for the climb. In our case, we climbed Longonot twice, Kilimambogo, and the elephant peak that is part of the Aberdare ranges. One also needs to train with the team they will climb with so as to build a good team connection. As part of the training, one needs to “learn” how to consume lots of water because a hydrated body makes it easier to deal with height related issues on the mountain. One needs to reduce consumption of dehydrating agents including alcohol and related cousins.
We climbed on the popular Marangu route which is a well beaten path and also has well developed accommodation infrastructure in the form of wooded cabins with bunk beds, mattresses and pillows. Other associated costs are the costs of your climbing gear, consisting of layers of clothes, socks, caps and gloves that you will pile on as it gets colder on the climb. The most important of these is a pair of good waterproof boots that are one size larger so as to accommodate extra layers of socks. Luckily for the average climber, there are cheap sources of these items and one can also borrow from those who have climbed earlier. You will build a network of climbers as you train in the local smaller mountains.
Our climb lasted four days upward and two days downward. The routine basically consists of a hot breakfast,
followed by an average of six hours of gentle climbing, packed lunch on the
way, and a hot dinner at the next camp. As
the saying goes, the darkest hour is just before dawn. The summit is generally done in the night for
various reasons, mainly because you need to arrive on the peak to find soft
snow which is safe to walk on. Later in
the day, the snow turns into ice and is extremely dangerous to walk on. That night climb is the toughest and the
steepest part of the climb. You sleep
early and wake up at midnight - It is cold, dark and tough! You get to the rim of the crater (Kilimanjaro
is a dormant volcano) at day break. Then
you realize you still have another two hours to walk on the rim to get to the
peak. This is the most discouraging part
of the climb. The air is thin, it is
cold and worst of all you start experiencing the effects of mountain sickness –
either yourself of on other climbers – and they are nasty! That is the time you
ask yourself – What am I doing this for?
Why am I here on this frozen rock! Who cares whether I get to the top or
not? What if I died here?
The Kili climb is a spiritual journey.
There is plenty of time alone in the walk and also time to sit and talk
with fellow climbers, including strangers.
This quiet time allows one to go through a lot of self-reflection and
you get to know your fellow climbers much better. In my case, I think it greatly improved my
relationship with my twenty year old son, who has now become my good buddy.
Also, you find climbers who make the journey for many different reasons,
including fundraising for charity, family traditions or fulfilling wishes of
departed loved ones.
On the drive as you approach the mountain, you can feel the excitement in the team, there are cheers as the mountains comes into sight. There is a sense of an upcoming conquest – a “Yes we can” kind of feeling. This sense grows and culminates at the Uhuru peak with the “we did it” feeling. However, as you retreat from the mountain, tired and with aching muscles, and as you look back at the unchanged snowcapped mountain peak, there is a silent recognition that you didn’t conquer the mountain, the mountain conquered you. The mountain has a way of slowly wearing you down, forcing you to look inward breaking you down, and then putting you back together. And then it looks down at you and calls up the next person. And it has this attitude that tells you that it has done it to thousands before you and will do it to thousands after you. It was there before you and it will be there long after you – and there is nothing you can do about it. But having done it, you also walk away with a renewed confidence, that you can do anything in the world.
