We’re on top of the world

By Fiona Magennis. Drogheda Independent - Friday May 28th 2004

WATCHING the sun rise through the glaciers on the world’s tallest free standing mountain made the arduous five-day climb to the top seem worthwhile for four Drogheda men who undertook the challenge to raise funds for the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery Service.

The four men, Michael Murphy from Five Oaks, Oliver Farrell, Ballypark, Declan McCann, Walshestown and Joe McKenna, Moynalty, raised E9,000 for the BFRRS after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

They presented the cheque on Monday at the site where the service is building their new boathouse.

All four men were inspired to take part in the challenge as they are all involved with the Emergency Response Team (ERT) at work, with Drogheda Concentrates, and were all impressed with the level of voluntary work done by local emergency services.

‘Everything went according to plan and we got on brilliantly over there, although the climb itself was very gruelling’ said participant Michael Murphy.

‘The climb itself was a lot tougher than we had anticipated and even though we had trekked across the Sahara on a previous trip it was much harder than anything we had undertaken before. No training could prepare us for the altitude and we all got sick at different stages as it hit us all in different ways, some of us felt ill and some had headaches.

’ The four took the arduous Machame Route to the top, which is renowned as the most scenic and most beautiful route to the summit but also the most physically gruelling.

Michael went on to say that the toughest part of the expedition was the final 1,000m which took them from 11.30pm at night until 6.30am the following morning to complete.

‘It was about -14C on the top and there were about 12 or 13 inches of snow but it was really beautiful, completely calm and we were there for sunrise. Seeing the sun rise through the glaciers and taking in the spectacular view was really amazing,’ he said.

The five-day ascent was the toughest part of the challenge according to the climbers, although the one day descent to the bottom was also hard as it took almost 12 hours.

The four men had a team of 14 porters, including a cook and an assisstant cook as well as two guides, all of whom were local Tanzanians.

‘They accompanied us to about 18,000ft and then the last 2,000ft was just us and the two guides,’ Michael explained.

He thanked all of those who sponsored the event, in particular Drogheda Concentrates and its employees and all the outside sponsors.

© Drogheda Independent