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Peak of the African Continent, 5.895m, Tanzania.
| The team : |
Climbers : Dominique Riffiod (France), Catherine Devantoy (France), Isabelle Leydier (France), Sylvie Ravenel (France), Mireille Paccallet (France), Alain Marcelon (France), François Glorie (Belgium), Sébastien Glorie (Belgium) ;
Guide : Condrad
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Climbed with
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Allibert |
| Duration, period : |
Mt Meru : 4 days; Kili : 6 days; December 2005 |
| Route : |
Machame route (whiskey route) |
| Summiters : |
7 out of 8 climbers. |
| Advice : |
Beware of the cold, at the top temperatures of -10 are frequent.
Take some extra food with you. |
When it all started.
Climbing the Kilimanjaro is a dream for many amateur climbers. The ascent is not technical, porters take care of your gear and the mountain itself is beautiful. The climb starts in the rain forest with the opportunity to see some wild animals (monkeys, giraffes,...) and ends in the eternal snow around the peak. Climing the Kilimanjaro remains a tough challenge, the ascent is short and you have few time to acclimatize to the altitude.
My dad and myself joined a group of French climbers in a guided trip to reach the Uhuru peak (Swahili for freedom). This was our first high altitude experience. I decided to climb the kili without any porter in order to check if I could carry heavy loads to high altitude for the Aconcagua (peak of the Southern American continent) that I already wanted to climb. We made the ascent of the Mt Meru (4.562m, 4 days) prior to the Kili in order to improve our acclimatization.
Even with this extra time given to our bodies for a better acclimatization, we did suffer from altitude sickness. On the way up to the summit, my dad didn't have the capacity to drink water because breathing was getting too hard. He had to stop every 5 steps to take a short break in order to keep going on. Our equipment was not adapted to cold temperatures below - 10°. My shoes didn´t have the appropriate insulation and I took my motorbike's gloves. My hands were so cold I couldn't use them anymore. On the way down from the top, I had difficulties to move due to a mix of altitude sickness and the first step of hypothermia. I fell at every step. My guide had to take my backpack, grab my arm to run back to the camp.
Besides the strong altitude sickness and the unsuspected cold, we reached the peak together at 7.45 in the morning. These days spent on the slopes of the Kilimanjaro impressed me strongly. The 7 Summit project was
born!
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"This is the essence of mountaineering: that strange mixture of fear and excitement, the addiction
of apprehension and anticipation without which mountaineering would simply be another sport.
It is far, far more than sport.
It is not done to win a game, to gain a gold medal, to beat a fellow competitor.
It is a nonsensical game of life, and it is this absurd pointlessness that makes it so addictive.
If death were not present many would not be drawn to it"
Joe Simpson, Introduction of the White Spider
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