Over the last few days, I have been reading Climbing for Causes: A Personal Story by Nick Comande, who has climbed to the highest summits of five of seven continents. The first chapter of the book details his trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. Because the book is largely a compilation of well-written journal entries, I feel like I have already journeyed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and back.
I had the privilege of talking with Nick on the phone this afternoon. I had read the Kilimanjaro chapter, and I am currently reading the subsequent chapter about his first trek up Mount Aconcagua. He confirmed much of what I had already gathered about the importance of training and effects of altitude, while providing several practical tips to help me get ready for the climb. Among other things, his daily use of a stair climber for half an hour, while wearing ankle weights and an increasingly heavy backpack, helped him fare far better at 19,000+ feet (5,800+ meters) on Mount Aconcagua than he fared at the same altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro.
After our conversation, I ran eighteen miles (twenty-nine kilometers). I will plan some appointments with the stair climber – and start using a weighted backpack – this week. It may not be tomorrow.
Nick made one request of me, and I hope to deliver on it. When he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 1988, he left the flag he carried to the summit at Kibo Hotel, where several similar flags hung on their wall. He asked me, if possible, to look for it. I hope I can make that happen for him.
I had the privilege of talking with Nick on the phone this afternoon. I had read the Kilimanjaro chapter, and I am currently reading the subsequent chapter about his first trek up Mount Aconcagua. He confirmed much of what I had already gathered about the importance of training and effects of altitude, while providing several practical tips to help me get ready for the climb. Among other things, his daily use of a stair climber for half an hour, while wearing ankle weights and an increasingly heavy backpack, helped him fare far better at 19,000+ feet (5,800+ meters) on Mount Aconcagua than he fared at the same altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro.
After our conversation, I ran eighteen miles (twenty-nine kilometers). I will plan some appointments with the stair climber – and start using a weighted backpack – this week. It may not be tomorrow.
Nick made one request of me, and I hope to deliver on it. When he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 1988, he left the flag he carried to the summit at Kibo Hotel, where several similar flags hung on their wall. He asked me, if possible, to look for it. I hope I can make that happen for him.
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