We’re Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro!

In October this year 2 Maxilead employees will be climbing the world’s highest freestanding mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro!  Part of a team of 43, their going the whole way up, planning to sleep in tents and walk for up to eight hours per day to the summit of 19,341 feet – that’s a tad higher than Ben Nevis (4412 feet).

For more information on our challenge, as well as how you can donate to a fantastic cause, click here.

The Steve Prescott Foundation and The Christie

The charity we’re embarking on this journey to raise money for is called the Steve Prescott Foundation, and is a wonderful charity that raises money for, among others, The Christie Hospital.

The Christie Hospital is one of the leading cancer centres in Europe, and treats over 40,000 patients per year. They provide radiotherapy, chemotherapy and support and diagnostic services to patients from across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. They’re also specialists in providing highly complex surgeries for a range of rare cancers, and serve a population of around 3.2 million people.

Fun Facts about Kilimanjaro

• The mountain is actually a dormant volcano, and has three volcanic cores: Mawenzi, Shira and Kibo. Kibo is the highest peak, and is not fully extinct – meaning that another eruption is possible. However, the last major eruption was 360,000 years ago!
• The oldest person to summit the mountain was an 87 year old Frenchman called Valtee Daniel. If he can do it, we’re confident that we can reach that peak!
• The youngest person to have climbed Kilimanjaro was 7 year old Keats Boyd from Los Angeles, who summited the mountain in 2007 – which is even more impressive when you take into consideration that the minimum age limit for climbers is actually 10!
• The mountain features almost every type of ecological system, including rainforest, heath, moorland, alpine desert and, of course, an arctic summit.
• Over 20,000 people attempt to climb Mt Kilimanjaro each year, of which two thirds are successful.

 

Want to donate to the cause? Head over to our Just Giving page – every little helps!