Toms River Resident Climbs Mount Kilimanjaro

When school resumes each September, teachers often ask their students how they spent their summer vacation.

But for teacher Renu Chander, that dynamic has been reversed. She spent her summer climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Standing 19,341 feet above sea level, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Chander, 57, Toms River, and her husband Harish, made the climb in late August. She also managed to raise $1,000 for Central Regional's Interact Club along the way.

Chander said she and her husband decided they wanted to make the climb after seeing the film "Volcano Above the Clouds" in IMAX a few years ago. It took the couple several years to clear their schedules and get the available resources for the climb.

The Chanders had done mountain hikes before, during family vacations in places like Vermont, Seattle and Colorado. But none of the treks came close to Kilimanjaro's elevation. The highest they had ever hiked before was about 10,000 feet.

The couple settled on Kilimanjaro because it was the highest peak that did not require technical mountaineering skills.

"You need tremendous endurance or physical fitness, but do not need a tether to the rocks," she said. "So it seemed like something we could handle.”

The Chanders made the financial commitment in March for the August trek and began to train. Their trips to the gym were spent in simulated climbs using equipment such as Jacob’s Ladder, StairMaster and setting the treadmill on the highest incline level. They also had physical check-ups to make sure they could handle a low oxygen environment.

For the final month of preparation they began a regimen of short full-speed sprints.

“Long walks are good for the endgame. but you do sprints until you are gasping for breath," Chander said. "You want to recreate that feeling over and over again because when you get to the top [of Kilimanjaro] the air is thinner. That gasping for breath is the only way to train for a high mountain at sea level.”

It was during the training period that the idea to turn the climb a fund-raiser occurred to her and her husband.

“There was some anxiety for the whole scenario," Chander said. "You can never know what 19,000 feet feels like. We train, do whatever possible at ground level. So to keep motivation high, we decided to do it as a fund-raiser. We felt if there was more at stake we would not want to let people down.”

Chander chose the Central Regional Interact Club that she advises while her husband selected the Rotary Gift for Life Foundation, which treats heart disease in the developing world. She said her husband raised $5,000 for his charity.

“I believe it was the best thing we could have done," she said. "It worked for me as a real good motivational thing.”

The Chanders arrived in Tanzania on Aug. 24. They rested one day, then began their climb on Aug. 26 from the town of Arusha.

While there are several routes for climbing Kilimanjaro, the Chanders chose the Machame Route, which takes seven days to give more time acclimatize to the high altitudes. The Chanders were on the mountain with only a guide and some Sherpas to help carry their gear.

The climb begins at 6,000 feet, through a humid tropical rain forest, with monkeys, birds and lush greenery. They stopped on Day 1 at 10,000 feet.
 
On Day 2, the Chanders reached 12,000 feet. They could see the mountain. The terrain changed to shrubs and flowers.

"Halfway through day two you get above the clouds,” said Chander. “The scenery is absolutely spectacular, like a view from an airplane, but you are outside. This was the prettiest part of the trip. The moss bed is covered with flowers. It was really, really beautiful."

Day 3 was the longest day of hiking. The terrain changed to large volcanic rocks and boulders. The temperature dropped drastically.

"The first day was tropical," she said. "We were in T-shirts and shorts. The second day we changed to fleece. By the third day you are getting to arctic temperatures.”

The couple made it to 15,000 feet, but later descended back to 13,000 to sleep.

“The goal is to go up into the higher altitude but sleep lower,” said Chander.

The Chanders climbed all day, with one break for lunch. The air got thinner. Their appetites decreased. It was harder to sleep.

"The challenging part is to walk with thinning air," she said. "Oxygen becomes less while the body’s physical demand for oxygen increases."

Day 4 was the hardest. The couple scaled Barranco Wall - an 800-foot sheer climb- to reach the day’s goal of making 14,000 feet.

“It is a really formidable wall with a steep gradient and huge boulders," Chander said. "It is quite challenging. It took 30 to 40 minutes, but it felt like forever. You climb a precipice over a 420-meter drop, so you don’t look down.”

On Day 5, they stopped at 2:30 p.m. to prepare for the final ascent. The Chanders slept until an early dinner, went back to sleep. On Day 6, the trip to the  summit began at midnight, with the goal of reaching the peak of Kilimanjaro before sunrise.

“There is no more vegetation," Chander said. "It is all volcanic rock and arctic temperatures.”

The couple wore five layers of clothing to cover every body part. The Sherpas stayed behind at camp. The Chanders followed their lone guide up the mountain as he carried a light for them.

“It is pitch dark with big huge boulders,” said Chander. “There is a high degree of anxiety. You go outside and look at the sky. It is an amazing sight. Pitch dark. No illumination except the moon and stars. All you see is a row of lights like a tiny parade of headlights of the people ahead of you and they just climb into the heavens. It is an unusual feeling.”

Two-and-one-half hours into the final climb, Chander's husband experienced difficulty in breathing and was advised by the guide to return to camp.

“He took the advice, but he really wanted me to go on because we had the clubs behind us,” she said.

“I continued on," Chander said. "The strain was so much. I had to stop every five minutes. After two or three times, the guide said to me we had already stopped three times and most people only stop four or five times to the peak. I took it to heart and said to myself ‘I’ll show you.’ Then we did not stop again for some time.”

She was still on her way up when the sun rose.

“Sunrise was the most glorious sunrise you could possibly imagine,” said Chander.

It was 7:30 a.m. by the time Chander reached Stella Point at 19,000 feet. That earned her the official certificate noting she had climbed the mountain. But the summit was still several hundred feet ahead, with more than an hour of climbing over loose volcanic lava rock.

"Every step seems to slip and the incline is very steep," Chander said. "Many people quit at that point. I can see why people would say ‘I’ve already earned my certificate, let’s go home,’ but I promised people I would hold their signs there [at the summit] and take pictures. That worked for me because I take my commitments seriously.”

And so she pressed on, until finally Chander reached Uhuru summit, the very top of the mountain.

“The beauty cannot be described," she said. "It is breathtakingly beautiful. The view is a lot like pictures of the moonscape. No vegetation. Just rocks and giant glaciers."

Chander stayed at the peak for 10 minutes, took some photographs and then turned around.

“It is quite hostile up there," she said. "The temperature and oxygen are both very low, so you cannot stay too long.”

The steep descent took a day and a half, almost more challenging than the climb because there was much less time to acclimate to oxgen level changes, Chander said.

“Coming down it was amazing," she said. "I could not believe I actually did it. “I do not see myself as somebody who is extremely athletic. I’m in decent shape. I try to stay active. Nothing out the ordinary.”

Chander added her name to a sign-in book which includes the ages of those who made it to the summit top.

“You do not see too many in my age group,” she said.

Now that she's home and school is back in session, she's a mini-celebrity among her students.

“The reaction is very positive from the students especially,” said Chander. “The kids are quite amazed.”

Chander has used the experience to help spark learning in math with lessons on how many workouts at the gym equals the climb or how many flights on StairMaster equals the height of the mountain.

Chander said she hopes the money raised for the Interact Club will send three additional students on Central's annual youth leadership retreat. The district usually sends only two students each year.

“Every time they go, students have a phenomenal experience," she said. "They learn skills and make friends. The kids say it is a life-changing experience,” said Chander.

And for  her own once-in-a-lifetime experience?

“It was a wonderful trip," she said. "More people should undertake it.”