AoWW Posted 14 February 2010 Posted 14 February 2010 Awww, congrats to you both. Fantastic achievement.
Katy Posted 18 February 2010 Posted 18 February 2010 Brilliant. Well done both. It must have been amazing when you got to the top.
Nick Posted 23 February 2010 Posted 23 February 2010 Nice one James, great challenge great charity. (Which is what I wrote on the donations page just now but it came up 'anonymous' due to a a temporary fault!) Great work, N.
James. Posted 22 March 2010 Author Posted 22 March 2010 May as well unsticky this now. Thanks to everyone who donated, I'm really grateful for such a generous response from Foxestalk, even from people that I'm yet to meet. As you can see from the photo I posted, we both made it to the top at the end of what was an absolutely amazing trip. The hardest and the best thing I've ever done. Thanks again. (by the way it's still not too late to donate! - Just Giving
Jay Posted 1 April 2010 Posted 1 April 2010 (by the way it's still not too late to donate! - Just Giving as they say better late than never!!
FoxyPV Posted 1 April 2010 Posted 1 April 2010 (by the way it's still not too late to donate! - Just Giving Just donated. Well done
Sir Alex Ferguson Posted 13 April 2010 Posted 13 April 2010 If you read this post could you do me a huge favour and spare me literally 1 minute of your time to fill in this simple questionnaire. It is research for my dissertation and the topic is drug cheats in sport, you will probably find it interesting as well. I would really appreciate it if you could fill it in. Many Thanks! http://www.smart-survey.co.uk/v.asp?i=20521updhd&m=&tiag=1&x=
Ozwin Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 I know I'm bumping a topic that's 2 years old but this is genuinely something I really really want to do someday and me being me I've been YouTubing and Googling everything to do with it. I was just wondering if you could give some details as to the company you used and how long it took and all of that sort of thing? Also how much training did you do? It is honestly probably number one on my list of things to do in life, I just know I'd be one of those people who doesn't make it to the top because of altitude sickness or whatever though and seeing as it's pretty much guesswork as to wether you'll get it or not until you get up there it's a pretty expensive risk! Oh yeah, and post some more pics!
purpleronnie Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 I really want to climb Kilimanjaro in my lifetime. Do you need to go through a lot of training to do it? nah celebrities walk up uit, so it cant be too hard. I guess altitude sickness is the main danger? Can I just ask what might be a silly question but I assume in no way the donations made go torwards training or supplies or any expenses and it all goes top the charities yes?
James. Posted 2 March 2012 Author Posted 2 March 2012 Wow, brings back some memories. I found out about it through work who were sponsoring a charity called CHICKS that had reserved places on the trip. The trek itself was organised by Charity Challenge (http://www.charitychallenge.com/index.html) who used a local outfit called The African Walking Company for all the logistics, guides, etc while in Tanzania. We did it as a group of 26 and it was most people's (although not mine) first proper experience of mountains and high altitude. Obviously because of who we did it with everyone was raising money for charity. We paid all the trip expenses ourselves (about £2,500 each if I remember right not including clothing and equipment) so that all money donated to us went to the charity. We wanted to avoid asking people to fund an experience of a lifetime, but this is something that a lot of people on our trip did. In mountainerring and trekking terms Kilimanjaro is not a difficult mountain. On most of the routes all you need to be able to do is put one foot in front of another - you don't need to climb, you don't need ropes, there's no snow, you just walk. We spent a week trekking in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco in preparation and did some long walks in the countryside plus some higher intensity stuff in the gym to build endurance and improve cardiovascular fitness. You do not need to be super fit to summit but being fit definitely makes the trip more enjoyable. At no point until summit day did I feel like I was being massively pushed as due to the altitude you're always going at a very comfortable pace. Summit day is a different story - you will typically gain about 1,200 metres altitude and if you summit you'll be at 5,895 metres. It is a tough day. We left camp at 12am, summited at about 8:45am and got back to camp about 11am. You need to be mentally and physically prepared for it. Altitude sickness is by far the biggest reason for not reaching the summit. The only things you can do to mitigate this is choose a longer route so that you have more time to acclimatise and consider taking Diamox which we had prescribed to us by a doctor and helps relieve the symptoms. Other than that it's luck of the draw - either you cope well or you don't. Fortunately I've never really suffered. Anyway hope that helps. It was without doubt one of the best things I've ever done - we had a great group, an amazing support team and a right laugh from start to finish. And it started a huge interest in mountains which has since taken me to The Alps and Mont Blanc with more trips planned for the future. Any other questions let me know.
FoxesAreBlue Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 Wow, brings back some memories. I found out about it through work who were sponsoring a charity called CHICKS that had reserved places on the trip. The trek itself was organised by Charity Challenge (http://www.charitychallenge.com/index.html) who used a local outfit called The African Walking Company for all the logistics, guides, etc while in Tanzania. We did it as a group of 26 and it was most people's (although not mine) first proper experience of mountains and high altitude. Obviously because of who we did it with everyone was raising money for charity. We paid all the trip expenses ourselves (about £2,500 each if I remember right not including clothing and equipment) so that all money donated to us went to the charity. We wanted to avoid asking people to fund an experience of a lifetime, but this is something that a lot of people on our trip did. In mountainerring and trekking terms Kilimanjaro is not a difficult mountain. On most of the routes all you need to be able to do is put one foot in front of another - you don't need to climb, you don't need ropes, there's no snow, you just walk. We spent a week trekking in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco in preparation and did some long walks in the countryside plus some higher intensity stuff in the gym to build endurance and improve cardiovascular fitness. You do not need to be super fit to summit but being fit definitely makes the trip more enjoyable. At no point until summit day did I feel like I was being massively pushed as due to the altitude you're always going at a very comfortable pace. Summit day is a different story - you will typically gain about 1,200 metres altitude and if you summit you'll be at 5,895 metres. It is a tough day. We left camp at 12am, summited at about 8:45am and got back to camp about 11am. You need to be mentally and physically prepared for it. Altitude sickness is by far the biggest reason for not reaching the summit. The only things you can do to mitigate this is choose a longer route so that you have more time to acclimatise and consider taking Diamox which we had prescribed to us by a doctor and helps relieve the symptoms. Other than that it's luck of the draw - either you cope well or you don't. Fortunately I've never really suffered. Anyway hope that helps. It was without doubt one of the best things I've ever done - we had a great group, an amazing support team and a right laugh from start to finish. And it started a huge interest in mountains which has since taken me to The Alps and Mont Blanc with more trips planned for the future. Any other questions let me know. First you beat me at parkrun and now it turns out you've lived my dream. FVCK OFF JAMES.!!!!!!!
James. Posted 2 March 2012 Author Posted 2 March 2012 First you beat me at parkrun and now it turns out you've lived my dream. FVCK OFF JAMES.!!!!!!! If it's any consolation I've never done Parkrun in my life and my 5km PB is about 22 minutes which if I remember the Running thread correctly is slower than you! 1-1.
Guest Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 I'd love to climb Kilimanjaro, but I struggled with my asthma climbing Ben Nevis. I'm guessing I'd be out of this
James. Posted 2 March 2012 Author Posted 2 March 2012 I'd love to climb Kilimanjaro, but I struggled with my asthma climbing Ben Nevis. I'm guessing I'd be out of this Obviously I have no idea how bad your asthma is but the NHS indicate that it isn't necessarily a reason not to go to altitude: http://www.fitfortra...a.aspx#altitude I'd be very surprised if any symptoms you experienced on Ben Nevis were altitude related as it's just not high enough to make much difference versus being at sea level.
Guest Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 Obviously I have no idea how bad your asthma is but the NHS indicate that it isn't necessarily a reason not to go to altitude: http://www.fitfortra...a.aspx#altitude I'd be very surprised if any symptoms you experienced on Ben Nevis were altitude related as it's just not high enough to make much difference versus being at sea level. I have exercise-induced asthma which is triggered by the cold I'll never forget the day I climbed Ben Nevis; it was the day Mickeh Adams left. I'll also never forget the husband striding off ahead of me, having to wait for me to catch up, and then carrying on without letting me have a chance to get my breath back
FoxesAreBlue Posted 2 March 2012 Posted 2 March 2012 Aaah yeah, I'm getting you mixed up with danny. Apologies! I take my abuse back. Kili still pisses over braunstone though!
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.