Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Terry on top of the world
by Marian Harrison

In an era when the Irish are opting for adventure holidays, Mayo man Terry Nealon took the idea a step further and climbed the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro.

The Ballina man was part of a 28-member Irish team who took on the challenge to climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world in aid of Childaid.

Terry and fellow climbers worked with the charity to raise funds for the establishment of schools and rescue centres for the slum children of Nairobi. “These are the poorest of the poorest children” said Nealon after visiting Childaid’s projects in Africa.
It took the Irish team a swift five days to reach the summit, which is known locally as Uhuru.

Terry found the last day of the trek to be the toughest: “I’d be telling lies if I said there weren’t times when I wanted to drop out,” he said. Sleeping in three bases along the way, Terry and fellow treks were accompanied by local guides who were “the fittest people” the Mayoman ever met. With English as their second language, Terry described them as “an incredible race who kept the morale up and kept us entertained”. Teams survived on a high carbohydrate diet including pasta and rice as they advanced up the mountain.

Terry thanked his lucky stars that he was not affected by altitude sickness. “It was worrying for those who were sick because when you are up there you are a long way from a hospital,” he noted. Long hours were spent training in the Wicklow mountains before the team went to Africa but altitude training was not an option.

After the last supper on the final night, the team set off from the camp at midnight. Terry explained that it was necessary to reach the summit early in the day as dismounting is extremely dangerous and must be done during daylight. Reaching the mountain’s pinnacle at sunrise was “out of this world” according to Nealon.

The Mayo man had to raise E4,000 for Childaid and receive numerous jabs to go on this once in a lifetime journey but it was all worthwhile. Terry’s climbing days are not over. This young man has his sights set on reaching the base camp of Everest.