Penticton men successfully reach Kilimanjaro summit

What doesn鈥檛 kill you鈥�

After days of battling altitude sickness, its nausea and headaches, scrambling over steep, rocky terrain in the dark, on the morning of Sept. 1 two Penticton men finally set foot on Africa鈥檚 highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

For Kevin Tom and Jim Lamond conquering the 19,340-foot summit was an arduous six-day uphill climb in which they had to overcome physical and mental obstacles in their path and defying all the odds to accomplish their goal.

Penticton's Jim Lamond with the Penticton and District Search and Rescue badge at the Kilimanjaro summit Sept. 1. He and climbing partner Kevin Thom raised money from their climb for the local organization.Submitted photo

Both are employees of First West Credit Union (Valley First) and it was Tom who got the idea for the climb from his teenage daughter who wanted to climb the mountain after returning from Tanzania.

鈥淏ut when we looked into doing it and signing up and the training she bailed on me,鈥� recalled Tom, 49, with a laugh. 鈥淪o then I got wind that this was one of the bucket list items for Jim Lamont and we talked about it decided to do this.鈥�

Added Lamond: 鈥淚 was frankly getting to the age where I knew I wanted to do something that perhaps a lot of people in the world had done and I needed to do it before I got much older. I was 61 at the time we did the climb.鈥�

Ironically, his daughter had climbed Kilimanjaro 20 years earlier.

鈥淭he thing for me, one the reasons it was so emotional because it showed my kids that as adults you can do anything, no matter how old you are,鈥� said Lamond who reached the summit on his oldest son鈥檚 birthday. 鈥淚 know they (two sons) took something away that their old man could do something like that.鈥�

Once their decision was made the pair began a rigorous nine-month training program to prepare themselves for the eight-day round trip to the summit and back.

鈥淓ven up until the time we left there was some apprehension on my part; did we do enough, did we not do enough, would we stack up to them (other group members) or would we hold them back?鈥� said Lamond.

While not as technically challenging as some other climbing destinations, the dormant volcano has claimed many lives, 25 in a seven-year-period ending in 2003, the majority, 14, from advanced altitude sickness.

Hiking through the lush vegetation at the bottom of the mountain.Submitted photo

Fast climbing schedules are one of the biggest causes of AMS and were why the Penticton men chose the guide outfit they did, going at a much slower rate of ascension.

However, even that moderate pace and the medicine used in the treatment of altitude sickness did not prevent Tom from the enduring the symptoms for a lot of the trip.

鈥淥nce you get to about 14,000 feet you get these intense headaches which are almost like a freeze burn and although you drink a lot of fluids it鈥檚 still there and it鈥檚 very, very intense,鈥� he said. 鈥淒efinitely the toughest part for me was on summit night I felt so nauseated. All I did for those 10 hours was just drink water and take electrolytes I just couldn鈥檛 hold anything down.

鈥淲hile you are going through it you鈥檙e thinking why did I do this to myself, you鈥檙e disoriented, you鈥檙e having trouble breathing but you keep going.鈥�

Group members negotiate a tricky part of the climb.Submitted photo

Luckily Lamond did not suffer nearly as much from altitude sickness and didn鈥檛 even find out until afterwards how bad off his uncomplaining climbing companion was, but admitted the mental challenges for him were just as steep to overcome.

鈥淪tarting off (summit night) you knew that you had a seven-hour climb ahead of you, most of it in the dark and your mind could certainly play games with you if you looked up and all you could see were head torches going up and you couldn鈥檛 see the end of it, it could be very discouraging,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淚 just kept focussing on one foot ahead of me and the next climb up and looking at the next rock I had to go over versus trying to look up at the top of the mountain.鈥�

Tom did the same.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e just thinking in your mind, 鈥業 just going to do this for another hour鈥� and then reset and then do another hour and reset and, 鈥榦kay I accomplished an hour I just have to do another hour, just do another hour鈥� and that鈥檚 what got me through it,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y climb was in dedication to my sister who I lost earlier in the year so I focused on that to help me through it.鈥�

Their group consisted of a total of eight climbers from other countries and about 30 鈥減orters鈥� who carried much of the load including, camping gear and even two outhouses.

Meal time in the mess tent.Submitted photo

Conditions were difficult and Tom said for much of the trek he had very little sleep during the hours in the tent which he shared with Lamond.

鈥淜evin kept saying that I kept him awake with my snoring, he didn鈥檛 believe he snored but I鈥檝e got witnesses,鈥� laughed Lamond.

Thom added that camping on a mountainside he often felt like he was sliding away at night.

Both men agreed with the amount of water they needed to drink each day, trips to the facilities were frequent, especially at night on the difficult terrain.

鈥淪o, later on, all of the guys had their empty peanut butter jars with them,鈥� said Lamond.

But on that Sept. 1 morning just before daybreak all the hardships of the last five days disappeared into the thin mountain air.

鈥淚 remember Kevin turning back to me about an hour before we got there, it was still dark and there was just a hint of light coming out the east and saying: 鈥榳e鈥檙e going to make it, we鈥檙e going to do it, we鈥檙e going to do it,鈥欌�� said Lamond. 鈥淭he last few kilometres you鈥檙e moving very, very slowly but the sunlight glistening on the glaciers was unbelievable and you looked below you and seeing the other glaciers and the clouds was awe-inspiring, just awe-inspiring.鈥�

And it was the same for Tom.

Penticton climbers Kevin Thom (left) and Jim Lamond with another group member on their way to the summit.Submitted photo

鈥淭here was very little sound and that view from the top seeing those glaciers and being above the clouds, it was very emotional and we were all very teary,鈥� he said.

Lamond thought for a minute before describing the impact setting foot on the mountaintop had on him.

鈥淲as it life changing? That鈥檚 hard to answer. I鈥檓 not sure it changed my life but it did make me appreciate life a lot more and what the world has to offer.鈥�

For Tom: 鈥淚t was such an accomplishment being on top of Kilimanjaro knowing we worked so hard over the last nine months and finally to get there and overcome the challenges we had, it was sheer elation and its only made me stronger.鈥�