Kilimanjaro has three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira; it is the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895 metres above sea level. The highest freestanding mountain, 4th most prominent in the world, which Mark Rothwell (Pareto Law Business Development Manager) set himself the task to climb in order to raise money for his Bolton Lads and Girls Club.
The Kilimanjaro national park have said that there is only a 30% success rate of climbers that actually reach the summit, with the majority turning around at Gilman’s point, 300 metres short of Uhuru.
Mark Rothwell’s climb to the summit took 6 days from Sunday-Saturday and included 25 people (not all these made it to the top). Although Mark put in a lot of training for the climb, he was still hit hard by altitude sickness. Whilst at the same time having to sleep in temperatures as low as -15 degrees centigrade, in a sleeping bag as well as 4 layers of clothing this was no easy feat.
For the most part the climb involved getting up at 6:30am and walking for 9 hours with a 1 hour break for lunch. On the last day of the Trek to reach the summit the team awoke at 11pm and reached the summit at 7:30am. Reaching the top was extremely hard, Mark said he was struggling for breath every 10 yards and once at the top most of the team were suffering from altitude sickness. They took their pictures and then they descended as quickly as possible (not being able to sleep or stay too long at the summit because of the altitude) and after setting off at 11pm finished walking at 6pm later that evening, having walked a total of 22km in 18 hours.
This is a great achievement by Mark Rothwell; he managed to raise £1000, and in total the group raised £70,000.
nice
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