Pole, Pole!

Posted by Conrad and Louisa Wednesday 21 March 2012  at 04:19
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Mount Kilimanjaro was a harder climb then Louisa and I originally anticipated.  Per usual, we did little research and left it up to the Sawatzkys and our new found yoga strength to make it to the top of the 19,400 foot peak.  Amazingly, all 14 dodgy Canadian team members made it to the summit; however, this astounding achievement came with many struggles:
The Ferrungus on the summit!!!
  • Diamox – this wonder drug for any extreme mountaineer helps reduce the symptoms of high altitude sickness.  At 19,400 feet, 90% of people will feel symptoms of altitude sickness no matter their health, age, sex, etc.  To prevent a summit attempt failure, most people take Diamox to ensure altitude sickness is subdued.  However, Louisa ironically GOT altitude sickness from taking Diamox pills at only 10,000 feet (the height of Lake Louise) – yes, altitude sickness from altitude sickness pills.  That is like getting sunburnt from sunscreen without going into the sun! 
View of the sunrise from the summit - just amazing! 
  • Hallucinations – on summit day, the group started hiking at midnight from 15,000 feet to summit.  Night time is the best time to hike to the summit to avoid sweating/hypothermia and to see the amazing sunrise.  With a maximum of two hours of sleep (in between shortness of breath) you are forced to hike seven hours to the summit.  Sleep walking is very common… and so are hallucinations apparently!  Joel managed to see a ‘chariot’ that he decided would be a faster way to get to the summit – he may not have gotten there faster, but he was first!
Victory! 
  • Constipation – mentally preparing for Africa, the last thing that crossed our minds was constipation.  We were more worried about the ‘Montezuma’s revenge’ effect.  For ten days I battled the worst case of constipation; for six days of those days I was hiking Kilimanjaro.  At 18,000 feet during the summit night hike, I was ‘released’ of my problem – with less weight and a clearer mind, hiking to the summit was my second victory of the day.
Melissa and Trevor (and others) making their way to the summit! 
  • Altitude sickness – unlike Louisa’s pill-induced altitude sickness, several people felt the true ill effects of high elevation – most notably, Melissa.  In between vomiting and dizziness, Melissa managed to convince herself, the guides, and her husband that everything was normal.  Her tenacious competitive spirit allowed her to overcome major altitude sickness and summit successfully.  Minutes after summiting, the guide finally realized the severity of Melissa’s symptoms and rushed her down 4,000 feet faster than gravity could take her.  Luckily there was no permanent damage other than Trevor’s ego once again coming in second to his ailing wife.
Every member of the Kili team had their own personal challenges to overcome (with the exception of Trevor, whose only challenge was not having any challenges to overcome).  Not only did all 14 of us make it, we all learned a lot about ourselves and how to deal with life’s trials.  The wise words of our guides Amani and Tigamea will forever be engrained in our heads, ‘Pole, Pole’ – which literally means, ‘slow, slow’ (to avoid altitude sickness).  Life has its challenges just like hiking Kilimanjaro – if taken slow, one step at a time, without focusing just on the summit, anything is possible! 

Summiting Kilimanjaro with such a great group will be a memory that will truly last a lifetime – Pole, Pole! 
Team Canada!

1 comments:

Amanda Y on 21 March 2012 at 05:35 said...

It makes my day to see a new blog post from you guys.
I got goosebumps whilst reading this entire post. CONGRATS!
Thank you for sharing the tips and tricks for a climb such as this. Way to go guys!
xo

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