Kilimanjaro Climb Day 5: Summit Day (Cont.)

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It is cold outside, about 10 degrees, but it's only midnight, it will get colder in the early a.m. hours. Fortunately, this is the day we prepared for. As I mentioned, I detest being cold, so about half of our investment in equipment was for the next six hours.

First comes the long underwear - technologically advanced mind you - to be very thin and lightweight, but still warm. Fleece pants go on over the underwear, and are also very insulating and light. Finally we each have a pair of heavy ski pants to protect us from precipitation, wind, and also add another layer for warmth.

On our feet are a pair of liner socks which wick away moisture so your feet stay dry. For summit day we are advised to wear two pairs of wool socks. These are very thick and warm. Lastly are our hiking boots which are 100% waterproof.

The first layer for our torso is a long-sleeve, cold-weather Under Armour shirt. After this we put on a thin but very warm lightweight fleece layer. Third was a down jacket which is of course very warm and also compressible so we could put on our fourth layer, our ski jackets. Our ski jackets are quite warm and also insulate against the wind and precipitation.

On our hands we wear two pairs of gloves. A liner glove so you have enough dexterity to zipper your pocket or access your day-pack, and ski gloves.

On our heads we wore a headliner, almost Under Armouresque in it's design, very thin and close to the body to keep heat in, but virtually weightless so you do not even know it's there. Also good to cover the mouth and nose so you do not get frostbit, or so you are not taking super cooled air into your lungs. Lastly, we had a nice fleece had that pulled down enough to cover our ears and keep us warm.

We are warm and ready to summit.

The weather for the first time was terrible. I remember waking up during the night and hearing the wind, and being fearful that our tent might blow away. Silly to you maybe, but it's already on an incline, and it acts like a giant sail, and the wind was blowing HARD.

The temperature with the wind chill had dropped to -30 degrees. The wind was blowing approx 40mph. Not gusting - but consistently driving us off the path and off our feet. When we took a step forward you had to lean into it to make forward progress. If you stood upright you would have to take a step back to catch yourself. Our guides would say after the fact that in over 200 climbs, this was the strongest they had ever seen the wind on the mountain. It was ridiculous.

Almost half-way up our camel-packs froze and we had limited access to water. I should have mentioned this earlier, that it is extremely important when hiking to extreme elevations to keep yourself hydrated. Our group on average were drinking 4L or 1 gallon during the hikes.

We were all incredibly taxed, even the guides. We passed many people coming down; escorted by guides. One of our own, Rob, was getting oxygen on the side of the mountain as I passed him. He did not look good. I remember very clearly seeing this man in an orange jacket getting oxygen and thinking that guys in bad shape, but I did not even know it was Rob until later on. The altitude will do that to you, I did not recognize this man whom I had seen for the last 96 consecutive hours. Also, as we were climbing I counted 10 of us, Ron was missing. After inquiring I learned that he decided not to attempt the summit. He had been having some health issues and felt it was best not to go on. I think he made the right decision. I would like to say though, that he made it to the second to last camp at 15,000' and that is quite an accomplishment, it was not easy at all, and I'm 28, he's 71. Job very well done Ron.

Shoshanna and I were extremely exhausted and the top was not getting closer. At one point I could see her losing it so I put my hands our behind me and took hers and pulled her up the mountain. I did this for about 5 minutes. It felt much longer. Then I was overcome with emotion, the altitude (when in doubt blame everything on the altitude, if not for anything else, it's convenient) and the exhaustion had gotten to me and I started to cry. I felt bad for both of us, but I had run out of energy.

I didn't know what to do, I felt I couldn't go on, but did not want to quit.

We took a short break and I feel asleep. More accurately I passed out. Shoshanna had to shake me to wake me up. This actually happened multiple times when we would stop for a water break or just a 5 minute rest I would fall asleep in literally 20 seconds. My body was completely gassed. I had not had much trouble the previous days, but the wind was sucking the energy out of me. Also when we did break, we would get immediately cold, even with all our gear on. It was intense, at least while we were moving we were warm.

Shoshanna and I made it to Stella Peak in about 7.5 hours. The sun had started to rise and the wind that persisted for a good 6 hours was now gone completely. This looked like the top but we could not see the sign that marks the highest point in Africa. We asked someone for help and they said it was about an hour away, but only modestly steep.

Shoshanna was devastated and started sobbing.

We had put all our energy into getting to this point which looked like the top only to find out we had to hike an hour more.

One hour later we were at the 'Roof of Africa'. We took many pictures and enjoyed the view. We said I love you a lot and felt very proud of ourselves. From our group the other eight made it. Six out of the ten who made it needed oxygen, and three or four needed their day-pack carried. Of the people who try to summit Kilimajaro, only 40% are successful. We had an excellent group and excellent guides. We were now 19,341' above sea level.

It was 8:30am, we were light-headed and generally not feeling our best. After an hour or so on the summit, we started to descend rapidly, and after 3 or 4 hours we were back at camp. We would eat lunch here, take a 60 minute break, and then hike again for another 4 hours down to our last camp before getting off the mountain.

to be continued...

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