News

Day 4: Kilimanjaro Climbers on the Verge of Quitting

As day four of The BT Red Nose Climb draws to a close, it’s been the toughest one yet with the celebrity climbers suffering from altitude sickness and severe weather conditions. In fact, they’ve been forced to camp in a foggy, hailing hell.

With the last reserves of energy draining from their legs, and their chests pounding with lack of oxygen, the Kili climbers have all just about made it to camp at a whopping altitude of 4600m – but for some, it’s been touch and go.

On what has been the most gruelling day of the climb so far, the team have spent the majority of their time today strung out over half a mile in cloud cover so thick that they’ve not been able to see each other, let alone where they’ve been headed.

At times, the only thing to keep them all going was the incredible fundraising total that they’ve raised so far. When they heard they’d reached over £750,000, they felt motivated to push on despite the pain and sickness.

Knowing how tough it’s been for the team, the African porters guided them into camp this evening by breaking into song, a moment so emotional it moved each of the celebrity climbers to tears as they literally crawled into camp.

Fearne has had the worst time of all of them and at one point it didn't look like she could continue today but grit and determination made her overcome the odds and carry on aided by the others.

Ben said “That was the hardest and scariest day yet, there was every chance we could have lost a member of the team - yet it was so exhilarating when everyone made it across the line. The welcome we got from the porters was astounding - they literally sung us home”.

All of the celebrities are now experiencing extreme nausea as the brutal altitude continues to take its toll. They walked hunched over with heads bowed, taking baby steps as the team made painfully slow progress. The girls are suffering the most, trailing the group for most of the day and they were the last to arrive at camp this evening, all struggling for breath.

Denise explained “We are really depending on each other now; this was such a hard, hard day - a real slog. We are literally sleeping under the summit tonight, we are so, so close now and we’ve got to stay strong”.

Cheryl added “The fun is over. This is unquestionably the hardest thing I have ever done”.

Despite his back problems Gary has taken to leading the celebrities, relying on his northern humour to keep the team going, but he too has been feeling extremely unwell and took a 30 minute rest when he became breathless.

Mirroring Gary’s determination, but with every step excruciatingly painful Chris commented “I’m trudging here, counting steps to the top of the ridge. I hope to God the camp is on the other side”. A moment later he added “It wasn’t”.

In between gasps for ever thinning air, the celebrities thoughts turned to comfort food as the team fantasised about eating roast dinners, burgers and sausage sarnies. Earlier in the day they stopped for a sugary energy boost and wolfed down haribos, Percy pigs and chocolate éclairs to keep their energy up.

Tonight the exhausted group are camping under the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at a spot known as Lava Tower. However, worsening weather conditions are quickly turning what should be an awe-inspiring moment into a foggy, hailing hell.

Altitude sickness permitting, tomorrow the celebrities are scheduled to undertake a might eight hour slog further up the mountain. Thankfully, tomorrow’s trek spans out at a slightly lower altitude so it’s hoped that all the celebrities will be able to continue with their incredible climb.

The celebrity climbers are putting themselves through this gruelling challenge to raise a mountain of cash – they’re being constantly updated with the total raised and it’s really keeping them going. If you’ve not yet shown the team your support, please sponsor them here.