Dreams that Drive Vision and Possibilities – Part Three – Kilimanjaro Summit

October 1, 2009 — digitalmileage

John_Holt_Cobalt_Kilimanjaro_day1 In June and July of 2009, John Holt, co-founder and CEO of The Cobalt Group and his fourteen year-old daughter Gemma climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is the highest peak in Africa at 19,340 feet, providing dramatic views of Tanzania and southern Kenya.

“Don’t allow any obstacles to stop you. With a full-hearted commitment you can make your dreams can come true personally and professionally. It is seriously valuable to dream, to put your dreams in writing, and then begin to take the actions needed to make them happen. It’s a strong belief of mine that life is about the pursuit and attainment of a continuing set of self-created goals. It’s about understanding and utilizing your own unique set of capabilities, to the fullest extent possible. I have been given many blessings… if I don’t use them to the fullest I am somehow dishonoring myself.”

John Holt – CEO and Co-Founder- The Cobalt Group

Part Three: Summit Day

Kilmanjaro Summit Climb 2009 John Holt: We awoke at 4am on a very cold morning on July 5th, 2009, to begin walking in the dark to make the 4000 foot climb to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet. The trail is switchback after switchback after switchback doing mountaineering style hiking; after each step you stop and straighten your leg to put your weight on your skeleton instead of your muscles, which makes for a pretty slow way to climb 4000 feet. We were all in Alpine gear at this point, cold and filled with trepidation. It doesn’t matter if you’re in great physical shape; you’re fighting off inner thoughts wondering “Is something bad going to happen”. At no time can you be fully confident that you’re going to reach the summit!

About a quarter of the way up Gemma began experiencing leg cramps. She tore her MCL in late March and couldn’t start training with intensity until the very end of May, so cramping wasn’t that surprising. We pulled out her climbing poles to take some strain off her legs and she continued forward and upward, toughing it out every step. I was so proud of her and I will always remember the time we spent on this trip and in the tent each night as climbing peers and as father/daughter. To cope with this degree of challenge and do something so remarkable at 14, it will give her so much confidence throughout the rest of her life. To climb so high with my (once) little girl was incredibly poignant for me; it was truly one of the great things I have done in my life… I suspect it will sink in for Gemma over some number of years.

The first goal was to reach Stella Point at 18,800 feet, from there you can see Crater Camp, a number of glaciers, and the lava dome. You have a choice to go down to Crater Camp and spend the night and make the summit attempt in the morning, taking the risk that something bad could happen overnight. Or, you can summit right then and there. There wasn’t much doubt for us; we decided to carry on and go for the summit. We knew when we reached Stella Point that we were going to summit, and it was a very emotional moment for everyone in our group.

Kilimanjaro Summit Sign John and Gemma Hot We turned left and headed up the edge of the caldera. Finally up ahead to the right we spotted the sign that marks the summit. Gemma was walking slightly ahead of me, and she waited for me to catch up so we could touch the sign together. Tears streamed down our cheeks as we stood at the highest point in Africa, viewing the magnificent glaciers, realizing that commitment and achievement had taken us to the top together. The summit is an other-worldly place, maybe like the moon, magnificently beautiful in a really austere way. The feeling was something I have never experienced before and it made me want to climb higher mountains. But none may be as special as this first.

Our entire group and all the guides made the summit. It was magical as we were alone on the summit in warm sunshine and no wind; no one else came along for the next 45 minutes. We took every possible combination of pictures possible, sat and talked and laughed, elated over our accomplishment. Then we headed down to Crater Camp, at 18,800, to spend the night. Gemma and I were feeling strong so we went on another hike to see the lave dome and view the glaciers. You can smell sulphur coming out of the crater; there’s no question it’s a real volcano. Then we then hiked over to the Western Breach and looked down at Lava Tower where we’d been four nights earlier. We had come a long way!

Kilimanjaro Summit Glacier John Holt We returned to camp and I was feeling so good I went back out and climbed up on top of a glacier to take more photos, but then I realized this might be pretty dangerous if I slipped and banged my head since no one knew where I was. I took some wonderful photos of the glaciers with a very bright almost-full moon in the background, and then I rejoined Gemma at our tent. That night we could hear the glaciers cracking from the pressure, echoing off the rim of the caldera, it was just magnificent.

We woke in the morning to a zero degree dawn, our water bottles frozen solid. We had a quick breakfast and began to head down the mountain. That day we went from 18,000 feet back down to 10,000 feet, and then the following day down to 6,000 feet and the exit gate. These were the two hardest days of the entire trip, believe it or not, as the jarring on your legs and knees causes a real pounding. With Gemma’s recent knee injury and my old ACL repair, we were both pretty uncomfortable with swollen and sore knees, but it was a small sacrifice!

We arrived at the Kilimanjaro National Park Headquarters and signed the official registration book to certify the completion of our journey. At a farewell lunch we celebrated with our guides and our porters and our climbing compatriots, and then we received our official certificates documenting our successful summit. The porters gathered to sing “The Kilimanjaro Song” in Swahili, and then they congratulated us one by one for our success. I said a few words to the entire group thanking them for supporting us and letting them know we would never forget our experience. And then we headed back to Arusha for our first shower in nine days, which meant even more to a 14-year old girl than it did to me!