A group of 11 blind hikers are planning to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in the fall, but first they tackled a small mountain close to Toronto. On Sunday August 10, they crested the Glen Eden ski hill in Kelso and maneuvered around various trail obstacles over a 2-hour period.
The group is heading off to Tanzania and could set the record for the most blind hikers to summit the mountain at once, says organizer David Brown. The hikers range in age from 25-65 and all are very accomplished athletes who are active as skiers, sailors, hockey players, or runners. The group hikers are from Toronto, Calgary and the U.S.
David Brown met our Toronto Club president David Royle back in the winter and suggested they organize a hike together. David Royle contacted Hike Director Tom Swales, who discussed a meet – up in Milton. The Toronto Club lined up a team of hike leaders and suggested the Kelso location. Unfortunately, the planned hike was cancelled due to logistics. However, several weeks later, the Kilimanjaro team completed a 10 km loop hike from Rattlesnake point to Crawford lake and back.
The four legally blind hikers, one guide dog and three sighted guides appreciate the encouragement and support of the Toronto Bruce Trail club. “We were very pleased to be involved with this inspiring group. We want to encourage everyone to experience the Bruce Trail, and inclusivity and welcoming for all is a cornerstone of our membership philosophy,” says David Royle. Adds David Brown: “Blind people do a lot of things that sighted people can do – we just do it a little differently and may need a little help. We like to be judged on our abilities, not our disabilities.”
The Kilimanjaro adventure is 90 kilometres in length and the elevation is 19,000 feet. Kilimanjaro is the world’s highest free-standing mountain. About 50 per cent of the climbers annually succumb to altitude sickness. The route will take eight days to reach the summit. None of the group have climbed a mountain like Kilimanjaro, but they have been training regularly on weekends with weighted packs.
Climbing Kilimanjaro is not the most technical of the summits, says David Brown. But there will be some narrow ledges and sections where ropes will help guide them on steep inclines. Each visually impaired hiker will have a local guide. No guide dogs will be allowed. Porters will carry the food and tents in 25 lb packs. In all, the group will be around 50 people. It is expected that temperatures at the top of the mountain will be a frosty -5 Celsius with the wind chill.
The group is bringing along a videographer to film the experience and they have set up a Go Fund Me site to help with that person’s expenses.
Everyone else is paying the full fare which includes airfare and fees for their tour operator, Nana Safaris.
What is driving the group to climb Kilimanjaro? David Brown says, “Our group is not a bunch of couch potatoes. We’ve all competed in national or international sporting events and we are all very competitive. And none of us have been to Africa. Hopefully, we can inspire others who might want to do this,” he adds.