Cath Chapman Conquers Mount Kilimanjaro!

We are proud to announce that Kersia UK’s Cath Chapman and her team have completed their challenge to raise vital funds for two charities by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, the climb finally got off the ground on 15th September and Cath, her husband and three colleagues from the food industry completed the challenge over six nights and seven days.

Throughout the climb the conditions were mixed with sunshine and warm temperatures during the day and much colder at night with the team starting the climb every day at 8.00am and then heading back to camp back for 5.00 pm.  There was one night climb and that was to the summit.  It started at midnight and by that time it was very windy, -7 degrees with a wind chill of -15 degrees.

The team were part of a bigger group of people who all camped together and stayed in tents along the route every night along with their guides.

The two charities they are fundraising for are close to the hearts of all the team and both provide a much-needed service across their communities. The team have already raised over £5,500 in pledges from the initial postponed trips and the current fund-raising pages and are now looking to increase the total to £6,000.

Commentating on the climb, Cath said:

I’m glad to say that we were all okay with the very rigorous climbing. It was uphill continuously for five and a half days so you needed strong legs and lower back for carrying a 7-10kg day pack and we all found that coming down was harder. We all feel fantastic and totally overwhelmed that we all did it. It was so well organised and the team of 16 really got on well together and helped each other. We had two tough days – day three known as the Lava Tower Day and the Summit Night. The final six-hour summit climb of 1,200m in the dark was hard but hitting the top as the sun came up was incredible…..I can’t describe it!