Day 7 - Summit A Day Early

Sunday 02/09/2012

Today's scheduled climb was from Arrow Glacier Camp to Crater Camp Via The Western Breach.  We decided to push on and summit....a day early!

15,978 ft to 18,500 ft - Arrow Glacier Camp to Crater Camp in the Reutsch Crater
18,500 ft to 19,340 ft - Crater Camp to Uhuru, the summit of Kibo on Mt Kilimanjaro

Partial Stats:

1.95 km

6 hrs 59 mins

1524 Calories

These are the readings that my Garmin stored before it shut down. It runs out of battery after 7 hours when using GPS to make recordings.

The actual climb of The Western Breach, took us 8.5 hours to cover a total of 2.3 kms.....yes you are reading this correctly! 8.5 hours to climb 2.3 kms!

After listening to Tracey's Creative Visualisation last night I was totally inspired and went to sleep convinced I was going to put in the extra effort today and summit a day early. However, by about 4 hours on The Western Breach I scrapped that idea in favor of just getting through today in one piece.

I knew The Western Breach was going to be tough. Remember my early posts about route selection...I knew I had chosen the most challenging route up Kilimanjaro. But this was unbelievable! I have watched several You Tube Videos on this part of the climb but nothing, nothing, prepared me for this!

The Western Breach left me totally shattered.  I have never been so exhausted in my life and I have never been so terrified in my life!

How this rates as a non-technical climb amazes me - but I did it! We passed several spots where stainless steel loops were embedded in the rock face by climbers who had used ropes....I kept wishing we had those ropes!

At one point Hosea said to me "Don't forget to take some photos".  What is he thinking? Can't he see I am damn near shitting myself? I was too scared to look up and too scared to look down. All I could focus on was a direct line of sight from my eyes to the boots directly in front of me, those being Hosea's.

Shadrock, our assistant guide figured it out and offered to take photos for me. Now most of you will know, I don't let anyone use my camera, but in this circumstance, I didn't give a damn, I just told him to go for it.

I did get to take in the sideways view and it was totally spectacular but no way was I looking up or down.

We started our climb early, around 5.30am, so the scree we would be climbing over would be frozen and therefore more stable. We zig zagged up the Breach to slow down our ascent and to negate the steepness. 

At the top of the scree section we had to cross an ice field and Shadrock moved into the lead to cut steps in the ice with his ice pick.  Shards of ice were flying off his pick and some hit me in the face which was quite refreshing - as cold as it was, the ice on my face felt good.

After crossing the ice we covered some rock scrambling areas and then entered the "danger zone" where Hosea told us it was necessary to increase our pace so we could move through this area as safely and quickly as possible. I didn't ask but I am guessing the "danger zone" is the area where a rock fall killed several people some years back and closed The Western Breach for quite some time.  So we moved onwards and upwards with more focus than ever to get through this section.

We eventually come to the giant Staircase Scramble that The Western Breach is known for (other than the rock fall of course). The staircase probably only took us about 20 minutes to negotiate and Hosea and Shadrock were helping me and encouraging me all the way.....these guys are amazing and they know exactly where to place your foot on each step upwards. Only 20 minutes but I was absolutely freaking out and trying not to show it, I just wanted to get to the top. For those of you that don't know, I'M SCARED OF HEIGHTS AND GET VERTIGO FROM THE MENIERES DISEASE.  This was my worst nightmare and I had to get through it!  Face the fear! 

I did it! Thank God!

At the top of the Staircase we stopped for a hot drink and snacks. Now that we are on a small flat section, I can really appreciate the magnificent view and marvel at the steepness of the climb we have made so far today.....way to go!

We still have to get from here to the Crater and it takes us about another 1.5-2 hours over a very steep climb while we are already pretty much exhausted.

We've finally made it, coming over the final ridge into the Crater with the huge Furtwangler Glacier spread out before us and the welcome site of our camp already set up by our trusty porters.

There's lots of high fives and hugs going on as the porters and other team members greet us and congratulate us for reaching camp.

I head for my tent and collapse onto the welcome softness of the double thick mattress. I am totally shattered and struggling for each breath.

Throughout our climb, Nick has been trying to teach me better breathing methods. But it's not something you "learn in the field" as such and I have agreed that I am going to seek out someone at home to teach me this on my return.

Before I know it, I am called for lunch - something I don't want but know I must try to eat to help me acclimatise. My headache is back and a bit of nausea so I know early Altitude Sickness symptoms are looming.

In the mess tent I have a quick chat with Nick and we decide to push on and summit today....a day early!

That's the Kiwi spirit coming out in me....let's get this done and lets do it NOW!

We are both concerned that at this camp we have not climbed higher than we are to sleep and this is a basic in acclimatization. I am also concerned that I have mild Altitude Sickness that could get worse during the night and I may not be able to make the summit tomorrow.

At the start of our climb and a few days ago, we had discussed the option of summiting on the same day as competing The Western Breach and both Wilbert and Hosea had pointed out the following benefits;

* an afternoon summit is not as cold and therefore you can spend longer on the summit - maybe 20-30 minutes

* an afternoon summit is more private and you are likely to have the summit to yourself

* a morning summit is very cold and therefore you basically have about 10-15 minutes to get some photos and start back down

* a morning summit has all climbers from five different routes trying to get on the summit for sunrise - so it can get very crowded

We have just finished discussing our options when Hosea comes into the mess rent and starts to tell us we should relax for the afternoon and mentally prepare for tomorrows summit.

We tell him we have decided to push on and summit today and for a split second he looks surprised but then moves into action saying okay he will get the team organized to summit straight away.

So we have had about 1.5 hours break when we set off for the summit. It doesn't look all that far to the top of the crater, it's steep but looks doable and most of it is over scree with only a little rock scrambling.

Yes, it was doable but it was harder than we expected because of our exhaustion. The estimated time to cover this part of the climb is 90 minutes and I think it took us around 2 hours.

As I made those final steps to the summit and the sign, I felt the tears begin to flow and the goose bumps stand up on my arms. I could see Nick was also shedding a tear or two.

This is the completion of a dream and a lot of hard work in preparation...it is emotional!

I made it!  I summited Mt Kilimanjaro.... A DAY EARLY!

And, what a feeling! I don't think I will ever be able to convey that feeling to anyone. It goes deep and it is very emotional.

Living The Dream....I Have Lived My Dream!  I have climbed Kilimanjaro and stood on the roof of Africa, the continent that has taken my breath away for so many years now and always has a piece of my soul.