Let It Snow……

Outward Bound School Hut – 27^th February 

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain hammering down onto the tent, never the most encouraging start to the day but eventually I managed to coax myself from the warm comfort of my sleeping bag.

I was completely unprepared for the view that met me when I left the tent, it seems it wasn’t rain that fell last night but snow, to the extent that now almost the whole of the Kibo massif was now covered!

 Kibo the evning before.....

 and Kibo the morning after!

A distinct pattern developed in the conversation as the others began to emerge from their tents:

“Morning Raj”

“Morning Simon”

“Seen the mountain?”

“F****** Hell!!"

“Morning Nerissa”

“Morning Simon”

“Seen the mountain?"

“Oh My F******* God, are we going up that?”

And so it continued until everyone was up and the guides were convinced we were all suffering from tourettes!

In many ways it was the perfect start to the day and the excitement was tangible over breakfast as the realisation set in that with a planned 11pm start most of us would be starting our summit push…..TODAY!

We set off following the same route as our little walk the previous afternoon but we could all feel the pinch as the gradient steepened and we passed the high point of yesterday.

 Almost at yesterdays high point.

Spirits remained high within the group and, touch wood, the altitude headaches were staying away however both the groups pace (and banter) began to slow.

As we approached 4,500m John announced “Congratulations guys you’ve just reached the summit of the Matterhorn”, we summoned as much of a cheer as we could but I suspect he may have been hoping for a little more enthusiasm!

 John & Mweke no doubt discussing improtant summit strategy!

There was a slightly bigger cheer when we turned a corner and could see the camp however whilst despite it seeming almost within touching distance it still took another half hour before we could drop our packs.

Once again our porters have excelled themselves, finding one of the flattest pitches for our tent and a cracking view of Mawenzi thrown in for good measure.

 The view from our tent.

The atmosphere is happy and relaxed, everyone appears to be feeling pretty good and trying to conserve their energy for what lies ahed.

Personally I feel as though I’m walking around in a bit of a daze, the top is now tantalisingly close and after 3 and a half years I can’t quite believe that I’m here.

There’s still an awful lot of work to do and I’ve little doubt that tomorrow will be hell in places but I’ve reached this point feeling strong and well acclimatised.

The afternoon cloud rolling in (our tent in the foreground).

All I have to do now is concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and focus on the thought of sending Claire the text message saying “Kilimanjaro……DONE!”

 One more sleep to go!