Friday July 2 - Jim & Ryan call in - "Although Ryan has never traveled before, he handled it like a pro! They are currently @ Hotel in Moshi, resting up and preparing for the climb. Also, looking around and souvenir shopping. The people are extremely polite and tend to follow them everywhere. All is very well and will touch base again on Monday."

Saturday July 3 - Ryan and Jim and the group traveled to an orphanage outside of Moshi, in support of the children with aids and children who have lost their parents as a result of aids. They will be passing out 'little trinkets for the kids' and visiting with them.  (see pictures above in gallery).

Sunday July 4 - they will be meeting their guides, checking their equipment, and getting ready for the ' big climb'!

Day 3 - Monday July 5 - Jim & Ryan call in - "We just finished climbing for the day and are setting up camp. We are at 9100 feet in a tropical jungle. It was a beautiful sunny day. There are 62 people all together, including porters. Everyone is doing fine."  Jim

Ryan spoke for a few minutes until the phone cut off - he said, "It's nice up here!"

Day 4 - Tuesday July 6 - Jim & Ryan call in - Everyone is doing good.  Blood levels and oxygen are good.  "We are camped at 12,000 feet, on a plateau at the base of Mt. Kilamanjaro. You should see the stars, they are just incredible. Had a long, hot and dusty hike today. Hiking for 7 or 8 hours. We were climbing at one point, came around a corner and there was Kilamanjaro right in front of us. Fantastic.  Its Ryan's birthday tomorrow so he'll be phoning home.  It was a good day."  Jim

Day 5- Wednesday July 7 - Jim & Ryan call in- "It's beautiful up here. Everybody is doing great. We are at 13,600 ft. It's Ryan's Birthday, so the cooks, porters and guides made him a birthday cake made out of mashed potatoes and passion fruit candles! Then we all sang happy birthday to him"  Jim. 

Ryan mentioned it was a little hot climbing today, but all is very well!

Day 6- Thursday July 8 - Jim & Ryan call in - "We are up at 15,200 ft and we've been climbing really slowly to adjust to the altitude. It's pretty cold in the evening but we're doing pretty good. We climbed a Lava Tower today, and tomorrow we will only hike/climb for 2 hours to acclimatize. We typically climb high during the day and then climb down some for camp and are at Camp Moir Ryan keeps telling me 'I'm pulling you up this mountain!", anyway we're gonna make it and everybody is doing pretty good".  Jim

Day 7- Friday July 9 - Jim & Ryan call in - "We're up at 16,000 ft., according to our guides we've made it 'thru the semi-finales'. Ryan is doing great. The weather has been beautiful and the scenery is incredible! Tomorrow we will be up at 4:45am to climb another 3000 ft, and this will be the real grind cause we will be hiking for 8 - 9 hours. All the hikers are doing really good, a few minor headaches, but still everyone is doing great."  Jim

Day 8 - Saturday July 10 - Jim & Ryan call in - "We're at 18,000 ft and we're gonna make it! We climbed all rock today and it was a tough grind but we made it. It's really dusty climbing those rocks so we look like a bunch of _______ !. Tomorrow we only climb a few hours before we reach the summit, so we're on the home stretch!"  Jim

Day 9 - Sunday July 11 - Jim & Ryan call in - "We made it! We're up here at the summit and it's beautiful. We're right by a glacier and it's just beautiful.... SO NICE. We've been taking pictures and put a few flags up. Everybody is good, a few headaches and nausea but we made it! We already climbed down 12,000 ft and tomorrow we will walk down for 5-6 hours until we reach the bottom. Then we will be back at the hotel and will party!"

Jim and Ryan will be back at home on the 19th.

CONGRADULATIONS RYAN, JIM
AND THE SOUTHRIDGE TEAM

WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!!

We are so proud of you.