Limerick man climbs Mount Kilimanjaro in memory of nephew

ONLY ONE in two people survive one of the steep, rocky routes on the world’s highest free-standing mountain: Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

The summit can be conquered via seven different routes - the three-day route chosen by Limerick man, John Mulready, is the one in which only one in two people survive. He lives to tell the tale.

John’s story comes with extraordinary emotion - so much so, it drove him to climb the 19,341 foot of the dormant volcano, for a loved one who tragically passed away at a young age.

Starting off in the small Limerick village of Cappamore, John is a retired fire station officer. However, he dedicates his life to working and continues to work as training director of Hayes Fire and Medical.

He is a keen mountaineer, having previously conquered Everest and raising money for Autism Ireland. He climbs Munster's Galtee mountains “nearly everyday” - Ireland's highest inland range.

The Red Cross Limerick volunteer shared his heartfelt and breathtaking story of the expedition which he describes as being “a really tough climb”. He also gives his free time to Bunratty Marine Rescue and the Civil Defence, as well as charities.

John said: “The brain crushing headaches were the hardest thing about the climb - it’s definitely not for the faint-hearted.

“I chose the route at the southeast side of the mountain called the Marangu, which takes three days up and only a day and a half down. This means you have no time to acclimatise or adjust to the altitudes - there is a 50% fail rate on that route.”

“I was on the 30-hour plane over on Monday afternoon and as soon as I got off that mountain, I was back in the hotel, after completing it, by Friday afternoon. That’s why we were so exhausted!”

The determined expedition was inspired by a nephew of John’s, who he had originally agreed to join with in conquering the rocky terrain of Kilimanjaro in 2012.

The spark was ignited to take on one of the world’s largest, dormant volcanoes when John’s nephew Kenneth Ryan was visited in school by a famous Irish mountaineer, Ian McKeever.

Ian, who shared his breathtaking explorations of the various summits and expeditions he took head on throughout his life, truly inspired Kenneth and gifted him with all of the convincing he needed, as his classmates cheered on encouragingly.

As Kenneth was under 18 at the time, he decided to ask his uncle John to join him in his voyage to Mount Kilimanjaro - an enthusiastic climber with a decorated list of mountains throughout Europe on his record.

The suddenness of what comes next will both stun and shatter you, simultaneously, as Ian was struck down by lightning and killed outright, aged 42, on the deadly free stander that is Mount Kilimanjaro in 2013 - a mere six months after visiting Kenneth's school to give a talk.

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In another twist of fate, John’s nephew Kenneth was also suddenly killed in a road accident in 2015 and never made it to Tanzania as planned, which left heartbreak and tragedy in its wake - just as the 1200° degree magma did when it oozed out of Mount Kilimanjaro, 200 years ago.

“For years, I didn’t want to see, hear or think about Kilimanjaro but, for me, it was always something that I had to conquer in the end - I was going for my nephew more than myself.”

It took John over eight years to finally come to terms with these two ironically linked, vicissitude circumstances.

He wanted to defeat the desolate territory of Kilimanjaro to dedicate his excursion to these two individuals - and so he did.

With five different climate changes to overcome, John says preparation is key for an exploration of this grandeur: “You have to push through the pain barrier and altitude sickness to do it.

“There’s no easy way up Kilimanjaro - headaches, low breathing rates and vomiting happen often.

“If you go there and don’t put in the physical preparation before you go, the chances are that you might not summit.”

An exploration of this grandeur is not something that you can just ‘do’, according to John: “If I was giving advice to people going there, energy levels would be a major concern of mine.”

For John, however, getting to the highest summit in Africa was worth it, as he placed a picture of his nephew who passed away, with a candle, as a symbol of an opportunity which life robbed him of.

“We did our final ascent of the mountain at midnight and got to the final peak at 8am, so it took a good eight hours to get there.

“He [Kenneth] climbed it with me - he was with me the whole way up.”

Ian McKeever was an Irish mountaineer, broadcaster, and motivational speaker. He once held the world record for the fastest completion of the Seven Summits challenge in a record 156 days.

John and his team travelled to Tanzania with G Adventures, a travel expert business designed for small groups. He trained for five or six days every week in JS fitness gym in Doon.

‘Wynorrific’, which is a word to describe something which is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, would sum up the views at the tip of the 5,895m trek.

The ruggedly handsome views were ironically described by John as ‘indescribable’.