Climber, 83, scales Kilimanjaro
AS 83-YEAR-OLD Peter Grant of Durbanville reached the first summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the moment served not only as one of personal accomplishment but a chance to honour his deceased wife by scattering her ashes atop the highest peak in Africa.
Two years after deciding he would take on the mammoth task, Grant reached Stella Point, 18 651 feet (5 685m) above sea level, on Friday.
Originally from Hermanus, Grant said he had always been active by swimming or playing rugby and cricket.
“I’ve climbed other mountains in Malawi and Zambia. I decided about two years ago that I would like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, so I started training quite hard,” he said.
After he began training in January last year, Grant found he started urinating blood and after a visit to his doctor was told that he had bladder stones.
He underwent an operation to remove the stones. He said during his stay, he told his doctor he wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
“They kept laughing at me. The nurses overheard me talking about this and one of them eventually came to me and asked if I was serious. She said she had a friend that completed the climb three months ago, and I asked for his number,” Grant said.
He later garnered tips from the climber. Grant said his training included walking up the steep hills of Durbanville.
That same month his wife Colleen, a school teacher, fell and hit her head and sprained her hand in a parking lot while fetching medication.
She was taken to hospital, where a tumour was found on her brain.
By August she died. Grant said Colleen had planned to go game viewing while he took on the seven-day climb.
“I had been training again, and I decided I wanted to be on the mountain on her birthday – the 25th of January. I thought I’d like to spread her ashes on the mountain.”
Realising his goal, Grant spread her ashes on that day, and again the day he reached the summit. Grant said he planned to take the certificate of completion of the climb to show his doctor.