A Climbers Diary

Day 7 - 26/02/09             
Summit Day - 20.34hrs
Kibo Camp - 4700m
Duration 8 hrs - Height Gain 370m

I’m writing this when I really should be asleep! I missed the morning instalment because I had a bit of a faff around this morning whilst packing my day pack to take with me over The Saddle, the long and desert like stretch that separates the two peaks of Kili. It’s a hot and plain 10k walk that transports you from Mawenzi to Kibo. Sadly my faffing meant that despite having risen later than us, the Germans packed up and left camp before us once again but this time it was solely my fault.  Ah well. Vorsprung Durch technik as they say in Germany, England, Tanzania and in fact anywhere else the super efficient Germans go.

The walk was very very hot and took us through a lunar landscape at approx 4500m AMSL which is high, especially for such inhospitable conditions. We walked and walked and seemingly got nowhere. Towards the end of the trek day it became clear that Dave was suffering and how he managed to get as far as he did was a credit to his grim determination. By the time he reached Kibo his legs and gone and he had the AMS walk. A sort of stagger where the knees buckle at every step and the weakness is incredible. He was sick at camp and had to descend to everyone’s disappointment.

Mossy on the other hand got fed up with the slow pace and raced ahead to Kibo camp with Nick, our super trendy / super fit American group member. He’s a boy that one. Didn’t smoke any fags today for the sole reason that he’s already done them all. He needs to be a little careful though as exhaustion can set in with the stop / start method of walking. Slow and steady is generally a better method at altitude but I’m sure he knows his own body well enough to know if he’s pushing it too much.

The trot across The Saddle, or The Blazing Saddle due to the heat and the incessant wind from all members of the group, was uneventful with the exception that there was zero cover to go for a pee. That’s one of the things on a trek like this. You come together as strangers and live as one unit so there can be no embarrassment. One poignant moment was when we came upon the wreckage of a light aircraft that had crashed a couple of months ago and 4 people had lost their lives. It brought  it home how fragile life can be and also sometimes how unexpected death can be.  Carpe Diem and RIP.

I mentioned previously that I thought the toughest part of the trip to date was getting into my sleeping bag last night. Packing this morning over took it in the difficulty stakes because of the altitude, and then this evenings MegaTrev,  (the new verb for complete and utter indecisiveness) has capped them all as I am now completely out of breath and all I was doing was packing my bag for the summit attempt. Simply moving at more than a snails pace at this altitude is tough. Exertion of any form takes it out of you and just existing is a chore. Much respect goes out to regular high altitude climbers. How anyone can summit Everest, especially without oxygen is completely beyond me.

I need to sleep now as I have to be up in three hours but Mossy is snoring like a P-I-G. It’s 6 hours to Gilmans, another 2 to Uhuru, 4 back here, and another 4 down the mountain from here to the next camp tomorrow . That means a strenuous climb and descent of 16 hours plus with only a few tea breaks and a short rest halt.

Good night and good luck to all of our group.