Training

Since our first day on the mountain will be March 20, I figured I would begin training 3 months ahead around December 20.  Well....the week before that date, I came down with a stomach flu that rivaled any sickness I can remember having in the last 2 decades.  So my new goal for December was to begin eating on a daily basis and to physically be able to move from one place to another in my house (it's important to not set your goals so high you fail all the time)!  I succeeded.
This past week I went with Dillon and Austin into the mountains to begin our training by cross country skiing in the back country.  As I was sitting in the 90 mile line of cars trying to get into the mountains, I could feel my muscles slowly deteriorating as I was waiting to get to the location to start training.  So we changed our plans, rented snow shoes, and headed up to Loveland Pass.
Austin chose to downhill ski and then climb back up carrying his skis -- an idea that sounded much more fun than it actually was.  Dillon and I headed up above tree line to exert energy at high altitude. As we clipped along at a good pace at 11,000 feet headed toward 12,000 -- one of us could not stop talking.  Dillon had no problem with altitude while I was barely able to answer his non-stop questions!!
The way I see it, there are three main areas that will help us peak Mt Kilimanjaro; physical strength, altitude acclimation, and mental determination.  Clearly I need to work on my altitude acclimation -- I'll let the rest of the family figure out where their weak points are....

Why Kilimanjaro?

So many people have asked me why in the world I would want to take all my children and climb the highest mountain in Africa. And the old adage "because it's there" doesn't do it justice!

When I was in junior high school, I met a man who had worked as a travel guide for Kilimanjaro climbs.  That was the first time I was exposed to this majestic mountain, and immediately the idea of climbing it one day worked its way under my skin.  In high school I actually taught myself Swahili, believing that one day I would live in Africa. That was many years ago, and I have yet to set foot on the African continent.

So when I heard about "bucket lists" - Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro was the first thing I put down.  10 years ago I began "talking-up" the idea to my friends and family.  Several friends wanted to join me -- but as time has progressed, not many have been able to reserve the time or money for the effort.  As I considered who were some of my favorite people in the world -- the people I would want to experience one of the highlights of my life with, I easily thought of my children.  I know that as they get older, it will be more and more difficult to collect all of us together in one spot for two weeks to climb a mountain in Africa!  The girls will be going to graduate school (medical school) and careers will take precedence -- then the boys will be in college and unable to take 2 weeks off.

Within one year I have two girls graduating from college, one of those girls got married, one son graduating from high school, and I will have a "significant" birthday!!  To celebrate I could have booked a cruise, or taken us all to an all inclusive in Mexico, or reserved a cabin in the mountains, but I somehow think that those events could occur sometime in our life, but Kilimanjaro is a once in a lifetime experience. I know the best times together as a family are when we struggle together and accomplish something.  Climbing over 19,000 feet will be quite an accomplishment. So to celebrate -- we are climbing Mt Kilimanjaro!!

Training to Climb

Yikes -- with Christmas season upon us - we have suddenly stopped training and started eating....we can't keep this nasty habit going for long....