Kili summited!

Friday 17th September 2010

We left for the summit at 12 midnight, the plan was to get to Gilmans Point by sunrise at 6am. The climb is in two sections, the first is to reach Gilmans point (5,681m) and this is the longest part and should take around 5-6 hours. Then if you are fit enough it is another hour or so to the true summit, Uhuru at 5,895m.


The going was easy to start with and was not particulary steep, but as the mountain got busier it was hard to keep a rhythm going, after a couple of hours our group had separated into two, stronger ones at the front weaker at the back. It was at this point that I did not realise was this is where we had lost Russ. Simon, Ed and myself were allowed to push on. we made surprisingly short work of the swithbacks on loose scree (imagine zig-zagging up sand dunes) and we arrived at Gilmans Point at 5am, an hour ahead of schedule, a few photos a hot cup of tea and off to the summit. At this point Ed and I are suffering with bad headaches, and then Ed throws up, which seems to cure him, no such luck for me, the additional 200m to the summit are going to hurt.

What I was not expecting when standing on the crater rim was the shear beauty of this mountain and its surrounding glaciers.

At 6.36am, the three of us and our guides stepped foot on the summit of mount Kilimanjaro some 5895m above sea level. Words cannot describe how I feel. I think of my family back home and my dad. I honestly didn't question once if I wouldn't make it, I was very determined this time. I believe I have probably pushed my body to the limits though of high altitude climbing this time, and maybe this is enough.

We passed Russ on the way down at 5500m. He had set himself a target of Gilmans point at 5681m, however if I know Russ I cannot see him stopping there. I reloaded him with gel packs and we gave him words of encouragment and wished him luck. As always he'd informed us he'd still had time to blog inbetween bouts of throwing up! Simon, Ed and I have our fingers crossed as he deserves to make it, he has worked so hard this week and gone along an emotional rollercoaster. Come on Russ.

We carried on down and when we got onto the scree, we 'scree-ran'down and once we got the hang of it it was quite easy and a lot quicker than walking down!

The rest of the guys will be late back and Russ later, what they don't know is that they face a 9km walk to our camp for the evening.

I suppose I had better sort the tent out and try and get rid of some of the dust, i cannot describe how dirty everything is, I have never been this dirty and it just doesn't come off, I am then going to assess the damage to my feet, as coming down only took 2 hours, most of it skiing down the screen slopes I can feel my 2 big toes bleeding now.

Simon has done his knee in again so that will be painfully for the next few days.

As much as we are proud of what we achieved today, my hat goes of to the man we passed just coming off the summit, he was on crutches due to only having one leg!

I'm sure there is more I have forgotten, but I will fill in the gaps over the next few days, cannot wait to get back to the hotel tomorrow to get properly clean and am now desperate to see the boys and especially Rachel. I managed to phone her twice, once on our way to Gilmans Point then again after we had summitted! And yes Rachel both Simon and myself can NOW call it Kili!

Am I glad that I did it? Without question Absolutely! Would I attempt it again? At this moment in time No. I've been higher than I have ever been before and possible ever will be under my own steam. It has been quite an experience and one that I will never forget. A lot of sole searching has been carried out on this trip and hopefully I will return home with a new and rejuvinated perspective on life and appreciate more those close to me......