News
10 September 2014
Summit to celebrate for LJ Fairburn
LJ Fairburn cracks Kilimanjaro and raises over £39,000 for Farm Africa
Farm Africa is thrilled to announce that a nine-strong team of climbers put together by the major egg supplier, LJ Fairburn & Son, arrived in triumph this morning at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The Lincolnshire-based company has climbed Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Food for Good, the UK food industry’s major fundraising campaign that is supporting Farm Africa and its work to end hunger in eastern Africa. As well as making it to the summit, the team has also done a fantastic job in smashing its fundraising target with over £39,000 raised so far and more still to come in!
Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain. Its summit, Uhuru Peak, towers at 5,895 metres above sea level. Scaling the mountain is the equivalent of scaling Big Ben 61 times.
So getting to the top was no easy task for the team which set out late last night from their base camp at Barafu Hut for the final push to the summit. Already exhausted due to the difficulty in sleeping at altitude and in such cold conditions, the team had to push themselves forward into a howling, icy wind for eight and a half hours. Before they reached Uhuru Peak they had to scramble over loose scree and up paths that were practically vertical at times.
Each climber felt the effects of altitude and everyone went through a dark patch at some point during the final stages. So it was an incredible achievement when the whole team emerged onto the summit to gaze out from the roof of Africa and be greeted by a beautiful sunrise.
LJ Fairburn’s Managing Director, Daniel Fairburn, summed up the whole team’s feelings on their triumph as he stood at Uhuru Peak:
“It was a life changing experience. I’ve never gone through so many emotions in one day and am just thrilled that all the team made it together. We feel great, but we now have another 5 hour walk back down to Mweka camp. There’s going to be lots of sore feet tonight!”
Before the team set off for the summit last night they were thrilled to discover surprise messages of support from family and friends that had been carried up the mountain. It all made for an emotional departure from Kibo and helped spur the climbers on.
You can find out much more about the climb, including updates from the team over the last seven days, by reading their blog: Cracking Kilimanjaro
And it’s not too late to reward the team for all their hard work by making a donation via their online fundraising page.