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
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.
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Dreams that Drive Vision and Possibilities – Part Three – Kilimanjaro Summit
October 1, 2009 — digitalmileage“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
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.
Read the rest of this entry »