Charity crusade to take on Kilimanjaro

LESSONS learned from a recent climb of Carrauntwohill, the highest mountain in Kerry, will help a group of Clare Crusaders complete one of their toughest charity crusades to date – ascending 19,340ft to the top of Kilimanjaro.

Thirteen Clare volunteers left the comforts of modern day living behind them when they set off from Dublin Airport in the early hours of last Friday morning for the highest mountain in South Africa, mindful of what they have learned from their specially tailored training programme over the last seven months.
The group includes three members of the one Barefield family. Ollie Clune, who is in his late 60s and his two sons Conor (36) and Brian (39), Clare Crusaders’ clinic manager, Ann Norton; Montessori teacher, Aoife Lynch; Ennis Town Councillor Mary Howard; Stephen Coote; Ronan Mulqueen; Alan West; Barry Lynch; Geraldine Sharkey; Olive Walsh and Claire McGovern.
A bond of friendship fostered in recent months between the Kilimanjaro crusaders and mountaineer, Ian Lynch, who has successfully climbed Kilimanjaro 11 times.
The importance of not looking too far ahead and encouraging each other when someone is finding particular terrain very difficult was graphically illustrated for Ms Norton during the Carrauntwohill climb.
Looking back, the mother-of-three admits she got into the “wrong frame of mind” on the day and became too preoccupied with getting to the summit, instead of concentrating solely on the task at hand.
Five weeks ago, on a fresh Saturday morning, Ms Norton had no difficulty with the first hour but as the group climbed higher and higher, it became very misty and harder to establish how far they were from the summit.
Facing the Devil’s Hand – a wall of sheer rock on hands and knees was difficult as climbers were advised anyone shouting “hello” meant a rock was on its way down towards someone’s unsuspecting head.  
Having passed what she felt was the halfway point, Ms Norton regularly asked how long more it would take the group to reach the top and would have found it even harder to keep going only for constant encouragement of other members.
“I learned a hard lesson that day. You have to have a positive mindset and focus on what you are doing and not on the time you think it will take to reach the top or complete the climb.
The idea for the trip was first mooted by Ian Lynch, who is originally from Dublin but is now based in Lahinch. He approached Ms Norton and asked her if she would be interested in completing a charity climb of Kilimanjaro.
Some people have questioned the need to travel to the other side of the world to raise funds for a Clare charity which could be achieved just as easily in the Banner County.
However, the last few years has taught Ms Norton, who runs the Barefield-based charity with Frank Cassidy, the importance of keeping an open mind on all fundraising events.She doesn’t have the luxury of dismissing events, which may appear extravagant or extraordinary. Every year, this duo have to raise over €250,000 just to keep the clinic operational.
She also feels for some people, this trip represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfil their dreams of achieving something significant.
Up to 170 children receive therapy on a regular basis at the clinic and it seems this number keeps increasing on a weekly basis because of the lack of adequate public services.
Before Ms Norton committed to the project, she stipulated that all the participants had to pay €2,950 to cover all of their accommodation, flights, guide, food and park fees costs from their own finances, while all fundraising ventures had to go to the charity. Her gut instinct to take a calculated risk has paid off to the tune of almost €30,000, which is a huge sum of money raised by 13 people in the teeth of one of the worst economic recessions
Training started with regular climbs of Mullaghmore, hill walking on a treadmill and rucksacks containing two to three litres of water were introduced after a month to build up their calf muscles, overall fitness and endurance.
As the weeks went on, they had to carry 10kg on their backs during climbs. Last June, the group climbed Croagh Patrick, which Ms Norton found was one of the hardest challenges she completed.
“The group are very fortunate to have Ian Lynch as their guide. All of his previous 11 trips to Kilimanjaro have been 100% successful. He knew our individual fitness levels and was always available in Lahinch Seaworld if we needed him for individual sessions,” she said.
Adjusting to living without modern-day conveniences will present a challenge for the group. They will have no conventional toilets, hot showers of running water. Everything will be outdoors.
An amazing view at the top of the summit awaits the group, who are planning to reach this pinnacle at 6am before returning to their camp.
The following day, they will walk down to the nature park before departing on their return flight to Dublin.