在60岁的时候. 米特 艾伦还在学习. His most recent classroom, however, was an unlikely one: Mount Kilimanjaro.
The chair of the KWU Department of Music began his ascent of the mountain, 世界上最高的独立山是哪座, 12月. 12月13日到达顶峰. 18.
“我认为你可以从任何事情中学习，”艾伦说. “没有问题, (攀登)让事情变得正确, especially when you have a life-threatening experience and think you might not come down from the mountain.”
乞力马扎罗山是位于非洲坦桑尼亚的一座休眠火山. 大约30,每年有000人试图登上这座山, with about 60 percent completing the climb (in a non-pandemic year).
攀登几天后，艾伦开始与高原反应作斗争. The severe nausea from Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) prohibited him from eating, 他也开始出现水肿, 脑内积液, 肺和四肢. The health struggles were compounded by the physical reality of climbing a mountain, 包括较低的含氧量.
“The third full day of climbing, altitude sickness emotionally got us,他说. “更糟糕的是，我们在燃烧,000 to 5,每天1000卡路里, 我什么也没吃. 你在对自己说, “别想了, 不要关注它，因为没有医疗帮助. 他们携带一个氧气罐, but the only time they use it is if you’re coming down the mountain on a stretcher.
“I kept telling myself, ‘30,000 people climb it a year, only 30 die. 胜利并非不劳而获. 继续.’”
The decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, also called “Kili,” grew out of a perfect storm.
“这是非常具有挑战性的18个月，”艾伦说. “This fall, I hit the big 6-0, and we were in the middle of a major pandemic. 攀登乞力马扎罗山是一件值得期待的事情.
“我想，‘为什么不呢?我是一名跑步运动员、自行车运动员和前铁人三项运动员. That mountain’s been kind of hollering at me since I started going to Africa. 我必须知道它为什么会打电话.”
While he has been cycling and doing triathlons for almost two decades, 艾伦不是一个有经验的登山运动员.
“我成年后还没爬过山,艾伦说, 但他觉得他的体育锻炼为他的成功奠定了基础.
除了骑自行车和跑步, 他在日常生活中增加了徒步旅行, 每周完成100到130英里.
“徒步旅行时，我会去卡诺波利斯湖的马贼小径, 我在这附近能找到的最接近乞力马扎罗山的地方是哪里,他笑着说. “I would do the outward loop a couple times and knock out from 12 to 15 miles in a morning.”
The total distance covering “Kili” was manageable — 42 miles — but Allen said he knew he couldn’t train for the altitude on the flatlands of Kansas.
“去卡诺波利斯跑12英里是一回事. It’s another thing to knock out five miles that contains 40 to 45 percent grades and vertical drops,他说.
从一开始, climbing Kilimanjaro was different than the YouTube video tutorials Allen watched.
“我们刚进去五分钟，天就亮了. 大雨倾盆，”他说. “Richie (another climber) and I discovered this was not at all like the YouTube videos we had seen. After two hours of pouring rain, there was still an hour to hike to get to our first camp.”
All climbers are required to have a guide and support crew for the ascent. 起初，他计划与支持人员一起独自攀登, Allen was asked to join another climber from Aruba for the adventure once he arrived in Africa. 他的登山伙伴里奇是一位经验丰富的徒步旅行者, who hiked an average of 20 km per day during previous climbs in Peru and Chile.
“After the first two days, he said ‘This is nothing like (Peru or Chile),’艾伦说. “他说这要激烈得多. 他没有料到会如此激烈. 我们都不知道.”
艰苦的经历使登山者和机组人员很快建立了联系. With his shoulder-length mane of white hair and status of oldest in the group, 船员们开始叫艾伦“爸爸”,这是该地区母语中对“父亲”的非正式称呼, 斯瓦希里语.
Following two days of steady climbing, Allen said he awoke the second night “at 2 a.m. 我的心跳得太快，我无法入睡，”他说. “我试图让自己平静下来，但空气变得越来越稀薄. 我想，‘可能就是这样了. 旅行可能结束了. 这是一个非常危险的情况.’”
After a rough night, the group faced a 5-mile climb that was supposed to take a maximum of six hours.
“我们起飞了，我的状态很糟糕，”艾伦说. “The air was getting thinner, I hadn’t eaten breakfast, I couldn’t drink. 我们走得很慢. 导游们看着我，打量着我，“爸爸，你真好。? 爸爸，不要睡觉.’
“当我们到达熔岩塔时，我们俩都很粗鲁. 我不能说话. 我吃不下.”
Because he was fighting altitude sickness, the day’s climb took nine hours. The pattern of longer days of climbing continued for the remainder of the ascent.
海拔升高并不是唯一的障碍. 这次旅行包括徒步穿越五个气候带:雨林, 希瑟, 高沼地, 高山沙漠和北极地区.
“上上下下都变得越来越艰难——困难得多. 空气稀薄了，”艾伦说. “我们越来越焦虑，因为我们离目标越来越近了. 我们现在的海拔比派克峰还高.
日子一天天过去，攀登的步伐越来越快, the team shifted from the casual “Papa” to the endearing 斯瓦希里语 term of father, “爸爸,指的是艾伦. 这种感情是相互的. Allen said the expertise of the guide and porters was essential for the climb. 他与其中一名搬运工侯赛因结下了一种特殊的纽带.
“On summit night, I would walk three to five minutes, and I would collapse on a rock,他说. “Hussein would come over and sing me songs and 说, “爸爸 don’t sleep.他和另一个搬运工萨利姆试着给我保暖. 没有他们的帮助，我就站不起来. 他们会把我举起来. 有一段时间，我根本动不了. Those guys, twice, put my arms around them and drug me for 20 yards. 然后我找到了更多的力量.”
攀登峰顶是在旅程的第六天开始的. In order to reach the 19,341 foot summit of Uhuru Peak at sunrise, the group set off before midnight. Allen said he knew climbing the final 3 miles would be grueling, both physically and emotionally.
“I’d been moving sick for three or four days, and they can see I’m struggling,他说. “我已经走得比以前更深了。”. 我从来没有下到井下面那么深或那么深.”
艾伦继续缓慢地往上爬. 千亿国际登录 three hours into the pre-dawn ascent, his fellow climber expressed concern.
“Richie pulls the head guy over and said, ‘He’s dying, you need to take him down,’艾伦说. “有很多讨论. Amos, the lead guide, came over and asked me if I wanted to go down. 我说，‘不.’
“我在事后猜测一切. 我告诉自己，‘一直以来，你都不会成功的. 你已经走了这么远，还没有结束.我的想法是, “如果我现在离开, 这将是一次惨败, 但是我不能在黑暗中下山.’”
登山者在北极地区, 在黑暗中, with temperatures and wind chill combining for 10 to 20 degrees below freezing.
“I thought, ‘I’ll keep moving forward until I either pass out or it’s daylight. 如果是白天，我就能安全降落。.
He didn’t pass out, but at one point, Allen said he started to slide sideways off of the path.
“我感到侯赛因和萨利姆伸手抓住了我. They just pulled me up, sat me on a rock breathing hard and not 说ing a word,” he said. “很明显，差点就发生了什么. 最后, 过了一会儿, 侯赛因伸出手, puts his arm around me and hugs me really tight and kisses me on the side of my head and 说s, “爸爸, 请多保重.’”
喧嚣的攀升继续着.
“Before the sun rose, I felt I wasn’t going to make it,艾伦说. “Not only was I not going to make it, I thought I was going to die on the mountain. 精神上，我在说再见.”
当攀登接近6小时时，太阳开始升起.
“对我来说，白天，看到它的顶峰，我得到了救赎，”艾伦说. “我想，‘也许我有机会.’”
他一直在向前推进, 一分钟一分钟地, until he heard familiar voices of the rest of the climbing party who completed the summit.
到达顶峰的胜利，的确是值得的.
“When I reached the top, everything fell away for a brief moment,他说. “痛苦、疲惫、压力、恐惧:我成功了. 我登上了乞力马扎罗山. 我真的漂浮在云层之上.”
Allen said cresting the summit was about more than the physical ascent.
“It gives the mountains you climb in your personal life and professional life a little different perspective,他说.
它还教会了我们如何从逆境中学习.
“我想发表一份千亿国际登录恐惧和挑战的声明, 耐心和毅力, 爱与信仰,艾伦说. “我考虑的是学生和教职员工. I thought by at least attempting to climb the mountain and overcome that obstacle, 如果它能帮助一个学生, 说, “我能做到(不管它是什么)”,’那就值得了.
“这就是我们教书的原因. 这就是我们在这里的原因.”
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