From Winter Hill to Kilimanjaro

Every year, Absolute looks to support a local charity to help raise funds for much needed causes. Over the last few years we have supported Kevin Davies’ Kids of Bolton and Jennie McAlpine’s Moodswings, but in 2014 we will be supporting Bolton Lads & Girls Club.

The first challenge was accepted by our Managing Director Chris Hodgen who decided it would be a great idea to climb to the summit of the biggest freestanding mountain in the world – Mount Kilimanjaro.

Chris tells his story –

I was looking for a challenge to start the year and was contacted by BLGC to join a team of 9 other businessmen & women from Bolton to tackle the Tanzanian mountain. It was the perfect challenge for me, as I love Africa with a passion and I also wanted something that would push me to not only raise lots of money for kids but also get in better shape.

I needed to make sure that I was well prepared for the challenge as it was going to be tough, both mentally and physically. I signed up in October, and so had just over 5 months to get ready..... You don’t realise how busy you are with day to day working and family life until you try and plan training for a challenge like this! At first I really struggled to start with getting some training walks booked in, as I always had other engagements when walks were mooted! But in November 2013 we managed to arrange our first training walk that was going to start from Absolute’s studio with a full English breakfast at the cafe across the road at 7am, and would take us over towards the Strawberry Duck for a pub lunch! It was a tough 22 miles to start the training, as I managed to pull my hamstring on the way home, so found the last 2 hours very painful as we came down Winter Hill! We finally got back to the office at 5pm after a long day. Was I going to be able to get enough training walks in to complete this challenge? I was starting to ask myself. I decided that if I could get my body physically fitter then I wouldn’t need to do too many training walks. So that’s when I enrolled into Chris Worthington’s “Worthy’s Gym” in Horwich for his now famous boot camps. They were fantastic in pushing you to get fit, in a fun environment. The first session was really tough, but the more I did, the better I felt, I could hardly drive home after the first session! I joined in the bootcamp sessions on Tuesdays and Thursday (whenever my work schedule allowed) In fact even though I am back from the challenge I plan to continue with my sessions with Worthy’s Gym.

I was getting fitter all the time but still not managing to get many training walks in. It was now early February and I got a call from another couple of Kili trekkers, Chris Cox and Mark Sheen who were planning a training walk in the Lakes. Perfect....I packed my bags and headed off to Chris’ house very early one Sunday morning to get a lift up to the sunny lakes... As we put on our walking boots in the sunny weather, none of us expected the weather we were treated to on top of the Horseshoe pass! It was deep snow, 60 - 70mph winds and freezing cold. I was starting to question whether I had selected the right challenge for me. I am used to 4 wheels and a warm race suit!!

I was getting fitter by the day but still didn’t feel 100% ready for the challenge so I made the call in late Jan, that I would not drink throughout February until after the trek. I was amazed how good I felt (after I got through the first week or two!) I was sleeping better and not waking up early.

After spending an arm and a leg on all the gear needed for the trek which included various jackets, sleeping bags, walking boots, ruck sacks and lots of warm clothes, I was ready to set off. I couldn’t believe the amount of stuff I needed but it was all essential for a successful and comfortable trip. I certainly didn’t want to be cold in my tent. The first struggle was getting all the gear into the bag supplied by our trekking company KE Adventures. It took a few times to pack but I got there in the end. I set my alarm for 2.30am and headed off for an early night prior to our flight.

It was great to get to the airport and meeting not only the 9 other BLGC trekkers but also the 10 guys joining us from Warrington Youth Club. There was a real buzz of excitement but also, anticipation on what we were about to actually do. We all wanted to just get going and get there after a long 5 months preparation.

After a 12 hour flight via Amsterdam we arrived at our team hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. It was great to get some warmth on our backs after a terrible winter “up north”. We had a quick briefing session over dinner, and then headed off to our hotel rooms for our last comfy bed for nearly a week.

Alarms were set for 6am to give us time to have a great African breakfast before we headed off in our coach for the 4 hour trip to the start of the trek at the Rongai Gate (Well… it should have been 4 hours but actually took 5 as most people were taking Diamox altitude tablets, one of the side effects being that you need to pee quite a lot!) The bus trip gave us a real insight in to life in Tanzania. I was doing some filming so managed to get the front seat, I managed to get a great few shots of where we were headed. It was amazing to see people going about their daily lives, and watching the goings on out of the window made the journey fly by! We went past a shop called Old Trafford and also Anfield!! The brand licensing police would have had a field day!

We were doing one of the tougher routes up the mountain – the Rongai Route which is the only northern approach up Mount Kilimanjaro and then coming down the Marango Route which is also called the Coca Cola route as it is one of the easier, more popular routes. We started with a great lunch and then were introduced to our guides and porters who would accompany us throughout the 100km trek. Once we were all ready with sun cream applied, gaiters on and ruck sacks on our backs, we set off on a challenge that would test us all in different ways over the week.

For the first couple of hours through the rain forest we were followed by a group of 4 or 5 school children, roughly 5 or 6 years old, who were walking home after school in full school uniforms. We gave them some of our sweets and they were very grateful indeed. We asked some of the guides if they were just following us for the sweets or were heading somewhere? It turned out that they lived on the mountain in a temporary house, and walked 1.5 hours each way down the mountain to go to school. It certainly gave us all the inspiration to raise as much money as we could for the kids we were supporting back in Bolton. It would have been nice to have helped these great kids… maybe that could be absolute’s 2015 challenge.

The first day was quite short as we only walked through the rain forest for 3 – 4 hours before arriving at our first overnight camp called Simba. The name of the camp came from the fact lions used to live in the area. Due to constant poaching, Lions are now a distant memory but they live on in the camp’s name. The view from the camp was absolutely amazing, looking out over the Kenyan plains. Hopefully the lions have now made home down there. We had had great weather for our first day with temperatures into the 30’s, so on arrival in camp most people found their tent and put their stuff away and got washed and ready for dinner.

Simba camp was our first introduction to the famous “Long Drop”. Long Drops were small huts in each camp that you did your “business” in... The name explains it well enough, in the fact that it was literally a hole in the ground with a long drop down! Most of them smelled really bad, and it was an experience that not many people looked forward to each day! As the first day was hot, we had dinner in the open in the centre of the camp. It was great to get to know the other members of our team and we were starting to build a bond really early in the trip, which was going to come in handy when we went for the summit. We were going to get to the top as a team. Once dinner was over it was starting to get dark, and as we were still feeling the effects of the flight, most people decided to head to their tents for a good night’s sleep at 7pm. It was far too early for me so my good buddy Rob and I watched a movie on my iPad before we hit the sack.

Our porters woke us up at 6am with hot tea outside our tents and hot water to clean and wash ourselves. Once we had packed our bags we were treated to a great breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast and then headed off in the direction of our 2nd camp. This trek was going to be a long day as we had 7 – 8 hours trekking ahead of us in beautifully hot and sunny temperatures. I certainly wasn’t expecting the nice warm weather we were getting. I was starting to think the investment in my expensive Berghaus jackets were a waste... We had been told to drink up to 4 litres of water a day which was going to be tough, but it was made easier by the guys from Vimto bringing along a new product of theirs called Vimto water enhancers (available at your local Tesco) it made the purified mountain water taste of lovely Vimto which was perfect!

The key to the success of this trip was to get used to the altitude. One of the things we had to do to acclimatise, was to walk very slowly and not get out of breath, or “pole pole” as the locals would say. This was actually quite hard to do, as it just didn’t feel right to walk so slowly! But we had to trust our guides as they did this week in week out. The other thing was to take Diamox altitude tablets. I had brought some with me but wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to take them. All the people who had taken them had spent most of the night peeing in the “Long Drop” or with tingly hands and feet which would soon be renamed as “Jazzy hands”! I consulted our trek leader Nick Hopkinson who was experiencing Kili for the 4th time and he said it would be a good idea to take some a couple of days before the charge up to the summit (sounds like a war film). I took his advice, I’m still not sure if it worked. I didn’t get sick, but I did get some jazzy hands!

Everybody slept really well on the 2nd night apart from Bin, one of the trekkers from Warrington, who was starting to come down with altitude sickness. The guides were helping him as much as possible to get him in better shape to continue, but unfortunately he didn’t improve and had to be taken down the mountain on a stretcher to hospital. The 3rd day was only a short 4 hours trekking up to Mawanzi tarn, which was at 4,330m or 14,210 ft. It was definately starting to get harder, as we closed in on base camp and you could feel that the oxygen levels were getting a lot lower. Mawanzi Tarn was going to be our base for 2 days as we used this location for a rest and altitude acclimatisation day. We were starting to see the effects of how the altitude was affecting certain people in the group. It was very strange as you could see that it seemed to affect the people who were physically the fittest. We were told that smokers sometimes found it easy as they were used to little or no oxygen! I have never smoked in my life nor did I feel in the best of shape, but I didn’t seem to get affected as much as some of the others members of the team. In business I have battled through some tough times trying to establish Absolute as an agency and have always been positive in my belief and my drive. Maybe this drive had something to do with it....who knows. Whenever the walking got tough I just thought of positive things to take my mind of what we were doing, so I thought about my wife and kids and also the upcoming racing season. I planned for Absolutes future expansion and how we could expand into London and possibly New York. All this planning took away the pain of basically walking up step ladders for 7 days!

I found hanging around on acclimatisation day, the hardest day of the entire trip. All the people who know me will tell you, that I can’t sit still for 5 minutes. I don’t do bored, and I struggle if I am not working, playing with the kids or working on the race car in the garage. It was mentally tough to keep focused that day. I found menial every days things annoying, such as getting up, packing my bag in the morning or even getting in and out of the tent! It didn’t help the fact we couldn’t get a signal to ring home or that the wind was blowing the terrible smell of the “Long Drop” all the way through camp. It was a tough 2 days but we had to get this part of the trek over with so that we would be best prepared for the summit night.

Finally after our first night time snow storm we awoke to clear skies and warm air as we finally left Mawanzi Tarn and headed towards base camp at Kibo Huts. I couldn’t wait to get going. Day 4’s trek was one of the best. The weather was great and the views were stunning. On the way we stopped to have a look at a plane that had crashed in bad weather a few years before. Wreckage was all over the place but as it was a Kenyan plane they just left it there! The walk was a long slow climb up to Kibo Huts with the enormous Mount Kilimanjaro as the back drop. Every time we looked up we were reminded of what was ahead of us that night.

We arrived in base camp at about 2pm and as normal our tents were already up and lunch was ready to be served. We were told to get some sleep after lunch as we had to “get up” at 10pm to start our assent up to the summit. I used the time to watch some more of series 1 of Luther as it was getting to the conclusion! I would try and get some sleep after dinner....... but that failed as I was too excited for what lay ahead. Maybe I was just nervous.

The porters woke us at 10pm with the normal hot tea and coffee and hot water to wash. It was a strange feeling, as it was really cold, very dark and it felt like we were preparing for battle. There was an eerie silence as everybody prepared for the hardest trek of the trip. Most people were still tired from the trek up to Kibo Huts. By this part of the trip I had lost my appetite. In fact I hadn’t eaten for 2 days as I just wasn’t hungry. Altitude is a great remedy for weight loss, and it really proved that food should always be looked at as energy, and not luxury. I have taken this back with me, and don’t eat anywhere near as much “rubbish” as I used to - and I continue to lose weight.

So this is it, the night we had all dreaded was here. 8 hours trekking up a very steep mountain in freezing conditions throughout the night. It sounds dreadful but I couldn’t wait.

We set off “pole, pole” with only our head torches to see where we were going. The tension in the air was eased by Jim Nichol taking up the role of DJ with his iPhone and small speakers. The tunes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers ‘Californication’ album suspended over the group as we took one step at a time on the final part of our journey. The thought of 8 hours of steep walking was starting to play on the minds of some of the group so we tried to keep everyone as motivated and positive as possible with constant talking and geeing each other up with positive thoughts and witty banter. I stuck to the positive thoughts though, as I can’t do witty banter!

Over the next few hours we slowly meandered our way up the mountain at a slow steady pace with rest stops every 90 minutes. The closer we got to the summit the more spread out we got as a group. I was determined to get to the summit first. Might be something to do with my competitive nature but I just wanted to be first, I can’t actually tell you why. When I set my mind on something, I do my utmost to make it happen. I am famous for being late for everything as I try to cram too much into my day, but today, I wasn’t going to be late. So I headed the group with my buddies Ralph, Jon....”the watch” and “Ninja John”, in close attendance. It was defiantly the longest day of my life. I can’t tell you how many laps of Oulton Park I did in my head over 8 hours!

Our first break though on the night/early morning was when we reached Gilman’s Point. We had hoped to watch the sunrise here but as we left an hour earlier than planned from Kibo base camp, it was still dark, so we rested up for 5 minutes and then carried on towards the summit. The Kilimanjaro National Park shows that only 41% of trekkers actually reach the Uhuru summit with most turning around at Gilmans Point. But the ultimate summit was still an hour away. The scenery as we worked our way up towards the peak, round the crater rim surrounded by glaciers was just truly stunning. We were anxious to get to the top but also had time to take in the most beautiful surroundings that only a few get to see in the flesh. The last hour seemed to take forever but we finally rounded a corner and could see the sign that signalled the top of Africa. I can’t tell you or explain the emotions that we encountered once getting to the summit. I am quite an emotional person anyway but i was so pleased that I had made it to the top without much drama. I had always planned to try my best to reach the top, but I really did feel top of the world once I actually reached the summit. We spent 5 minutes giving each other big hugs of achievement, and it was a moment that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. I was amazed by the amount of people at the summit, and we had a challenge on our hands just to get our picture taken in front of the Uhuru summit sign! I tried to take as many pictures as I could but my hands were so cold, and the camera really struggled to operate at -20. I took a panoramic video of the top and then set off on the 3 hour journey back to base camp (Kibo Huts).

People have asked me since I got back what is one of the best things about doing this trip. I love Africa and I love a challenge, but one of the highlights of the trip was meeting the 19 other trekkers. We had a great group of people who bonded really well and this bond made it much easier for me to succeed. I enjoyed the company of every single one of “our” team and I would guess that is very rare. Some of my fellow trekkers earned themselves special nick names during the trip. Some even managed to get 2 or 3 names all in one week! This award goes to Tim Spurr (Vimto), who managed to get 3! First he lost his phone and found it in his backpack after getting the porters to check his tent after it was already packed away and the rest of the camp had set off (Tim the Phone). He then got lost on the way down from the summit (Tim Sat Nav) and then he twisted his ankle on the walk out on the last day. Other notable names are – John the Watch, Ninja John, Tracy Wobble, Donna Mattress and Steve the Lips! I guess you had to be there 

In total our group raised over £60,000 for North West kids in both Bolton and Warrington. Which makes the trials and tribulations worth it 100%. Many people have asked me since I have got back if I would do it again, and I have answered with a resounding ‘No’. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, as I did very much! However, we are only on this planet for a short time and there are many more challenges on the horizon. For the time being I will think of the memories we had with a great group of people, and look forward to our get together in Manchester where we can remember a great trip that will not only change the lives of many kids but it will also change ours.