“I know this is a controversial topic but it is relevant to our world in general where the desire to “reach the top” at any cost is seen throughout our everyday lives," MC said about the song she dedicated to David Sharp and Dan Mazur (click to enlarge).
Mary Clare at Shira 1 Camp (click to enlarge).
Glaciers on the way to the summit (click to enlarge).
"I summited around 11:00 am. It was perfect; no wind, nice temperature and we had the summit to ourselves. There I stood on the top of Kilimanjaro celebrating my 50th birthday. Raymond brought out a candle, lit it and sang happy birthday to me." All images courtesy of Mary Clare Reinhardt (click to enlarge).
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In the footsteps of David Sharp - to Kili's summit
Posted: Nov 01, 2007 11:09 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) Mary Clare Reinhardt got sucked in to mountain news while following her brother's 2005 Everest dispatches. The next year's stirring events made her write songs related to the mountain. ExplorersWeb published her lyrics “Foot-prints of legends,” and soon “Don’t walk on by” followed.
The songs were dedicated to Dan Mazur for rescuing Lincoln Hall on Mt. Everest, and David Sharp who perished a week earlier just above C3, while many climbers passed him by. At Mazur’s request, MC recorded the song, and posted them together with three other demos on MySpace:
Listen to the songs here
"I have a story"
In spite of the tragedies, somewhere in the midst of all the drama the climbing spirit sneaked up on Mary Clare. She confessed that she had a secret desire to climb Everest one day. To get started, she planned a trip to Kilimanjaro. "From there…I will take it one mountain at a time," she told ExplorersWeb.
One year later MC checked in again, this time with Kili’s summit bagged. “I have a story,” she said. “It is about ‘good’ people, overcoming adversity, staying focused and getting to the top. This is part of what mountaineering is all about.”
Borrowing Kilimanjaro
Mary Clare climbed Kilimanjaro via the Lemosho/Machame route – wearing borrowed gear most of the way up. All her luggage got lost on the flight to Africa. The owner of her local outfitter Zara provided her with some basic supplies and footed the bill. A perfect stranger, Michi Henning, who happened to sit at a dinner table nearby borrowed Mary Clare the remaing gear; SmartWool socks, hiking boots, thermal underwear, hiking shorts, glove liners, gaiters, handi-wipes, goggles and protein snacks. "I was extremely touched by her act of kindness!" MC reports. "Now, I had a shot to climb Kili.”
AMS
So that, more or less geared-up, MC started the climb together with a hired guide, Raymond. On day three her gear showed up, carried by porters to Shira 2 Camp. But that night she also experienced another common effect of high-altitude climbing – the sleepless nights.
“The next morning I was over the AMS but I was exhausted from zero sleep and still felt queasy,” MC wrote. “As I gazed at the Barranca Wall which would normally be a fun rock scramble, I told my guide I was not sure if I could make it; I was so fatigued! Somehow, one foot in front of the other, I made my way up the wall.”
Two days and some thousands feet up later, Mary Clare was ready for a summit push.
"I made it to the top of Africa”
“I did not sleep before my summit bid but I did not have any symptoms of AMS,” she wrote. “All was good. I set out around 1:15 am under the full moon and proceeded very slowly (I had nicknamed myself the Tortoise). It was tough for me due to lack of sleep but with the encouragement of Raymond, I made it to the top of Africa.”
“I summited around 11:00 am. It was perfect; no wind, nice temperature and we had the summit to ourselves. There I stood on the top of Kilimanjaro celebrating my 50th birthday. Raymond brought out a candle, lit it and sang happy birthday to me! We stayed on the summit for about 40 minutes; it was beautiful.”
“All in all, this was an amazing adventure. I overcame adversity, stayed focused and fulfilled yet another dream. It was a privilege to set foot on this most majestic mountain let alone stand on her summit.”
“The dream may be only one step away; you will never know unless you take that next step.” Mary Clare Reinhardt of Vancouver, Washington, US, works full time, and is "extremely happily married". MC says she writes her songs with the melodies and the words at the same time. "You will not get the full impact without the melodies and instruments behind them." She started writing songs just after 9/11 and plan to set up a music company to publish some of her material. "This will be a 'personal Mt. Everest' I will attempt to climb!"
MC admits she has a secret desire to climb Mt. Everest "but realistically, I plan on trekking through the Himalayan region in the very near future." She did snow skiing, white water canoeing, water skiing and sailing as a child. Growing up, she took up river kayaking, mountaineering and rock climbing at a basic level. This year she climbed Kilimanjaro. "From there…I will take it one mountain at a time," she says.
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