Hiking Kilimanjaro for Alzheimer's
Africa & Alzheimer's Fundraising Connect On Tanzania's Mountain
Jul 22, 2008
It's called Ascent for Alzheimer's and ten British Columbians will take ten days to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise research dollars and awareness for the awful disease. Only 130 Canadians have made the trek so far and this will be the 10th anniversary summit.
Motivation
Why would one want to initiate a hike up the 5,800 metres summit which is almost 2,000 metres higher than Canada's tallest, Mt. Robson? A survey of the 2008 team revealed that the reasons fell into three categories:
- family connection, 60% of the team have had a family member who suffered from Alzheimer's or dementia.
- related work, 20% know someone who has worked with Alzheimer's patients.
- altruism, 100% want to give back to their society in some way and the symbolism of climbing the mountain as a team supports that value.
Each person must commit to raising a minimum of $10,000 for the trip, taking place early in September.
Tanzania's Trek
Situated at the border between Kenya and northern Tanzania, Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and one that regular trekkers can climb. It thrusts a majestic snow-covered volcanic crater up out of the surrounding rainforest jungle and savannah grassland. The mountain that Ernest Hemingway immortalized in The Snows of Kilimanjaro has been the mainstay of a UNESCO World Heritage Site for thirty years.
There are several routes that get to Kibo, the dramatic summit volcanic cone and Uhuru Peak. Reaching the summit usually takes 5-7 days. Daily treks can vary, starting at a couple of hours and the longest being 12 to 15 hours, where you ascend over 3,300 ft and descend 10,000 ft. in one day.
Michael Stockman, an Englishman who climbed the mountain 4 years ago, said it is very important to acclimatize since you go from tropical rainforests to alpine desert and glaciers and want to avoid altitude sickness. Uhuru Peak is over 19,000 ft. Altitude sickness can leave a person suffering from headaches and nausea, walking wobbily, and babbling nonsense.
Although one doesn't have to be a mountain climber, it helps to be fit. It is recommended that a trekker should be able to run 30 minutes without laboured breathing so that legs and respiratory system can handle the stress of hiking. Some important gear to bring is good socks, wind and rain-proof clothing, gloves and sunglasses, a head-torch (the last arduous climb begins at midnight), and anti-freezing protection for a digital camera.
The Cause
It's over 100 years ago that Alois Alzheimer first identified the frightening disease. Almost a half million Canadians have dementia and its kin, Alzheimer's, and twice as many women than men. If ten British Columbians, 7 women and 3 men, can raise more than $100,000 and get Canadians to be more aware of Alzheimer's while they focus on hiking up Africa's tallest mountain, then perhaps Hemingway was prescient. “….And there, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro. And then he knew that there was where he was going.”[1]
[1] Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories, (Toronto: Scribner, 2003) page 27
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