Kate Stone
Kate's page
Fundraising for Velindre Cancer Centre
Story
02/10/10 - Kate's Killer Kili Climb
And it really was killer! I would love to have returned saying it was easier than I thought it was going to be, but in reality climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was hard. As it should be really, as it is a 19'000 ft volcano. As a very brief overview of my trip I sat in Nairobi "first class" lounge for 9 hours, got covered in a LOT of volcanic dust (and I mean it got everywhere - up my nose, in my ears, my hands looked like I had been down a mine for a few months), slept in a minus 10 degrees sleeping bag that still didn't keep me warm, became a pro at using a long drop (although this is not something I am proud of) and found out the best way to drink Coca tea (a special tea I had "brought in" from Peru as it helps with altitude sickness!).
The days leading up to summit night were long days on the feet, 10 hours sometimes, but the walking was fairly easy terrain most of the time, and I was lucky to have not caught a nasty vomiting and diarrhoea bug that was going around the camp. Our summit night started at midnight, cold and tired we set off for what should be about a 6 hour hike to the summit, it took me 7 hours 15 mins. And every step was complete exhaustion, and there were times when I thought "that's it, i'm done, won't walk!", but I got there with the great help of my porter Titus, who I simply would not have made it without. He was my Dad for that night, willing me on ("Come on Katie!) , giving me hot tea, even carrying my bag eventually. When the sun rose and I realised I hadn't frozen to death during the 2 darkest hours of the night, I cried. Finally when I got to the top, and looked back at what I had done, my overwhelming feeling was gratefulness to all those people who believed in me, supported me, and in fact, got me to the summit, as I was doing it for them as much as for Velindre. And then I thought it was best to go back down, as I was finding it very hard to breathe, and one of the group had just collapsed 10ft from the top.
In summery it was an amazing experience, not one I am rushing to repeat, but amazing nonetheless, and to know that as a group we raised over £216'000 for Velindre Cancer Centre is a fantastic achievement. I can't thank all of you enough for your support.
14/07/10 - Thanks to the amazing fundraising support by The Long Ride Round boys - I have reached my required target of £3500 - so now i'm going for the whopper of £5000! Please keep supporting!!
03/02/10 - Check out this video of us climbing Pen-y-fan - see if you can spot me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WubMsr0SKZw
Hi There Kids!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page!
In September 2010 I will be climbing Mt Kilimanjaro (argh!!) in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre, in Cardiff, which is where my Dad was treated before he died. 2010 marks 8 years since he passed away and I wanted to undertake this personal challenge in his memory, and in grateful thanks of those people at the Centre who cared for my Dad and supported my family when they needed it most.
In order to reach my target of £3500 I will be organising a number of fundraising events (handy thing i'm an event manager eh?!) and I will keep you updated of events taking place on here. I will also keep you posted on my training progress, for those who know me well, giving up the booze is going to be, shall we say, an "interesting experience"!!
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