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Sunday, February 27, 2000
 Pierce | |
Hear Jamie's Call from Africa |
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Hello Mountain Zone, this is Jamie Pierce calling from 15,600 feet on Kilimanjaro, below the final climb to the summit of Kili. Today was a very good day; we climbed from the Karanga Valley to our present camp above the regular Barafu site. We make our camp about 500-600 feet higher than most people do, because of the day that we split in half, coming from Barranco to Barafu.
We split that day in half for a couple of reasons: one is that it makes it a lot easier for this final push up to Barafu — cuts down the distance — and it also makes a lot nicer start in the morning, out of camp, by eliminating about a 600-foot, pretty steep incline. And everyone's health is, for the most part, reasonably good.
We have a lot of common things that occur up at altitude, in the way of headaches and nausea. Some of those things we're dealing with as a group. A lot of those things are always to be expected, and we pay close attention to those things and treat them very seriously.
For the most part, the group is very healthy and very excited to get the climb under way. We'll be waking up at approximately 11:00 for a 12:30am departure and anticipate about a 6-7 hour climb to the summit of Uhuru, where I will attempt, I guess, to try and call and let you know of the success of the group.
But as it is right now, the weather is actually pretty closed in around the camp right now. We've had light winds, temperatures are moderate, right around probably 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit. Low winds, and some clouds bringing hail in and out of the camp.
So that's really about it, as of right now. So I will, again, try and call and let you know the progress of our group as we climb up the mountain. So, for right now, this is Jamie Peirce, out. Have a good day. Bye-bye.
—Alpine Ascents Guide Jamie Pierce, MountainZone.com Correspondent
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