Hideaway Outdoors

Mountain Hideaway makes it to the top of Kilimanjaro! The climb to the summit was a grueling 9 hour hike from Barafu base camp at 15,500 feet all the way to Uhuru peak at 19,340 feet. The entire climb lasted 6 days in which were mostly spent hiking about 9 to 11 hours a day. Most of the 44 climbers in the group made it to the top of the mountain, but almost everyone suffered from some sort of altitude related illness. Personally one of the hardest challenges I faced while summiting was forcing myself to eat when I felt sick. I knew in my head that I needed eat at every opportunity to fuel my body, but getting that idea across to my stomach was a different story. The oxygen level on Uhuru peak is approx 40% than at sea level, so it was critical that I maintained an awareness of my mental faculties; so as to judge whether or not high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) was setting in. Most of the 5 day climb up until that point had been just a long slow hike but the final ascent was brutal. I was reminded by the porters and guides that most of them had summited the mountain more than 100 times and there were some crazy records that had been set by people, boasting an ascent and descent of the mountain in a matter of hours not days. This astounds me and humbles me all at the same time and I won’t be in line to try that either.

For now I look back on the experience and see that climbing a mountain (any mountain) will teach you about life. You will see things in a different light once you have struggled on the switchbacks of what seems to be and endless trail to the heavens. I challenge everyone who is physically able, to get out and hike something, climb something or just get out and do something outdoors.

 I definitely have to say that I would have been miserably cold and wet on that mountain had it not been for the outstanding gear I got from Mountain Hideaway. I can personally vouch for the brands that we carry such as Marmot, Patagonia, OR, Scarpa, SealLine, and others. I am proud to say that the quality and toughness of these brands stand up to the brutal mountain conditions they were intended for. I am glad I got to be apart of this particular climb because it helped raise over a million dollars for clean water in Africa. I was invited on this climb as a representative of Mountain Hideaway to help serve the 44 climbers with any questions they had about gear and about the trek in general. Also we enjoyed working in partnership with Tanganyika Trekkers who worked very hard to make this climb a reality. If you have any questions in regards to climbing Kilimanjaro; I would love to help. E-mail your questions to kerry@themountainhideaway.com Pole! Pole!