Kilimanjaro diary - pre-summit day

Today (Friday) was an extremely hard day for the team.   They climbed to 4639m altitude, the weather was foul, they were hammered by sleet and, as a result, the climb to Kibo camp took 2hrs longer than hoped.   They arrived at camp wet, cold, tired, hungry and after lunch everyone got straight into their sleeping bags to rest.   Tonight's scheduled departure for the summit meant dinner was served a mere 3hrs after lunch so that the team could return to their tents for sufficient rest before their 2230 wake-up call. Deshun made a quick call back to SA before, too, heading for her sleeping bag so there are no individual comments today.  She said that, naturally, everyone is feeling tense and anxious about the huge challenge of reaching the summit.
Sadly, and through no fault of her own, Allie has had to withdraw from the summit attempt due to not being sufficiently hydrated.  She's been drinking plenty of fluids but it seems that her body is not retaining sufficient fluid for her to continue.   She reached Kibo Hut today at 4639m with the others but it would not be a good idea for her to continue higher.   The body is not able to recover properly at those altitude and, although she is terribly disappointed at not being able to go for the summit she is, nonetheless, comfortable with the decision not to proceed and Deshun and the other team members support her fully in her decision.

NB:  To Allie's family and friends - she is fine, comfortable and quite able to make the descent.   Hydration problems are one of the many challenges presented by high altitudes and, as with any of the other symptoms, the recommendation is always to descend to a lower altitude.   Derek will be leaving for the summit with the others this evening and you know that he would certainly not be doing that if Allie was at all unwell.   She will either wait for the team a little way down the mountain or she will descend to Horombo Hut  where they will all meet up for the scheduled overnight stop tomorrow night (Saturday) and, of course, she will be accompanied by one of the guides and her porters.

Reaching these altitudes is not for the fainthearted and each member of the team has had to dig incredibly deep into their inner selves, and beyond, to get this far.   The group is comprised mostly of non-climbers and even some who are hiking for the first time - Andy, Thami, Kedi, Bonnita, Derek.   If none of the team were to climb another step they would still have achieved so much more than most of us and they should all be strutting around with their chests puffed out in pride!

Tonight at 2300 they will leave on the
final push for the summit, heading for Gilmans Point on the edge of the crater and then to the highest point on the summit.  Everyone's pace is different and 4 guides have been tasked to manage the group members.    Deshun's attention now shifts from the group and she and Jan must concentrate on their appointed task of getting to the summit to fly the1st for Women banner and, in so doing, successfully complete this 2nd expedition of her 7 Summits program.
To our climbers, our thoughts are with you.   Whether you stand on the top of Kilimanjaro or not you will have stood on the top of many of your personal summits.   
Hamba kahle to you all.