The second group have left the UK!

Our second group of Boots colleges left the support office yesterday and have safely arrived in Moshi,Tanzania, for a day of relaxing before all the hard work begins!

To find out more about their itinerary check out this schedule

Good luck to everyone and we will keep you updated on their progress from time to time!

The first Boots team start their challenge of a lifetime!

Yesterday our first group of 30 Boots colleagues set off on their journey of a lifetime! They flew last night from Heathrow and will arrive today at Moshi (north Tanzania) and complete their final preparations before their climb starts tomorrow. In six days time they will reach the summit and all their hard work will have paid off. See the daily itinerary below to follow their schedule.

Good luck to everyone and we will keep you updated on their progress from time to time!

Happy New Year ... and a reminder of our trip itinerary

Happy New Year to all our 60 Boots UK trekkers and to all our supporters!
Hopefully the start of 2014 will be hugely memorable and successful for everyone taking part.

So, not long now! Only a week to go until our first group departs from Heathrow to Tanzania - Thursday 9th January. Then the second group follows a week later - Thursday 16th January.

Below is the itinerary that both our groups are due to follow in case anyone wants to follow our progress.

There is likely to be lots of individual Facebook updating during our trips (dependent on phone and internet connectivity), but we can't guarantee that this blog will be updated until our return to the UK.

Thank you for everyone's efforts so far. Our friends and colleagues at Macmillan Cancer Support are very grateful. In fact, all the fundraising, fitness training, and general preparations have been exceptional.

Good luck to one and all.

Date group 1 or 2	Day	Activity	Kilimanjaro heights
9th/16th	Thurs	Depart UK (Heathrow Terminal 3 Ethopian Airlines)
10th/17th	Fri	Arrive Tanzania. To hotel
11th/18th	Sat	Transfer from hotel to Machame Gate. Climb to Machame Camp	Hotel to 1,800m to 3,000m
12th/19th	Sun	Machame Camp to Shira Gate	3,000m to 3,800m
13th/20th	Mon	Shira Camp to Barranco Camp	3,800m to 3,900m
14th/21st	Tues	Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley	3,900m to 3,963m (afternoon acclimatisation to 4,200m)
15th/22nd	Wed	Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp	3,963m to 4,600m (early dinner and bed by 8pm latest)
16th/23rd	Thurs summit day	To the summit, having climbed all night. Summit 06:30-09:00am depending on progress	rise at 11pm (yesterday), set out by midnight. Stella Point 5,750m; Uhuru Peak 5,895m descend to Barafu Camp (3hrs) 4,600m, short rest, descend to Millennium Camp (2hrs) 3,700m
17th/24th	Fri	Descend to Mweka Gate. Transfer back to hotel	3,700m to 1,800m
18th/25th	Sat	Free morning at hotel. Transfer to airport
19th/26th	Sun	Arrive back in UK (Heathrow)

Both our trips are led by Discover Adventure: www.discoveradventure.com Neil Jones

Unilever supporting the Boots Macmillan Kilimanjaro challenge

We are very pleased to confirm that Unilever has pledged support to our Kilimanjaro challenge.

As well as contributing to the Boots finance team’s fundraising efforts for Macmillan Cancer Support, they have additionally pledged a £2,000 contribution to Macmillan and our Kilimanjaro efforts. This takes Unilever’s overall input to Boots/Macmillan to £10,000 in 2013/14.

Neil Jones

£250,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support!

£250,000 for Macmillan, and more to come

We have heard from Macmillan that we have reached another point on our fundraising totaliser - we have now smashed the £250,000 level!

Not far from our £300,000 target now.

Well done everyone.

Neil Jones

Fantastic fundraising ... £233,000 ... and climbing

Team Boots Kilimanjaro totaliser - Nov '13

Wow! We have just received an updated fundraising figure from Macmillan.

The number has grown dramatically in recent weeks, and we are now at £233,000. Brilliant!

As the totaliser shows, we are making great progress towards our target.

Keep up the fantastic work everyone.




Neil Jones

More inspiration (and a few tips) from a Kilimanjaro conquerer

As our preparations continue, we are hearing some great stories from colleagues who have conquered Kilimanjaro in the past. In addition to Jeff, Justine and Reena, we have also heard from Claire.

Here is her account:

“Two years ago I climbed Kilimanjaro by the Western Breach approach. It was the most amazing eight day experience of my life. But we were well prepared, and here are some of my tips (I’m on the right of the photo).

The attitude sickness kicks in at around 3000m. This is essentially the evening of your first day. From there your health will deteriorate. How you cope with the deterioration is down to your personal genetic make-up and is not necessarily improved by fitness. Of the ten of us who did the climb, and we all made it, every person was taking Diamox by the end. To my mind it is essential to the trip whether you use it preventatively or medicinally. The one person I know who made it to the top without taking Diamox, can’t remember ‘summiting’, and one of my walking companions was hallucinating, even with the aid of Diamox. Settle for the altitude prevention aids and enjoy the journey. 

The walk is not tough in itself. Don’t get me wrong, your boots need to be fully broken in and I thoroughly recommend the two-pair-sock approach (polyethylene fabric next to your skin) to avoid blisters. As for clothing, be prepared with layers, as the temperatures can vary quite dramatically, and by your summit night, you will be wearing everything you have with you (the last camp on the western breach approach is called ‘glacier camp’ for a reason). You can only ‘carry’ 10kg, so this essentially means two changes of clothes, and summit coat/gloves/hat, and your sleeping bag. Don’t bother with an alternate pair of shoes; you won’t need them. Keeping things ‘clean and tidy’ in your large bag/rucksack can be tricky. I found packing my clothes, and other items in zip lock bags was helpful in keeping some order, generally not losing things and separating clean from dirty. 

On the equipment side, my best advice is a head torch and spare batteries and a good rucksack with waist and chest straps. Although porters carry most of your stuff, you will still carry up to 10KG yourself; 3kg of which will be water (use a camelback or similar), which is recognised advice against altitude sickness! Other good equipment included walking poles. For some they are essential, if you have dodgy knees, but they also help improve your balance when tired and give you rhythm which helps the continuous walking. If you don’t like the taste of chemically treated water (you will be adding purification tablets to your water), some people brought along powdered drink concentrate to mask the flavour. 

Summit night, because you leave at around 1am and walk all night, is different. It’s tough; the walk is harder, but more importantly the air is even thinner, and breathing is difficult. But keep your head down and just keep going. Any other ascent, other than the western breach goes by the way of the Barafu camp, and although the assent is shallower, the terrain is shale or sand. The only advice I have to give, having watched people struggle up, is to prepare yourself mentally for that kind of terrain; it is slow climb terrain. 

Getting and staying clean are nigh on impossible; so don’t worry too much about it. Best advice, is to take dry shampoo, anti-perspirant, baby wipes, panty liners, avoid anything with an aerosol and don’t forget your toothbrush and paste. It’s amazing how fresh you feel having just cleaned your teeth. 

As you climb, the conditions change, as I’m sure you know. During the day it can still be warm and pleasant, but at night the temperature plummets when the sun sets. You will have clothes to deal with it, but other tips include; bringing your boots inside the sleeping area of your tent at night or they will freeze, and keep batteries and other electronics warm, so keep them close to you in the sleeping part of the tent as well. 

My last “wonder tip” is to get yourself a metallic water bottle (like a Sigg bottle). Not only will that carry your water, but with boiled water, you can create a handy and very effective hot water bottle!!”

Good luck everyone, Claire Goodier

Neil Jones