A FATHER and daughter took on the highest peak in Africa - and won.
It was back in 2009 when Hanna Andersen, 24, and her dad Alan Butterworth, 57, decided to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro, after watching Comic Relief, when nine celebrities including Cheryl Cole and Fearne Cotton took on the challenge.
“I said to my dad do you think we could do that?,” said Miss Anderson, branch manager at HSBC in Denbigh.
“Then, before I knew it - the trip was booked!”
Kilimanjaro stands 19,340 feet above sea level, making it the highest free-standing mountain in the world, the pair knew they had their work cut out.
“It took over our lives for about six months, walking in Snowdonia every weekend no matter what the weather, having injections every week for a month and an awful lot of shopping for walking gear,” said Miss Anderson.
The pair would make the walk in aid of Hope House, HSBC Wales current charity partner.
“We finally flew out on October 12 and were planning to take the Lemosho Route which is an eight day trek,” said Miss Anderson.
“Unfortunately, due to an air traffic control strike in Greece, we had to land in Rome and sit on the tarmac for four hours, this resulted in us missing our connecting flight and having to spend a night in Ethiopia.”
Along with other walkers, Miss Anderson and her father arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport a day late.
A shorter route was then taken to allow them to catch up with the rest of the group, the trek would now take six days up and one day back down.
“We felt the effects of altitude almost immediately,” said Miss Anderson.
“We had to walk at an incredibly slow pace in order to acclimatise.
“A fast paced walk or slow jog for even a few seconds resulted in being totally out of breath.
“Our training had paid off and for the first few days we had no aches and pains whatsoever.”
The group made it to base camp on October 19, they were fed a large dinner for energy, were given a briefing from the guides and went to bed at 6pm.
But, five hours later it was time to get up ready for the ascent at midnight.
“From base camp to the top is over 1000m (higher than Snowdon) so even after five days of walking there's still a fair way to go,” said Miss Anderson.
“We started walking with our head torches and lots and lots of layers on.
“It was so cold, although after a few minutes I nearly fainted.
“I had sunburn in the day and hadn't been eating very well.
“I took off a few layers and gave some of the heavier items in my bag to a guide to carry for me and off I went again.”
Miss Anderson said she found the summit climb the most challenging, both physically and mentally, and is one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do.
“The higher you get, the less oxygen there is, 50 per cent less at the summit than at sea level,” she said.
“Your brain seems to use what little oxygen it has to keep major functions like the heart going.
“Keeping your balance and speaking is not top of the agenda.
“We would only stop about once an hour for no more than five minutes, I spent the rest of the time staring at my feet actually willing myself to put one foot in front of the other.
“As the sun began to rise, I realised that it was only about 30 minutes to the top, for the first time since leaving base camp I felt like I might actually make it.
“We reached the crater rim, Stella Point at about 6.45am where we stopped for a hot drink, then started again for the final push to Uhuru Peak, 5895m - we made it to the top at 7.27am.
“You imagine that getting to the top will have this amazing sense of achievement, but in all honesty, we were mainly exhausted.”
The group then started their descent, reaching camp at 3pm - 13 hours since setting off.
The father and daughter team had managed to raise a whopping £3,682 for Hope House, it is believed to be the biggest individual amount raised by a HSBC employee.
“It was such a proud moment to hand over the cheque to Hope House,” added Ms Andersen.
“We've had amazing support from our family, friends and colleagues.”