It`s hard to believe that in just six weeks from now I will leave everything familiar behind and embark on what will undoubtedly be one of the greatest adventures I`ve ever experienced. I will travel half way around the world, I will truly been an outsider, if that alone isn`t enough I will join a small team of committed individuals I`ve never met on a six day trek through jungle, desert, snow and ice. We will walk 100 kilometres, experience a 50 degree temperature change and climb to nearly 6000 metres. A daunting task for a guy who hasn`t slept in a tent for nearly a decade, never been in a sleeping bag below zero, and has no idea what it`s like to hike for miles or what oxygen deprivation is like. To say that I am intimidated by this coming experience and uncomfortable about not knowing what to expect is an understatement. Those fears however, pale in comparison to what it must be like to live each day with real fears of death and disease from things like typhoid, cholera, and E. Coli. These forms of illness are practically unimaginable for you and I. Or to think of how laborious it must be to carry water for miles every day for your family. Maybe on summit day the effects of high elevation will allow me to relate as I carry my 30lb, ergonomically designed to fit totally comfortable, day pack up those final steps, but then probably not really.

Looking forward to this view on March 1, 2010

On March 1, 2010 my adventure begins. As a member of a 30 person team I will trek up the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro, Africa`s tallest peak. Collectively we will face this challenge in tribute to those that live with real fears and even more real daily challenges to maintain the most basic quality of life. Hopefully by now you are both fascinated and curious why myself, and 29 others like me, would travel half way around the globe to participate in something they never dreamed of doing. As it was with that same curiosity that One-to-1 Fitness client and local climb participant Glenn Moore inspired me to join this adventure and raised my awareness to an organization called The Water School. 

The Water School is a Canadian based organization that has a mission to share a very amazingly simple, inexpensive, and practical method of providing safe, clean water for the developing world. SODIS is a method of solar disinfection that requires only a simple plastic bottle, a piece of tin and some sunshine. Simple items that we throw in the garbage every single day can completely change the life of 100s, 1000s, likely millions. Living in Red Deer it`s difficult to imagine having to walk to Innisfail to fetch a pail of hopefully clean drinking water from a basic well each day, in fact just imagine going 24 hours without being able to turn on a faucet of any kind or flush a toilet, our way of life would seemingly cease to exist. If you are as interested as I was to know more about The Water School and SODIS visit www.thewaterschool.org. If you would like to know more about our Kilimanjaro climb or sponsor me in this crazy adventure please visit www.kili2010.com/cabel-mcelderry. 

See for yourself how we`ve been training for Kilimanjaro thanks to One-to-1 Fitness trainer Josh Neufeld. Kilimanjaro Training Program 

I challenge you… 

…to count how many times you turn on the faucet or flush a toilet in 24 hours. 

…I challenge you to count how many times you actively worry about dangerous bacteria or pathogens in any beverage you consume tomorrow. 

Do you think we take clean water for granted? I hope you’ll support my fundraising efforts at www.kili2010.com/cabel-mcelderry