News at St. Catherine's
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond-area women test themselves with Kimilanjaro climb
Group of 11 women, 10 of them mothers of St. Catherine's and St. Christopher's students, recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Alumna and parent, Kathryn LeBey '82, was among the climbers.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond-area women test themselves with Kilimanjaro climb
View Slideshow
By Bill Lohmann
Published: April 19, 2009
They began their ascent to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in icy darkness.
With only headlamps to light their way, the group of 11 women from the Richmond area set off from camp at 1 a.m., struggling mightily against fierce, howling winds and bitter cold. A few were still weak from a bout of food poisoning a few days earlier. Stamina was an issue for all.
"It was a beautiful night, but it was windy," recalled Dana Marie Buchanan, who helped organize the trip. "The wind just got worse and worse and worse. Several of us were blown off the path. It was tough going."
After seven hours of struggling against the elements and any doubts they might secretly have harbored, they all reached the summit, capping a six-day adventure that began months earlier as a faraway dream.
The adventurers
They are 11 women in their 30s and 40s. Some hold full-time jobs; others are stay-at-home moms. All are active in the community. All but one have children at St. Catherine's or St. Christopher's schools, though not all were close friends before embarking on this journey.
Some came from athletic backgrounds -- Elsie Bemiss played field hockey on a national level and has won state tennis titles, Sasha Hogan and Corell Halsey Moore have run marathons, and Monika Colmignoli played competitive basketball in her native Poland -- and others, like Buchanan, had experience hiking and backpacking. Lee Melchor Turlington grew up hunting, fishing and backpacking with her dad, brothers and friends. But a few had never even slept in a tent, much less climbed a mountain.
"I had never camped in my life, so this represented a real challenge," said Kathryn Thurman LeBey, 44, a mother of daughters ages 9 and 11, who works as a real estate agent after a career as an attorney.
Some went because they had always wanted to visit Africa. Others wanted a memorable way to mark a milestone birthday. Most simply wanted to challenge themselves in a way they had never been challenged.
Said Missy Gullquist, 46, a mother of four children ages 10 to 18, who had never spent a night in a tent:
"I went on the trip to prove to myself that I could do it!"
The idea
The notion to hike Kilimanjaro originated with Buchanan, 47, an anesthesiologist and mother of three children, ages 9, 11 and 12. She had thought about climbing it since a friend planned to be married at the top 20 years ago. She almost got a chance 15 years ago when she planned to make a medical mission trip to Tanzania, but the trip fell through. Her husband, John M. Barsanti, hiked Kilimanjaro with a group of buddies in January 2008, but Buchanan couldn't go because (a) it was "a bunch of boys," as she put it, and (b) their children were too young to leave for that length of time.
So Buchanan decided, "It was my turn to have a girls trip."
"I enlisted some friends, but it took a little while," she recalled. "As you might imagine, women who want to go hike on a mountain for seven days without showers and no clean beds and suffer through wind and rain and just pure exhaustion -- well, they're not too easy to find."
She and Moore were the first on board. By last May, the group had come together, largely through connections at their children's schools. The only member of the group without a link to the schools was Colmignoli, who signed on just a few weeks after moving into Buchanan's neighborhood in Richmond.
"You got to love her for her adventurous attitude," Buchanan said.
The training
The women were generally fit -- not necessarily mountain-climbing fit, but fit -- when they began preparing for the trip.
Over a period of months, they swam, cycled and ran. Lucy Rise and Buchanan began SEAL Team training. Members of the group did three-hour Sunday hikes around the Richmond area, and a few strapped on backpacks and walked the stairs in a downtown high-rise where group member Renee Fain works as an attorney.
They went into the mountains of Virginia and hiked Old Rag and Crabtree Falls and did a 14-mile trek at Wintergreen on a day Buchanan described as "nasty hot and humid."
The training built their endurance and their camaraderie. They took to calling themselves Team WAKi, an acronym for the Swahili phrase for "women who summit" -- Wanawake Ambao Kilele, said Buchanan.
"The bonding that took place was incredible," Gullquist said.
The trip
The team departed for Africa in early January, and the journey got off to an inauspicious start when all of Fain's luggage was lost, somewhere between New York and Amsterdam. By the time she arrived in Africa, all she had of her gear were the hiking boots she carried on the plane.
"It was pretty freaky because you're so far outside your comfort zone already and to not have the stuff you planned on," said Fain, 49, who has three daughters, ages 5, 16 and 19. "But it was pretty amazing how much stuff everybody came up with."
She would make the hike in gear borrowed from her teammates.
"I learned how resourceful and flexible we could be," Fain said.
The two-week trip -- including airfare, guides and a two-day safari after the climb -- cost about $7,400, Buchanan said.
Kilimanjaro, one of the largest free-standing mountains in the world, rises from a rolling plain near the Indian Ocean. Buchanan said Kilimanjaro "is not a technical climb, but it is an endurance climb." The group hiked five days to acclimate themselves to the altitude -- the peak of Kilimanjaro is more than 19,000 feet above sea level -- to reach the high camp from which they would summit.
On the way up, they slept in tents, picked their way at one point through a tall series of rock bands and were treated to breathtaking views. A few of them also got sick from something they ate, leaving them in less-than-perfect-shape as they prepared for their final push to the summit.
"When the seven of us got sick, we had a feeling like, 'We did not sign up for this,'" said Moore, 46, a former mechanical engineer and math teacher and mother of five, ages 9 to 19. "We had done everything right . . . and we still got food poisoning. Why us? Just like in life, sometimes we do everything right, and things still go wrong. You have a choice to give up at that point or keep on going up the mountain. Of course, none of us considered not continuing up the mountain. We were told by our guides to 'suck it up.' We did. We kept on going."
The summit
They arose at midnight so they would reach the summit by sunrise.
The wind howled, making the high-altitude cold feel even more frigid. The wind chill, recalled Buchanan, was minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Each hour we climbed got harder and harder, and I was more exhausted than I have ever felt before," said Rise, 48, a mother of four, ages 9 to 16. "It is hard to describe how much more exhausted your body feels when at the altitudes between 15,000 and 19,000. Each step felt like an enormous effort, and at the same time the winds were blowing us all over the place."
Blowing dust made breathing difficult, but they could not wear face masks because of the lack of oxygen at that altitude, LeBey said. She wound up with a sinus infection.
Turlington said "physically and mentally fighting the high winds to the summit" was the hardest part "after not being able to keep down food for the three days prior."
But they carried on and, shortly after dawn, made it to the top. It was a most memorable way for Hogan to celebrate her 40th birthday. It was no less memorable for others.
There was thrill in simply standing in the moonscape-like emptiness at the top of Kilimanjaro and peering over the stunning vastness of eastern Africa, savoring the first pinks and oranges of morning light. There was even more satisfaction in viewing the entire journey as an achievement of resilience and teamwork.
"To see a group of all women -- many with limited climbing experience -- rally together and persevere through the tough conditions we faced was impressive," said Linden Mallory, one of the two guides from Rainier Mountaineering Inc. that led the Richmond-area group.
The introspection
Listen to what they learned about themselves:
* Bemiss: "That my mind has so much more control over my body than I'd ever thought. We really did push our bodies over the point of exhaustion because we were so determined to complete the climb. Every aspect of our being was being tested."
* Fain: "I learned that when things get hard, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and look for something to laugh about."
* Cindy Nolan: "I surprised myself! I didn't have enough confidence in myself and constantly doubted whether or not I could do it. I realized how important it is to challenge ourselves individually. We are all so much more capable of doing far more than what we realize."
* Colmignoli: "I know better what my values are. I understand better where I can find true enjoyment and satisfaction. I feel stronger because I can stay positive and happy even if I am way out of my comfort zone."
* Moore: "We were tougher than we thought we were."
* Buchanan: "The neat thing about this trip for me was to watch women break out of their box and do something they never thought they'd ever do and in such a powerful, strong way. It was impressive to watch women change their lives. They didn't imagine they could ever do it, and they did it."
The future
Would these women tackle another mountain or similar adventure? All said they would.
"Absolutely," said Buchanan. "Bring it on!"
Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or wlohmann@timesdispatch.com
Back
View Slideshow
By Bill Lohmann
Published: April 19, 2009
They began their ascent to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in icy darkness.
With only headlamps to light their way, the group of 11 women from the Richmond area set off from camp at 1 a.m., struggling mightily against fierce, howling winds and bitter cold. A few were still weak from a bout of food poisoning a few days earlier. Stamina was an issue for all.
"It was a beautiful night, but it was windy," recalled Dana Marie Buchanan, who helped organize the trip. "The wind just got worse and worse and worse. Several of us were blown off the path. It was tough going."
After seven hours of struggling against the elements and any doubts they might secretly have harbored, they all reached the summit, capping a six-day adventure that began months earlier as a faraway dream.
The adventurers
They are 11 women in their 30s and 40s. Some hold full-time jobs; others are stay-at-home moms. All are active in the community. All but one have children at St. Catherine's or St. Christopher's schools, though not all were close friends before embarking on this journey.
Some came from athletic backgrounds -- Elsie Bemiss played field hockey on a national level and has won state tennis titles, Sasha Hogan and Corell Halsey Moore have run marathons, and Monika Colmignoli played competitive basketball in her native Poland -- and others, like Buchanan, had experience hiking and backpacking. Lee Melchor Turlington grew up hunting, fishing and backpacking with her dad, brothers and friends. But a few had never even slept in a tent, much less climbed a mountain.
"I had never camped in my life, so this represented a real challenge," said Kathryn Thurman LeBey, 44, a mother of daughters ages 9 and 11, who works as a real estate agent after a career as an attorney.
Some went because they had always wanted to visit Africa. Others wanted a memorable way to mark a milestone birthday. Most simply wanted to challenge themselves in a way they had never been challenged.
Said Missy Gullquist, 46, a mother of four children ages 10 to 18, who had never spent a night in a tent:
"I went on the trip to prove to myself that I could do it!"
The idea
The notion to hike Kilimanjaro originated with Buchanan, 47, an anesthesiologist and mother of three children, ages 9, 11 and 12. She had thought about climbing it since a friend planned to be married at the top 20 years ago. She almost got a chance 15 years ago when she planned to make a medical mission trip to Tanzania, but the trip fell through. Her husband, John M. Barsanti, hiked Kilimanjaro with a group of buddies in January 2008, but Buchanan couldn't go because (a) it was "a bunch of boys," as she put it, and (b) their children were too young to leave for that length of time.
So Buchanan decided, "It was my turn to have a girls trip."
"I enlisted some friends, but it took a little while," she recalled. "As you might imagine, women who want to go hike on a mountain for seven days without showers and no clean beds and suffer through wind and rain and just pure exhaustion -- well, they're not too easy to find."
She and Moore were the first on board. By last May, the group had come together, largely through connections at their children's schools. The only member of the group without a link to the schools was Colmignoli, who signed on just a few weeks after moving into Buchanan's neighborhood in Richmond.
"You got to love her for her adventurous attitude," Buchanan said.
The training
The women were generally fit -- not necessarily mountain-climbing fit, but fit -- when they began preparing for the trip.
Over a period of months, they swam, cycled and ran. Lucy Rise and Buchanan began SEAL Team training. Members of the group did three-hour Sunday hikes around the Richmond area, and a few strapped on backpacks and walked the stairs in a downtown high-rise where group member Renee Fain works as an attorney.
They went into the mountains of Virginia and hiked Old Rag and Crabtree Falls and did a 14-mile trek at Wintergreen on a day Buchanan described as "nasty hot and humid."
The training built their endurance and their camaraderie. They took to calling themselves Team WAKi, an acronym for the Swahili phrase for "women who summit" -- Wanawake Ambao Kilele, said Buchanan.
"The bonding that took place was incredible," Gullquist said.
The trip
The team departed for Africa in early January, and the journey got off to an inauspicious start when all of Fain's luggage was lost, somewhere between New York and Amsterdam. By the time she arrived in Africa, all she had of her gear were the hiking boots she carried on the plane.
"It was pretty freaky because you're so far outside your comfort zone already and to not have the stuff you planned on," said Fain, 49, who has three daughters, ages 5, 16 and 19. "But it was pretty amazing how much stuff everybody came up with."
She would make the hike in gear borrowed from her teammates.
"I learned how resourceful and flexible we could be," Fain said.
The two-week trip -- including airfare, guides and a two-day safari after the climb -- cost about $7,400, Buchanan said.
Kilimanjaro, one of the largest free-standing mountains in the world, rises from a rolling plain near the Indian Ocean. Buchanan said Kilimanjaro "is not a technical climb, but it is an endurance climb." The group hiked five days to acclimate themselves to the altitude -- the peak of Kilimanjaro is more than 19,000 feet above sea level -- to reach the high camp from which they would summit.
On the way up, they slept in tents, picked their way at one point through a tall series of rock bands and were treated to breathtaking views. A few of them also got sick from something they ate, leaving them in less-than-perfect-shape as they prepared for their final push to the summit.
"When the seven of us got sick, we had a feeling like, 'We did not sign up for this,'" said Moore, 46, a former mechanical engineer and math teacher and mother of five, ages 9 to 19. "We had done everything right . . . and we still got food poisoning. Why us? Just like in life, sometimes we do everything right, and things still go wrong. You have a choice to give up at that point or keep on going up the mountain. Of course, none of us considered not continuing up the mountain. We were told by our guides to 'suck it up.' We did. We kept on going."
The summit
They arose at midnight so they would reach the summit by sunrise.
The wind howled, making the high-altitude cold feel even more frigid. The wind chill, recalled Buchanan, was minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Each hour we climbed got harder and harder, and I was more exhausted than I have ever felt before," said Rise, 48, a mother of four, ages 9 to 16. "It is hard to describe how much more exhausted your body feels when at the altitudes between 15,000 and 19,000. Each step felt like an enormous effort, and at the same time the winds were blowing us all over the place."
Blowing dust made breathing difficult, but they could not wear face masks because of the lack of oxygen at that altitude, LeBey said. She wound up with a sinus infection.
Turlington said "physically and mentally fighting the high winds to the summit" was the hardest part "after not being able to keep down food for the three days prior."
But they carried on and, shortly after dawn, made it to the top. It was a most memorable way for Hogan to celebrate her 40th birthday. It was no less memorable for others.
There was thrill in simply standing in the moonscape-like emptiness at the top of Kilimanjaro and peering over the stunning vastness of eastern Africa, savoring the first pinks and oranges of morning light. There was even more satisfaction in viewing the entire journey as an achievement of resilience and teamwork.
"To see a group of all women -- many with limited climbing experience -- rally together and persevere through the tough conditions we faced was impressive," said Linden Mallory, one of the two guides from Rainier Mountaineering Inc. that led the Richmond-area group.
The introspection
Listen to what they learned about themselves:
* Bemiss: "That my mind has so much more control over my body than I'd ever thought. We really did push our bodies over the point of exhaustion because we were so determined to complete the climb. Every aspect of our being was being tested."
* Fain: "I learned that when things get hard, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and look for something to laugh about."
* Cindy Nolan: "I surprised myself! I didn't have enough confidence in myself and constantly doubted whether or not I could do it. I realized how important it is to challenge ourselves individually. We are all so much more capable of doing far more than what we realize."
* Colmignoli: "I know better what my values are. I understand better where I can find true enjoyment and satisfaction. I feel stronger because I can stay positive and happy even if I am way out of my comfort zone."
* Moore: "We were tougher than we thought we were."
* Buchanan: "The neat thing about this trip for me was to watch women break out of their box and do something they never thought they'd ever do and in such a powerful, strong way. It was impressive to watch women change their lives. They didn't imagine they could ever do it, and they did it."
The future
Would these women tackle another mountain or similar adventure? All said they would.
"Absolutely," said Buchanan. "Bring it on!"
Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or wlohmann@timesdispatch.com
Located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, St. Catherine’s School is a private, all-girls pre-K, kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. We provide a well-rounded educational experience for girls from communities across Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and all of central Virginia. St.Catherine’s all-girls educational experience is rooted in more than a century of history and tradition. From our revolutionary past to our dynamic present, St. Catherine’s has always focused on preparing students for a boundless future.
