Talking with Colm Layton – of the Kilimanjaro Achievers Group – Trained at Pura Vida
I must day that I am remarkably impressed by this bunch of teens, who approached me looking for help with their fitness preparation. Its really a story, against all odds, with recession biting, and lots of “Cannot be done comments.” – They did it, and in doing so learned some valuable life lessons.
Adam
Why Kilimanjaro?
I chose Kilimanjaro because of the late, Ian Mac Keever and the real challenge it represented. Ian was the one person who really influenced me to go. He went around several schools in Ireland showing young teenagers the opportunity and the challenge of climbing Mt.Kilimanjaro. He sent around a leaflet in our school explaining the great opportunity we had to climb it. As a person who loves the outdoors and exploring new places through different challenges , I saw this as a real opportunity to begin my first adventure outside of Ireland. Ian was tragically killed last year, in a freak lightening strike on Kilimanjaro, while leading a group.
Ian Mc Keever RIP
Is the mountain dangerous?
To be quite simple , the mountain is a relatively safe climb . The only real ’dangers’ in my opinion is the possibility of getting dehydrated, or altitude sickness. However , the guides on the mountain do an excellent job of making sure you are keeping hydrated by regularly using the phrase ‘Sip , Sip ‘, meaning drink, drink. It is very important to keep your hands clean and anything that will be touching your mouth , such as your hydration pack valve , tops of water bottles , and so on – hand sanitizers will become your best friend.
The most dangerous part of climbing Mt.Kilimanjaro is the possibility of getting AMS (Altitude Sickness). But again , the guides who we climbed with did an excellent job of making sure our pace was not too fast by reminding us to go ‘pole,pole’ , which means slowly,slowly . And ensured we took the sufficient time to acclimatise.
Most of the guys did feel a little nauseous and had bad headaches at some stages of the climb , but they were closely monitored by our wonderful doctor. Some of the guys lost their appetite because they were feeling sick due to the altitude. But it was paramount that they ate as much as they could because the food was going to be their fuel for getting to the top, so every time one of the team didn’t feel like eating , the guys came together to encourage them to consume as much as possible.
Colm Layton
What did your family think of you doing this?
I think it took a while to for me to convince them that I was serious about doing the climb. And once the convincing was done , it took a number of conversations about the feasibility of my endeavour, especially the fact that I was in 5th Year School, at the time, and the large amount of money that we had to fundraise certainly provoked some questions from my parents. But once that was over, my family were fully for the idea of climbing Kilimanjaro and gave me so much support. Without the support of all our parents we would have had a really tough time organising ourselves and getting to places. Our parents were just as involved as we were.
Did your school support you?
Yes , they did in some areas. For fundraising, they allowed us to open up a ‘Tuck Shop’ after school for students doing study. This raised a large sum of money , and without that asset we would have been a long way off our target. To be honest though , most of the support came from the local community and businesses. They were the people who raised awareness of our adventure and gave us the motivation and assistance to follow through with our endeavour.
What did your class mates think?
I think most of them thought I was crazy because of the amount of time and effort I need to commit during an important and difficult time of the school year. Also , the fact that climb was going to cost so much was very daunting to most people . From what I can gather , most of my good friends are proud of me and occasionally at parties, they introduce me to girls as ’the guy who climbed Kilimanjaro’. I guess its a good pick-up line.
Does working in this type of area interest you?
Absolutely! I love everything about nature and the outdoors because of the many challenges that it gives you. Its an aspiration of mine to inspire other people into getting involved with the outdoors whether it be through hiking, mountaineering, kayaking , cycling or running . Being out in the fresh air surrounded by different and beautiful settings, while setting yourself a physical challenge is very attracting for me . Being in the outdoors gives you endless opportunities to travel and experience different cultures throughout the world, and you only need two things – ambition and motivation.
What type of preparation did you have to go though for the climb?
There was a lot of preparation. Most of the preparation consisted of the expenses of the climb because, naturally, it was our biggest fear, especially due to the fact that our country is suffering with a bad economic climate. We spent most of time discussing fundraising ideas and how to go about them . And the rest of the time was based on fitness and purchasing the necessary gear.
Some of the guys were already in good physical shape, and some needed severe improving. We were lucky enough to get professional assistance from Adam Kelly at Puravida Greystones, who was kind enough to see us once a week to train, guide and motivate us to achieving the best possible results on Mt.Kilimanjaro. All of the guys loved going to Puravida because of the excellent training, and because it gave us time to chat to Adam, who has some experience of climbing, and to actually talk with each other about any problems we might have had.
Did you climb and train for the mountain on your own or with somebody?
I trained with five other students from my school and one parent – so six in all. When we got to Tanzania , we found out that another guy was going to be joining us on the climb from London. We also had our main guide Mike O’ Shea - who had to be pulled out on day two because of an illness. Each of us had a porter who carried the main bag with 15kgs of equipment inside, plus more local guides and chefs who looked after us with such professionalism who cared about us much more so than well known hotels or outdoor groups. So in all, there was 7 of us , and we had about 30 porters, chefs and guides.
Tell me about the dynamics or working with a group and what did you learn from it.
I learned to be patient and wait for everybody to have their input on a certain idea when organising an event. You have to able understand someone from their point of view before you make a comment or give advice. It is very important to get an understanding for each other before you make the climb, because you must know what each person will react like under certain conditions. On the mountain we were there for each other and ensured that everyone was feeling ok. If someone was feeling unwell, reassurance from every member of the team went a long way, and you certainly learn to watch out for each other. If someone needed something you would get it straight away for them , because likewise you would expect the same from them. Every morning we would remind each other to take our malaria and altitude sickness tablets, because we knew it meant the difference between getting to the top or not , and of course for the welfare of each individual.
How fit do you have to be to climb a mountain like that?
You must have a reasonable level of fitness to be successful on the climb . Now and again for training, we would have gone on long treks with each other to see how we performed over long distances. Working on your cardio and legs are by far the most important elements of this climb. However, from my experience of climbing Kilimanjaro, it is more about mental robustness – If you want it bad enough , you will get to the top . Once you don’t have severe altitude sickness of course , this is unavoidable.
What gear was essential, and what was just nice to have?
I like to work from the bottom up as your feet are what carry you up the mountain. It is essential to have a good pair of hiking boots, preferably waterproof too. Good hiking socks for the day and thick warm socks for the night. Sometimes I doubled up on socks to avoid blisters before long hikes to our next campsite. However, if you have good hiking socks , you might not need to double up. To keep the hot Tanzanian sun out of my face , I brought a boonie/sun hat .
A set of thermals is very important too, as they keep in body heat during the night and is extremely important for summit night as it can get very cold. For your upper body during the day I wore a merino wool base layer for most of the time during the day as it is very breathable in hot weather, and insulating in winter, yet exceptionally soft and lightweight. Building up layers is the best way of keeping warm. I brought three fleeces , although I only used two.
My best piece of kit for my torso was my summit jacket , as it was the perfect outer layer for the cold evenings and for the summit night. For summit night you must make sure you have your warmest socks on , put on two or three if needed. Put your thermals on , then hiking trousers , and then a waterproof outer layer(Good Waterproof trousers-Ripstop material). You don’t need big ski-trousers for the summit of Kilimanjaro. For your torso , put your thermals on , then build up layers of fleeces then outer/summit jacket. A snug or a scarf is very important for keeping warm too , because you can put them around your neck and over your mouth for warmth. The snug also keeps the sun off your neck during the day. And for your head , I would recommend getting a good summit hat/beanie.
For your hands make sure you get a three-piece glove set or just buy three different glove layers – The outer one must be waterproof and insulated.
A small 25-30L daysack , with a water bladder is essential . The bladder constantly allows you to drink because the water valve is always close to your mouth. My bladder carried 3 litres of water. Make sure you carry all essentials in your daysack – Sun cream, Medication, Sanitizer, Snacks, Camera , Waterproofs, Sun Glasses and so on.
The only items I brought for comfort were my runners and because they were nice to have on after a long day of climbing in hiking boots.
Tell me about the Mountain itself. What is actually up there?
Kilimanjaro is 5895 meters high , about 19,350 feet and is essentially made up of four different climatic zones.
At the start of the climb from 800-2800m , you trek through Rainforest , then from 2800-4000m you enter and hike through Heather and Moorland . Once out of the Moorland areas you then begin to enter the Alpine Desert which is from 4000m – 5000m, it is brown, dusty and dry with intense radiation from the sun during the day and below freezing temperatures at night .
The final climatic zone of the climb is the summit zone, which is the equivalent of arctic conditions where oxygen is only half of that at sea level ! The sun burns during the day and at night the cold is ferocious. On the top there is frozen snow and a few massive glaciers which are beautiful to see . On the night hike or otherwise known as summit night , we started climbing from midnight to 8 o’ clock the next morning , which gave us the opportunity to catch the most beautiful sunrise we will ever see. Once at the summit , you will be welcomed by a sign that says you are now at ‘Uhuru Peak’ – The summit of Kilimanjaro. It is a truly beautiful moment when you realise that the hard work has paid off by looking around to see the amazing scenery of being so high above the clouds and understanding what it means to work for something. What was even more funny was the fact that Arthur, the English fellow , thought that it would be a great idea to stand naked beside the summit sign in front of all the other successful summiters – that made for a memorable photograph which he proudly showed to every climber we met as we descended down from the summit.
What advice would you give a first timer who is considering climbing a big mountain like this?
Begin with an open mind and don’t be put off by the large sum of money that is needed. Think of fundraising in steps , by achieving certain tasks one at a time you will get to your target in no time . Anyone can do Kilimanjaro , the harder you work and contribute towards getting there will make the climb and adventure so much more rewarding. Kilimanjaro for me was not just about getting to the top, it was about the personal experiences and development that I made as a person, and the friendships that were formed with people from different backgrounds who came together with one thing in common – the love for the outdoors. I remember Ian Mackeever always saying something like this , ‘nobody conquers Kilimanjaro , we only conquer ourselves and our belief within our own self. Kilimanjaro will be there forever and does not need to be conquered,’
Whats next for Colm Layton?
Well, I have the Leaving Certificate coming up next June so I guess I’ll be studying for that. Hopefully, if I get my expected grades, I will be going to college/university to study International Relations or politics. I’m going to get myself involved as much as I possibly can from mountaineering courses to starting triathlon , and hopefully travel the world . There are two big climbs that I would like to do within the next 10 years which will be Mont Blanc and Aconcagua . I have an ambition to join the Army as an officer once college is finished , and I have successfully gained a degree. I am going to keep in close contact with the guys I climbed Kilimanjaro with , and maybe organise some future climbs or expeditions with them in the future. For now though , its about setting the academic foundations and that involves two things, study and exams, so for the moment the great outdoors will have to wait .