ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Fiscal Fitness
Recruits drilled in sound money management…

Base Security
Post-Sept. 11 Navy contract…

US Navy Needs Civilian Aircraft Mechanics
Colleges work with North Island Naval Base…

Getting High
Fitness instructor scales Mt. Kilimanjaro…

On the Cutting Edge
Fashion design keeps up with trends…

Patriotic Images
Instructor launches photo salute to Sept. 11…

Salute To Veterans
Miramar College honors campus, community vets…

An Ear to the Past
Preserving memories through oral history…

Chancellor's Column
District faces facilities crisis…

Development News
Fund-raising activities…

Factoids
Miscellaneous tidbits of news…

Newsmakers Accomplishments by faculty and staff…

Getting High

Paul Greer pushes his students to reach their athletic best every day. Expecting no less of himself, this fitness specialist achieved a lifetime dream in June 2001 when he climbed to the top of Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Lying just south of the equator, Kilimanjaro is the highest freestanding mountain in the world and can be seen from more than 160 kilometers away. Its famous ice- and snow-covered peaks are immortalized in Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

Getting to Kilimanjaro is nearly as complex as climbing it. It took some 20 hours in the air to get to Nairobi, Kenya. From there, Greer bounced along in a bus for six hours to reach Moshi, the base camp town of Kilimanjaro, where he met his 15 co-climbers.

Staying in mountain huts along the way, Greer trekked five to seven hours a day for six days, passing through climatic and vegetation zones enroute to the summit. To provide the best chance of reaching the top, Greer planned to take the time needed to acclimate to the unpredictable climbing conditions.

Day 1
On the first day of the climb, Greer’s group drove to the national park’s Marangu Gate at 6,400 feet altitude to begin the five-hour ascent. Bursting with anticipation, Greer hiked to 9,000 feet along a rocky path through lush rainforest with lichens and bright ferns, tiny colorful flowers, and huge trees housing chattering monkeys. The evening was spent playing cards and socializing with the other climbers.

Day 2
The group started again at 6:30 a.m., leaving the rainforest and ascending on a path through open moorland and alpine meadow. Climbing above 12,000 feet, Greer felt the first effects of altitude. Sticking to his plan to proceed slowly, he stayed at the back of the pack with the group’s mountain guide, Godliving. Greer enjoyed learning about life in Africa from his new friend. The fog moved in by 2:30 in the afternoon as the group arrived at Horombo Hut at 12,340 feet.

Day 3
Using the third day as an “extra” day, Greer hiked to the Saddle at 14,500 feet for a spectacular view of Mawenzi Peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Day 4
Waking on the fourth day to the sun rising dramatically from behind Mawenzi Peak, this was the last day spring water was available on the mountain. Not only must
Greer now rely on himself to retrieve water, but breathing, too, was becoming more difficult.

Climbing above 14,000 feet provided clearer views of Kibo and the lunar landscape of the Saddle. Here, hardy forms of vegetation settled amid the sand and rocks. Temperatures started to change dramatically and strong winds whipped up quickly. A wicked snowstorm started as the group continued across the plateau.

At 3 p.m., Greer reached the hut at the base of Kibu Peak. Here, the temperatures can fall to below freezing. With the sinking sun on June 21, the group enjoyed the first solar eclipse of the new millennium.

Day 5
Today Greer reached the summit. Setting off at midnight in the darkness, the 16-hour walk began with a steep slope, past icy crevasses and giant boulders. Guided only by the stars and the three-foot beam of his flashlight in the freezing cold, Greer was sometimes able to walk for only 10 steps before stopping to rest.

At approximately 6:30 a.m., Greer reached Gilman’s Point, the most spectacular view in Africa. Here the whole of East Africa is spread out below. By now, with only seven climbers remaining in the original group of 15, Godliving led the way from Gilman’s Point around the crater rim to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa at 19,344 feet. Setting off from Gilman’s at 7 a.m., Uhuru Peak was just 200 meters away, but because of the high altitude, these 200 meters would take two hours to walk.

Greer followed Godliving closely and was the first one from the group to reach Uhuru Peak. On Friday, June 22, 2001 at 9:13 a.m., Paul Greer, far from his City College Fitness Center students, conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro.

With many pictures to prove their feat, the climbers began the descent. After a long rest at Horombo, they returned to the park entrance where they had begun six days earlier. Different people. Lives changed forever.

“I have never worked so hard for something in my life nor felt such a sense of peace and tranquility,” Greer said. From the experience, Greer believes he is more patient, more appreciative and more focused on the important things. His motto: “Live life to the fullest and your dreams will be actualized. Life is good!”