Written to my co-climbers...
It was only yesterday that I heard, from a colleague, about the Navratilova saga. I think we need to put this into perspective and not let it worry us. The key thing about climbing at such elevations, as we know, is altitude sickness. My experience when I climbed to Gokyo Ri, Nepal (sorry not mountain-dropping wantonly:)) was that the people who suffered most were the fit ones. It became a race for them as to who could make it quicker to the top etc. The fit ones would want to boast about making it in 5 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes and they were usually the ones with altitude sickness. Once you have altitude sickness the only thing that makes you feel better is descending rapidly. Navratilova had pulmonary edema which is rare at the altitude she was at but perhaps she was legging it up that mountain - something I'm certainly not going to be doing:). My theory is that if you have a little more flesh on you then altitude sickness doesn't get to you as much. That's my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it. Altitude sickness is for stick-insects and as I am not one, none for me thanks:) - lol!
I also had another friend tell me about a friend of theirs who is a marathon runner and v. fit who had issues on the mountain and that she found it hard. Again, I think the key is acclimatising and going at our individual paces and again, my theory seems to rule... Pole, Pole... as we will hear from our guides constantly or so I have read.
On the exercising front, I am climbing 90 flights of stairs four times a week. It is hard. It takes me about an hour and I certainly feel like I have worked out at the end of it. As I am doing this, I keep thinking about Kili and how it is going to be several hours, it sure makes me a little fearful. When I was doing my research on the mountain recently, I saw these bleak pictures as you get higher and higher. It is bleak and barren and it scares me for sure. I keep going back to Nepal and my experiences there to quell my fears! I was younger then but I think I am fitter now. I climbed to 17,500 ft then with no training at all so I am sure that this time will be better she says hopefully. The last day with 16 hours of walking does sorta freak me out.
Two years ago I trekked in Bhutan for a few days. One of the days was an 8 hour trek mostly downhill - it was pretty gruelling and I was totally bushed when we finished. So, the last Kili day - 16 hours really fills me with trepidation. I also know that I want to get to Uhuru and not just Gillman's point so, daily, I am psyching myself up for those last two days especially. The other thing that I focus on is the going to the toilet in that cold - tent or no tent. Hmmmm...not a favourite experience. Huts or no huts, toilets are outside and every time I think of this I have to do a 'mind over matter' (pun??) thing.
So, yes, the training is going well. I'm certainly expelling tons of toxins and hoping it will stand me in good stead. As the key issue is the altitude, it would help if we could get to a higher altitude a few times between now and then but that's not going to happen for me. One suggestion was to go to the Ngorongoro crater a couple of days before as this would help with acclimatisation. Another key aspect would be to go on long hikes which, again, in -10 degrees plus is not an option for me. Susina it's good that you are going to do this. As my body laments each flight of stairs, I give it a big talking to about how I will need to walk for several hours on Kili so I'd better quit the bitchin' about 1 hour of effort!
I am fretting on the gear front. It is sooooo expensive and I am running through in my mind about all I will need to take. I too am waiting for the January sales. My biggest worry is the down jacket - to buy or rent??? I remember renting my down jacket in Nepal but it wasn't warm and I know that is one thing I do not want to be and that is cold. Also, I have these comfortable Mephisto shoes and they fit well but with three pairs of socks - they will be tight. I may need to get some light but effective thermal socks as I don't fancy buying another pair of shoes when I have perfectly adequate ones. Also, getting the other gear together is a bit of a worry. I need an updated list of what gear to pack considering we are doing the 'luxury' camping.
Okay, I think I've written enough of my worries, fears, tribulations...
None of the above is meant to be negative - just expressing my concerns. I am really, really looking forward to the climb, the experience and the positive far outweighs the negative. Perhaps I will feel more comfortable in January when I've got my gear together and I have eight weeks of training under my belt.
That's it for now...
