Foul weather foils Mount Kenya summit
The good (experience), the bad (weather) and the not so ugly view sums up a quest by Bromhof resident Nic Paidas.
Bromhof resident Nic Paidas, who was born with one arm, set out on a quest to climb Mount Kenya in December.
However, he never reached the summit due to bad weather conditions. He said, “It was a very successful trip in terms of the planning, but you cannot plan the weather. And after 10 December it is actually dry season in that area. So the weather was very unusual for that time of the year.”
Paidas and his fellow climbers arrived on 8 December. ”We had climbed about 4 800m when we came across lots and lots of snow and ice,” he said. “We had to wait in a five bed cabin for the weather to clear.” The team did get one good view of the mountain. ”We spent time in the cabin from 12 to 15 December. We walked about 80km in the vicinity of the cabin while waiting for the weather to clear up.’
”While we were in the cabin there was a great sense of nervousness of will we be able to go further, or will we have to turn around.”
Eventually the team had to return. Paidas said a few good things did come from their expedition. ”We managed to raise R14 000 for the Ann Chesire Home in Northwold where my father lives. I also received an invitation to climb Patagonia in Argentina at the end of the year. I will probably organise to go back to Mount Kenya in 2015.”
One of Paidas’s friends on the trip filmed their quest and this will be broadcast soon. “Although we didn’t reach the top, it was still a wonderful experience. We saw some great things.”
