through the roof...

Hello Everyone,

Well we are officially off the mountain.  Yesterday, we made our final decent from Millennium Camp which was at about 13,000 feet to the gate at 6,000 feet.  From there we were greeted by song and dance from our porter team (which were our rocks), as well as a small ceremony with our guides and presented certificates of our great accomplishment.  From there we drove for about an hour and a half off the mountain back to our hotel for our first showers in over 8 days.  Last night a few of us had a couple Kili Beers (Real brand actually), and just reminisced about our trek.  Today, we are about to head tro the Arusha Village to mingle with locals and get some people time in, which is something I am very much looking forward to.  Tomorrow, we head to the airport in the afternoon to start our journey home.

A couple quick thoughts on what we just did.  First and foremost which sticks out in many of our minds is something that will never be able to be taken away from Erica or even us, the first female paraplegic on the summit of Kilimanjaro.  I have written it many times or said it but the faces of those coming down, absolutely defeated in exhaustion, seeing us going up, was absolutely priceless.  Most people just stopped and starred and were like “how in the hell or why in the hell are you doing that”.  Well the truth is, why not.  Erica was great and never got mad or down, and neither did Tara for that matter.  Both girls gritted their teeth, and kept climbing.  Phil seemed to be on the verge of death, something we laugh about now, but he wasn’t well.  But both of those girls were going to make that summit.  And they did.  It was freezing, high and just absolutely exhausting, but they did it.

Not many people really grasp what it takes to climb a mountain like that.  It take days in tents, no showers, sleeping bags and cold, early mornings, no food, stomach pains, bathrooms with holes in the floor (me personally, I actually preferred the great outdoors rather than the bathrooms), everyone speaks Swahili, and on top of all that which is a small list, you have to climb a mountain everyday for 8-10 hours.  Well we did that.  And driving away from the mountain yesterday, it was truly inspirational to see what we had accomplished.

Since you do not know, we left Barufa Camp at about 6 AM on Sunday and made it up to the Crater rim about 430 PM.  I was the first to make it to the top actually.  I could see the summit about an hour away, but I knew we were not going yet.  Our head guide Minja came to me once he reached the top of the Crater with Erica and asked me if we wanted to summit.  By looking at Phil (absolutely miserable), Erica freezing, Tara struggling and tired, even Penny was exhausted and run down, we knew that if we waited till morning it would be a real struggle.  So I said let’s do it.  That was the moment where Matt tells me he was fighting tears the most.  I personally was losing my battle.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was walking so fast (as fast as you can at that altitude) that I almost vomited.  Right before we made the summit I called my father to tell him we were going to make it, all of us.  I couldn’t even speak due to my tears and the altitude.  Then of course, the phone died right when I got off the phone with him, so no one else could call their family, not even Erica (the next day they were able to).  We sat up there for about 30 minutes and then headed down, with a bad detour by the guides, but we can laugh about it now.  We got stuck out in the cold in the dark, with headlamps, snow and freezing cold for more than an hour which I hear was everyone’s most miserable time, mine as well, at over 18,000 feet which is where we slept.  Actually Tara had to bring me my dinner in my tent cause I could not move.

I tell you all this because it is something big that we have done here.  Many have sacrificed a lot to get word out there that anything is possible, as long as you just do it.  Erica and Tara did it, done.  Yes we are in Africa and it is beautiful but once you place yourself on the side of a mountain for over 8 days, that beauty takes a back seat to survival.  If you have the resources, please donate at fit4kili.com and your donation will go towards the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I would also like to thank our sponsors and I hope I can remember them all right now.  A lot of the equipment that we used to keep us warm was crucial to our success and these companies I would like to thank right away:

Overstock.com and the C.H.E.K Institute and the Challenged Athletes Foundation for making this dream possible

Mountain Hard Wear - Clothing

Ledge Sports - Backpacks, sleeping bags and tents

Leki - Trekking Poles

AKU - Boots

College Park and Scope - Tara’s Hiking Leg

Colours Wheelchairs - The wheelchair that made the entire trek with not one problem

Zeal Optics - Sunglasses and Goggles

MAGICWheels - The wheels that made the entire trip

Suunto -  Watches (So we know where we are)

There are other sponsors that I would like to thank but these are the ones that made it possible on the mountain itself.

OK I am off to lunch.  Thank you and please remember to donate.

- Derek