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There are many opportunities for individuals to help people in need. Not many of us would climb the tallest mountain on the African continent to aid in that endeavor.
Joe Heuthorst did just that last November, joining a team of 20 other people as part of Summits of Hope (SOH). All reached the 19,340-foot summit at sunrise on Nov. 9.
Summits of Hope raises money to help kids with cancer. One hundred percent of the funds raised goes toward the British Columbia Sick Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Participating climbers are responsible for paying all their own travel arrangements and gear. Heuthorst was able to raise $3,000, an amount he was pleased with considering the climb was for a Canadian charity.
“There always is an opportunity to help other people,” Heuthorst said. “I think you should look for opportunities when you can, especially when there is no inconvenience to you. This was one of those opportunities.”
Heuthorst was born in Brockville, Ont. near an area known as 1000 Islands. It’s located north of Syracuse, N.Y. at the end of Lake Ontario on the St. Louis River. Thousand Island Dressing was named after the region. He grew up on a farm, the youngest of eight kids, played baseball, swam for fun, ran some cross country, played football in high school and did a lot of cross country skiing. He likes the outdoors, he says, but nothing had prepared him for climbing mountains.
Graduating from Queens University in Kingston, Ont. with a degree in engineering, he moved to Waterloo to work for John Deere in 1997. “At that time I was young and single,” Heuthorst said. “I thought I’d come to Iowa for a year, do some pheasant hunting and come back (to Canada). Then I met my wife, Lorie. We got married in 1999.” The couple has three children, ranging in age from nine to three.
Though he never moved back to his native land, Heuthorst has stayed in touch with some very special friends, two who live in British Columbia. Don, a fireman, has participated in a number of SOH climbs and was selected to lead the Kilimanjaro trip.
Heuthorst said Don called him in November of 2008, saying “I know you haven’t climbed before but this is not a technical climb. It’s a big hill, over 19,000 feet. You don’t need to have the pix axes and ropes, but that doesn’t mean it’s like a paved path. This is an actual climb. It’s not going to be easy. You have to deal with altitude, but I think you can do it.”
Heuthorst says his highest altitude had been the “top of the stairs”. He responded by saying, “I’m not in my prime anymore. But if Chris (another friend from home) goes, I’ll go. Chris said ‘it’s a recipe for death and I’m not doing it’. So I said I guess I’m not going.”
Not long after, Heuthorst’s sister-in-law and a friend were diagnosed with cancer. “Helping them and being there as they went through their treatment gave me the opportunity to see how cancer affects people’s lives,” he said. “I took my friend to Rochester a couple times and would see kids with cancer and that was totally sad.”
Flying home from a business trip to Japan, Heuthorst had a lot of time to think. “I remember thinking that the only thing preventing me from going on (the climb) is laziness. There was a cost associated with it but it’s not something I would regret 20 years from now. Don had told me if anyone could do it, I could. He does Iron Mans. I thought maybe he was overestimating (my ability). I got back and called him at the end of May.”
Heuthorst said the decision was a great motivator to get back in shape. He had support from his family. Though there is not a lot a person can do to prepare for dealing with altitude, especially in Iowa, he did numerous activities for cardio training. His favorite was playing badminton and racquetball. “You play racquetball for one hour, you’re pretty winded,” he said.
He tried to run everyday. He assists coaching a middle school football team and would participate in the players’ drills and calisthenics. A couple times he went to Backbone State Park to hike and break in his boots. He walked when he played golf. “Every little bit helps,” he laughed.
The climb began at the 4,500-foot mark in a jungle. “We’re walking up, sweating, wearing shorts. You’re right at the equator, it’s hot and humid, but not unbearable,” Heuthorst said. “Then it starts getting more desolate. The terrain gets more rugged. The first camp was at 9,700 feet. I wasn’t feeling the affects of altitude at this elevation.”
Most climbers take diamox, meant to help coping with oxygen depravity. It aids in expelling CO2 from the system.
Heuthorst explained the next stop was at 12,480 feet. One day the team climbed to 15,000 feet, then descended to 13,000 to sleep. “That was a tough day,” he said. “(The descent was) for acclimating to altitude and is a common practice. You climb high, and sleep low, you climb high, and sleep low. We only had one day like that.”
The weather went from humid and warm, to cool and dry, to 32 degrees with ice pellets. “You’re winded every step of the way,” Heuthorst said.
The next day camp was set at 15,000 feet. The team slept in two-man tents. Each climber has a porter who brings one bag of gear and a tent. Heuthorst said he still carried a 25-pound backpack. Climbers need to drink a lot of water. He would drink a liter each morning before starting the trek, drink about three more on the trail, then drink more in camp. He also carried energy bars, popcorn and nuts for snacks.
The worst day he says was the next to last day, climbing from 15,000 to 18,500 feet. After 13,000 feet, people were struggling. At 14,000 feet, a fitness instructor became ill. People commonly vomit and suffer severe headaches from lack of oxygen. Yet a 58-year-old woman did a push up when she reached the summit. “Everyone reacts differently to altitude,” Heuthorst said.
“I didn’t have problems like that until the last day. I popped a couple of ibuprofen and said ‘let’s go’. You have to be aware of your body and what’s happening to it. There’s a situation called cerebral edema, I believe, where your brain swells. People have died on Kilimanjaro from that. Your tent partner is told to watch for signs and the leaders filter through the group watching for reactions.”
Lack of oxygen also can cause diminished judgement and concentration. Heuthorst’s tent partner at one meal ate his noodles slowly one at a time. “I asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘I have to, I can’t concentrate’. I started feeling the affects by making just simple mistakes. You have to be really organized. You have to take malaria medication. I had a watch alarm remind me when to take it.”
Reaching the summit took five-and-a-half days. The team awoke about 4:30 a.m. at the 18,500-foot camp in order to reach the peak at sunrise. All 21 climbers reached the top.
“Fantastic,” Heuthorst said. “You’re at the tallest point on the continent of Africa. There’s nothing above you.”
Will he climb another mountain? “I would not,” he said. “It’s tough. I think I want to do something with a friend of mine who is into cycling. Not really a race, but a long distance trek with him (in Canada). Maybe comparable to RAGBRAI, maybe a bit longer. But it’s a bit more hilly terrain. I thought about doing a marathon, but I don’t like running that much.”
Editor’s Note: Persons interested in investigating Summits of Hope may go to its web site at www.summitsofhope.com.
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