pushingthelimits.com

Following our article last week about the history of wheelchair adventures on Kilimanjaro and Chris Waddells expedition next year, we got an email from the folks at Adventures Within Reach who helping organise a wheelchair expedition on the mountain this year.

It seems that Chris has some competition in his quest to become the first paraplegic to successfully summit Kili. This June a group from Idaho State University, including two guys in wheelchairs, will be heading off to Africa and setting their sites on the summit of Kili.

Having already made it to Everest Base Camp on a previous expedition, Tom McCurdy and Kyle Packer know better than most the rigors and challenges of attempting to scale such rough terrain at high altitude. 

Full Press Release:

Boulder, CO – April 25, 2008 – Climbing the tallest mountain in Africa
is not your average adventure.  And this group of climbers is not your
average group of mountaineers.  Along with their adventurous spirit and
abundance of sports and mountaineering experience, this group will have
something not commonly found on most mountain adventures – wheelchairs!

In June 2008, Tom McCurdy and Kyle Packer ( in wheelchairs adapted for
backcountry), 14-year old Sage McCurdy, and Dana Olson-Elle, Director
of the Idaho State University, Outdoor Adventure Center, will be
climbing the 19,340 foot high Mt. Kilimanjaro.  

Mount Kilimanjaro, located three degrees south of the equator in
northeastern Tanzania, is the tallest mountain in Africa, and the
highest freestanding mountain in the world.  ”Kilimanjaro is our
hottest destination,” says Robin Paschall, owner of Adventures Within
Reach.  ”Of the famous “Seven Summits,” this is the easiest to get to
and the easiest to climb.”  It requires no technical climbing
experience, and any moderately fit person can summit the mountain. On
wheels it will present more of a challenge to 42-year old McCurdy, a
paraplegic, and Packer, age 48, with Cerebral Palsy.

They will be using the Rongai Route for an easier more direct approach
than other routes.  The Rongai Route was used by Bern Goosen last year
when he broke his own world records for climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in a
wheelchair.  The McCurdy group is not attempting to break any records
though. “We are doing it for the personal challenge and adventure,”
said Tom McCurdy. “This will be Sage’s first adventure travel
experience. I’m doing it so he can have this experience to draw on
later in life.”  For most people, indeed, it can be life changing! 

“We talked about doing this trip while we were in Nepal Trekking into
Everest Base Camp in 1998. Kyle brought it up again last July seeking
companions,” said McCurdy.  “We plan on doing something like this every
few years. We’ve been talking about Machu Picchu for our next
adventure!”

Adventures Within Reach