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Oakville girl youngest to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro Hannah Hunt climbed mountain with her family By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, September 24, 2009 She may only be 11 years old, but Oakville's Hannah Hunt has done something few other kids her age have even attempted. She climbed a mountain. Hannah and her family returned from a vacation to Tanzania, last month, where they spent nearly a week making their way to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and back down again. At 5,892 metres Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in the entire African continent and is also one of the world's tallest walkable mountains, meaning it can be climbed without mountaineering equipment. For Hannah the experience was summed up in five short words. "It was cool, I guess." Seen as a fun experience the family could undertake together, Hannah, her father Jeff, mother Lynn Scott and sister Emily 14, found themselves in Mount Kilimanjaro National Park in early August. The first challenge involved getting the proper supplies and people needed to take them up the mountain and back. "You have to get permits for each person," said Lynn. "They don't actually often allow children between 10 and 13 to go up the mountain, under 10 and you're not allowed on the mountain, period. We had to have special permission for Hannah and what that meant was we had to take an extra guide because of her." In the end, the Hunt family vacation up Kilimanjaro took on the appearance of a major expedition with the company they were dealing with (African Walking Company) assigning them three guides, two cooks and 15 porters. Emily noted all this manpower was essential -- not only did the group need enough food for seven days, they also needed cooking materials, tents and clothes for seven days among other things. Supplies and tents were also needed for those accompanying the family on their journey. The price tag for this kind of trek usually runs from $1,500 to $2,000 per person per week, depending on what company is chosen for the climb, said Jeff. The need for this advanced preparation became very apparent when the family saw the mountain up close for the first time. LYNN SCOTT / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER REACHING FOR THE TOP: Sisters Emily, 14, and Hannah, 11, keep warm near the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest mountain. "Even when I saw it out of the airplane I didn't think it was going to be that bad or that difficult to climb. The first time I realized what we actually had to do, we were driving towards it and just through the clouds you could see the top," said Emily. "It was so far up. It was like, `I understand now.'" The day the climb began, the family was driven about 1,900 metres up the mountain at which point they had lunch and then started walking. "It was really gradual," said Jeff. "Within a couple hours you could look backwards and realize that although you are plodding along that you were way way up. You could see Kenya in the distance and these villages at night would look like little specks down below you because you were thousands of feet above it." Walking about five to six hours each day, the Hunt family went through a number of climate zones as they moved up Kilimanjaro. These zones were deeply diverse with steamy rainforests giving way to shrub-filled moorlands, which in turn gave way to barren rock. "Someone looked at some of these pictures LYNN SCOTT / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER BEAVER TRAILS TO MOUNT KILIMANJARO: The Hunt family, Emily, Hannah, Lynn Scott and Jeff Hunt took The Oakville Beaver to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. and said it looked like we were on the face of the moon because there's nothing. It's just barren," said Jeff. While walking five or six hours a day slowed down the pace of the ascent, it also limited the effects the changing altitude had on the climbers. Other people the family met had chosen to climb the mountain on a faster timetable and had an unpleasant experience as a result. "We did see people being taken off the mountain near the summit," said Lynn. "Other people we saw were violently ill." Jeff said their guides were instrumental in keeping this altitude sickness at bay by having the family walk 100-200 metres up the mountain and then 100-200 metres back down to help them acclimatize before they went to bed. The guides also kept a sharp eye on each family members, particularly Hannah, looking for signs that they might have to be removed from the mountain. "They were well trained and very knowledgeable about the dangers that can be there," said Jeff. "It was a nice relief to see that they were well prepared for that." The experience was not hassle-free with the altitude giving Emily a pounding headache at times, while other family members suffered from a lack of appetite and sleep deprivation. After four days of climbing, the Hunt family arrived at the base of Kibo, the most user-friendly, and highest, of Kilimanjaro's summits. Beginning at midnight, the group began a seven-hour ascent to reach the peak and the final destination. Hannah took the opportunity to catch up on her sleep every time the group came to a stop, but in the end her enthusiasm showed when she reached the top. "We were at the top of Africa," said Hannah. "I was proud of myself, I guess. Jeff noted the temperature at the summit was around ­19 C with bright white glaciers sharing the summit with them. This successful climb was not only a great moment for the Hunt family, but also for the company that had gotten them there as Hannah is the youngest child they had ever attempted to bring to the summit. The company quickly communicated this achievement (via cell phone, which somehow worked on the mountain) to other guides across Kilimanjaro, who enthusiastically greeted Hannah on her way down with high fives and fist bumps. While the family considers this experience an exceedingly special one, at this point they do not see any further mountain climbing in their future and are looking for the next great adventure to embark on together. all outdoor lighting on sale RETAIL & WHOLESALE LIGHTING Oakville's Finest LIGHTING STORE in the Oakville Home Improvement District Lighting qualifies for home renovation tax credit OPEN SUNDAYS 243 Speers Road · Between Kerr & Dorval · Oakville, ON · 905.849.LITE (5483) · www.conceptlighting.ca