Sid, Tarah, & Quinn (Mar's taking the picture) In Yosemite with Half Dome in the back ground. Long 18.4 mile day hike but a blast!
This is our goal. This is the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 19,340 ft. The top of Africa. We hope the next picture of the summit will have us standing on top!
Here we are in January hiking up to the top of Mt Si in North Bend. We had a mixture of sun, snow & rain. We were enjoying a sunny, but cold, lunch at the top when the clouds came over & dumped a couple of inches of snow! Ken & Todd are in the background & Derek took the picture.
Lou Whittaker In 1968, Lou co-founded Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), the leading guide service on Mount Rainier. Lou started climbing with his twin brother, Jim, at age twelve. By the time he was eighteen, he had climbed all the major peaks in Washington. At nineteen, he began guiding on Mount Rainier. Lou, a legend on Mount Rainier, has over 250 summits while leading thousands of novice and experienced climbers to the 14,410' summit of Mount Rainier. He has also climbed in Alaska, the Himalaya, and the Karakoram. In 1984, he led the first successful American summit of the North Col of Mount Everest. Lou is very involved with many organizations including the American Lung Association of Washington and continues to be their Honorary Chairman for the Climb for Clean Air.
First person to summit Everest twice: Nawang Gombu Sherpa -Nepal(once with Whitaker in '63,and again two years later in '65)Gombu now works for the Himalayan mountaineering institute. He is married and living in Darjeeling, India. He was born in 1936 in Minzu, Tibet. He is the business director of the Himalayan Mountain Institute established by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. Few people know he was the son of Tenzing Norgay's oldest sister, Lhamu Kipa. Therefore, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa was his Uncle! A very brief overview of his two summits of Everest are below... 1963: American Expedition with Norman Dyhrenfurth as leader and including A. Auten, Barry Bishop, Jake Breitenbach, J. Corbet, D. Dingman, D. Doody, R. Emerson, Tom Hornbein, Lute Jerstad, J. Lester, Willi Unsoeld, and Jim Whittaker. A huge expedition, costing almost $400,000 and supported by the National Geographic Society, over 900 porters carry 29 tons of food and equipment to the base of the mountain. Base Camp is established at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall on Mar 21 and the route through the icefall prepared soon after. Jake Breitenbach is killed by collapsing seracs in the Icefall but the expedition continues. The expedition splits into two parties - the West Ridgers and the South Collers. First Assault: May 1 From Camp 6 at 27,450 feet (8370 meters) on the SE Ridge, Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu Sherpa reach the summit in strong winds at 1 PM. Whittaker becomes the first American to summit Everest. 1965: Third Indian Expedition, with Commander M.S Kohli as leader. On May 20, 1965 they succeed when A.S. Cheema and Sherpa Nawang Gombu ascend the SE Ridge. Gombu becomes the first person to summit Everest twice (the 11th and 17th summit). Out of the first seventeen summits of Everest, Nawang had two of them! Additional summits were achieved by Sonam Gyatso Sherpa, Sonam Wangyal, C.P. Vohra, Ang Kami Sherpa, H.P.S. Ahluwalia, H.C.S. Rawat, and Phu Dorje Sherpa. Nawang Gombu Sherpa started his Everest career in 1960 as part of the India Expedition to Everest lead by Gyan Singh. Nawang Gombu reached a high point of 8625 meters on May 25th before turning back due to high winds. Nawang Gombu Sherpa was also part of the 1982 American expedition that attempted Great Couloir of Everest lead by Lou Whittaker. The expedition was terminated when Marty Hoey died.nc
Phursumba did his basic, advance and instructor mountaineering courses at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in 1959. He joined the first Indian Everest Expedition in 1960 and carried loads up to the South Col (26,000'). From 1960 till 1967 he was an Instructor at HMI. In 1968 he joined the Trans-arctic Expedition to the North Pole and from 1969 till now he has guided for Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.
AFRICA -- TANZANIA -- Mt KILIMANJARO - American Lung Association Climb
September 4th 2005
Sid, Mar, Quinn, and Tarah all made it safly to africa on September fourth on around 10:00 pm. The whole team has made it there safly. They are staying in the town called Moshi, which is where there hotel is, and the last place that they will get a room to there own...
September 5th 2005
Today the whole team is packing up, checking all of their gear and getting ready to start the climb tomorrow. Everyone seems to be very excited and eager to start the long adventure to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!!
September 6th 2005
I (Selig) Received a call from my dad (Sid) while I was at work around 10:30 am, I was unable to get it do to a training I was in. Sid let me know that the whole team had completed the first day of climbing the mountain, they were at there first camp site deep in the middle of the jungle. In the background it sounded like someone had turned on a recording of "jungle sounds" and turned the volume way up. The first camp site is about 10,000 feet above sea level, everyone is doing well, well almost everyone, unfortunatly Mar had eaten something that morning that is not settling with her stomach very well, so she is feeling a little under the weather. So all is well and everyone is excited for tomorrow!
September 7th 2005
The Phone call came in at 10:30am our time, since the crew in Africa are 10 hours ahead it was 8:30pm there time. After hiking for a good 6 hours they reached there goal distance and set up camp when Sid called. The camp was set up at 13,200 feet, they had taken the most dificult route that day (not sure why), but the veiw is opening up and they can now see the glaciers. Everyone is in great health including Mar, if you remember Mar was a little sick from something that she had eaten. Tarah and Quinn had their 2nd year aniversary, which they were surprised with a little cake with a single candle on it (can't carry to much with them). Tomorrow they are going to be hiking up to 15,000 ft and will be out in the open. Stay tuned for tomorrows adventure!
September 8th 2005
Sid made the call to the states at 9:30 am our time, he let us know that they climbed up from the camp which was at 13,200 feet, up to 14,000 feet and then to their surprise hiked back down to the camp. That hike was about four hours, but in that four hours they all started to feel a little sick and uneasy, they realized that that days hike was to get them used to the altitude change. But when Sid called it was the evening time and the were all feeling much better. except Mar.
September 9th 2005
I talked to Sid, and Mar, they called me actually on the night of the 8th here, but it was early morning over there. They were both in their tent, not even out of their sleeping bags. They said that the ground was covered in frosty dew. It is funny because we were talking and I realized even when my parents are on the side of the mountain on the other side of the world, they still talk about the same things on the phone :) Sid wanted to make sure that I am updating this website, and to see if any of the pictures have come through (sorry still no pictures), and then Mar just talked to me about the beautiful plants, and how the cactus are these funny shapes. While Mar was explain in great detail about a flower I heard Sid in the background saying "Hey Mar, maybe we should go, we don't even know how much this costs". It is funny...
September 10th 2005
I just got off the phone with Sid and Mar (8:00am ourtime), it was evening time (their time) and they were going to sleep, this is the big night... Right now they are at High camp at 15,200 feet. Tonight they will wake up at 11:30pm (their time) and start the climb in the middle of the night to reach the Summit. They have told me to keep my phone on tonight because I will be receiving a call in the middle of the night (our time) from them at the top of the mountain... They are taking a ton of pictures, (lots of plants I imagine), so I am sure that once they get back Mar will have this website covered in pictures...
September 11th 2005
The team left high camp at midnight their time and started toward the summit. I did not get much information of their journey up, I know that Sid, Quinn, and Tarah made it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, unfortunatly Mar did not reach the top she had to turn around at 17,500 ft... I am not sure why that was but I will have more information about that tomorrow... So tomorrow the 12th check back in and I will have another update.
Update:
The reason Mar was unable to reach the top was a combination of the altitude and the malaria pills. Mar climbed up as far as she could, 17,500, but she was sick, she said the ground was moving way too much for it to be safe to keep climbing, plus there was some puking going on. The rest of the crew did make it to the summit at 8:30 am at 19,340 feet -- Ken M, Todd, Ken G, Tarah, Quinn & Sid along with American guide, Gary, African guides, Arnold & Isumasu.
September 12th
I talked to Sid and Mar this morning, which was evening time for them, they all were in good health and headed down the mountain to get to their hotel. For the several days that it took for them to make it to the top they can climb all the way down in just a day and a half. Tomorrow they will all relax and get ready for their next advernture, a safari.
September 20th ---- We are back! Pictures are here! Take a look.
Our team in Moshi at the Keys Hotel. We are heading to the mountain!
The Umbwe Route. Most difficult, most beautiful & least climbed. It was worth every inch of this route. The jungle was filled with different plants & flowers. There were tall red lilies that stood in pairs along the trail, I expected to see Tarzan vines hanging around but not in this jungle I guess.
The land of strange plants. In the background the giant groundsel (or tree senecio) looks like giant cabbage on top of trunks & can be up to 200 years old. They get 30 ft tall. We are looking at the giant lobelia. The purple flowers hide inside the leaves. Botany class at 14,000ft.
Celebrating Tarah & Quinn's 2nd anniversary at Barranco camp at 13,200ft. The cooks made a cake with cornmeal is was a wonderful jesture. I brought plates, napkins & candles for the surprise.
No, the film isn't damaged. It really did look this blue. We woke up to a different world. The frost was all over everything & the air was cold & thick. Quinn is talking Tarah into coming out. BURRRRRRR
Every day we climb is a new adventure. Our group is the best! We all help each other & have become a family - a true team. Landscapes changes daily with new challenges & thinner air but we're still smiling. It's up, up & more up.......
A well deserved break to eat all the goodies we brought from home. This day was colder than the previous ones and the clouds rarely gave us glimpes of the mountain. It was mystical and surreal. The blue cast lasted all day. At times I felt like I was in a colorless world where only the people wore color. And only color moved about the mountain, rocks & hills.
Trying to keep up with the journaling has been a challenge. I decided to do some writing before dark. The water bottle I'm holding is hot water to keep me warm. Most nights before bed the porters filled our bottles with hot water. We drank water durring the night to help with the altitude. Sleep was more difficult the higher we got. We'd often sit up at night to pressure breathe to relieve our headaches. Our tents were roomy enough for two plus backpacks. Very nice.
Tarah leads the way to high camp, Barafu, at 15,500. We eat dinner early to night so we can get up at 11:30 & start for the summit at midnight. We are all very excited.
We are all at the high camp. this is Rita's summit. This was her goal from the beginning. She made it & we are happy. She'll stay here & wait for the rest of us to return & then we'll all head down the Mweka Route to the lower camp below 10,000ft.
It was the flatest tent site during the climb but this one was pretty good. There were toilet facilities at the camp area. These consisted of port-a-potty size buildings with a hole in the floor. Although, the conditions were far from "nice" it sure beat bareing all in the cold wind.
Summit is our focus. Breathe, drink, eat, walk. We are ready!
AT THE SUMMIT! Sid & Isumasu on Uhuru Peak. The last 300 verticle feet took an hour. A babystep followed by 3 to 5 breaths. (Mar had to turn around at 17,500 due to illness)
The team at Mt Kilimanjaro's summit 19,340ft! AWESOME! Todd, Arnold, Ken M, Quinn. Tarah, Sid & Ken G. It snowed at the top which was the frosting on a very large cake! Thank the Lord for an incredible gift!
As Sid says--- It takes a small village to get 8 white guys to the summit! This is the whole group. All the porters, cooks, guides, etc. One good thing is that these people had employment for this time & most of them do two climbs a month which is a very good wage for Tanzania. We also left several items with them such as down jackets, hats, clothing & food. We could not have done this climb with out the whole team. Our many thanks go to all of them!
We are at the last camp getting ready for the last few thousand feet decent. We'll hike down the Mweka trail to the park gate & from there down to the vehicles & back to the Keys Hotel to pick up the rest of our luggage for the rest of our trip. We thank God for the safety of our whole team & for His presence & strength on our journey up & down Kili.
The end of the climb - the beginning of new friendships, new found strength & many adventures to come.
Learning the culture of people of other countries is a wonderful experience but also a responsibility. Our guide, Craig VanHoy, has visited Tanzania twice a year for several years. He has a heart to help the unfortunate orphans in Arusha. We hope be able to help in some way too. We'll keep you posted. What you have is worthless unless you can share it.
To our new climbing family-- We love you and thank you for everything that you have done. We know each other pretty darn well & we still like each other. COOL! It'll always be that way! JAMBO my friends!
Thank you to all of you who helped on this climb. We thank the American Lung Assoc., ALAW, for this incredible opportunity & look forward to future partnerships.
After the climb we all treated ourselves to an wonder safari adventure.
We visited a Masai village while in the Serrengetti. They always wear red to "keep the lions away" they told us. Their huts are made of dung & sticks. The men herd goats & cattle. The women build & repair the huts, cook, & raise children. Men rule in these villages.
This Masai man invited us into his hut & showed us where he & his family slept & ate along with the newborn calves. There isn't enough room to stand up inside. A small fire in the middle of the floor keeps smoke in which keeps bugs out. It was hard to breathe. Amazing lifestyle.
We saw so many animals. This is a lion cub that was left with several others while the mothers went off to hunt. The mothers came back as we watched. It was quite a reunion.
Our drivers took us all over in the parks. Several times we had to wait until the animals crossed the road before we could move on.
This guy was so tall we could only get half of him in the picture!
Curious....
Here's looking at you kid!
VERY large! Very cool!
The stink fest of The Hippos! They love to lounge around in their waste ponds.
Sid, Tarah, & Quinn (Mar's taking the picture) In Yosemite with Half Dome in the back ground. Long 18.4 mile day hike but a blast!
This is our goal. This is the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 19,340 ft. The top of Africa. We hope the next picture of the summit will have us standing on top!
Here we are in January hiking up to the top of Mt Si in North Bend. We had a mixture of sun, snow & rain. We were enjoying a sunny, but cold, lunch at the top when the clouds came over & dumped a couple of inches of snow! Ken & Todd are in the background & Derek took the picture. 
Lou Whittaker 
The Umbwe Route. Most difficult, most beautiful & least climbed. It was worth every inch of this route. The jungle was filled with different plants & flowers. There were tall red lilies that stood in pairs along the trail, I expected to see Tarzan vines hanging around but not in this jungle I guess. 
The land of strange plants. In the background the giant groundsel (or tree senecio) looks like giant cabbage on top of trunks & can be up to 200 years old. They get 30 ft tall. We are looking at the giant lobelia. The purple flowers hide inside the leaves. Botany class at 14,000ft.
Celebrating Tarah & Quinn's 2nd anniversary at Barranco camp at 13,200ft. The cooks made a cake with cornmeal is was a wonderful jesture. I brought plates, napkins & candles for the surprise.
No, the film isn't damaged. It really did look this blue. We woke up to a different world. The frost was all over everything & the air was cold & thick. Quinn is talking Tarah into coming out. BURRRRRRR 
Every day we climb is a new adventure. Our group is the best! We all help each other & have become a family - a true team. Landscapes changes daily with new challenges & thinner air but we're still smiling. It's up, up & more up.......
A well deserved break to eat all the goodies we brought from home. This day was colder than the previous ones and the clouds rarely gave us glimpes of the mountain. It was mystical and surreal. The blue cast lasted all day. At times I felt like I was in a colorless world where only the people wore color. And only color moved about the mountain, rocks & hills.
Trying to keep up with the journaling has been a challenge. I decided to do some writing before dark. The water bottle I'm holding is hot water to keep me warm. Most nights before bed the porters filled our bottles with hot water. We drank water durring the night to help with the altitude. Sleep was more difficult the higher we got. We'd often sit up at night to pressure breathe to relieve our headaches. Our tents were roomy enough for two plus backpacks. Very nice. 
Tarah leads the way to high camp, Barafu, at 15,500. We eat dinner early to night so we can get up at 11:30 & start for the summit at midnight. We are all very excited. 
We are all at the high camp. this is Rita's summit. This was her goal from the beginning. She made it & we are happy. She'll stay here & wait for the rest of us to return & then we'll all head down the Mweka Route to the lower camp below 10,000ft.
It was the flatest tent site during the climb but this one was pretty good. There were toilet facilities at the camp area. These consisted of port-a-potty size buildings with a hole in the floor. Although, the conditions were far from "nice" it sure beat bareing all in the cold wind.
Summit is our focus. Breathe, drink, eat, walk. We are ready!
AT THE SUMMIT! Sid & Isumasu on Uhuru Peak. The last 300 verticle feet took an hour. A babystep followed by 3 to 5 breaths. (Mar had to turn around at 17,500 due to illness)
The team at Mt Kilimanjaro's summit 19,340ft! AWESOME! Todd, Arnold, Ken M, Quinn. Tarah, Sid & Ken G. It snowed at the top which was the frosting on a very large cake! Thank the Lord for an incredible gift!
As Sid says--- It takes a small village to get 8 white guys to the summit! This is the whole group. All the porters, cooks, guides, etc. One good thing is that these people had employment for this time & most of them do two climbs a month which is a very good wage for Tanzania. We also left several items with them such as down jackets, hats, clothing & food. We could not have done this climb with out the whole team. Our many thanks go to all of them!
We are at the last camp getting ready for the last few thousand feet decent. We'll hike down the Mweka trail to the park gate & from there down to the vehicles & back to the Keys Hotel to pick up the rest of our luggage for the rest of our trip. We thank God for the safety of our whole team & for His presence & strength on our journey up & down Kili. 
The end of the climb - the beginning of new friendships, new found strength & many adventures to come.
Learning the culture of people of other countries is a wonderful experience but also a responsibility. Our guide, Craig VanHoy, has visited Tanzania twice a year for several years. He has a heart to help the unfortunate orphans in Arusha. We hope be able to help in some way too. We'll keep you posted. What you have is worthless unless you can share it. 
To our new climbing family-- We love you and thank you for everything that you have done. We know each other pretty darn well & we still like each other. COOL! It'll always be that way! JAMBO my friends!
Thank you to all of you who helped on this climb. We thank the American Lung Assoc., ALAW, for this incredible opportunity & look forward to future partnerships.
We visited a Masai village while in the Serrengetti. They always wear red to "keep the lions away" they told us. Their huts are made of dung & sticks. The men herd goats & cattle. The women build & repair the huts, cook, & raise children. Men rule in these villages.
This Masai man invited us into his hut & showed us where he & his family slept & ate along with the newborn calves. There isn't enough room to stand up inside. A small fire in the middle of the floor keeps smoke in which keeps bugs out. It was hard to breathe. Amazing lifestyle.
We saw so many animals. This is a lion cub that was left with several others while the mothers went off to hunt. The mothers came back as we watched. It was quite a reunion.
Our drivers took us all over in the parks. Several times we had to wait until the animals crossed the road before we could move on.
This guy was so tall we could only get half of him in the picture!
Curious....
Here's looking at you kid!
VERY large! Very cool!
The stink fest of The Hippos! They love to lounge around in their waste ponds.