Guidetti poles at the summit of Mount Kenya!
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Mount Kenya
After the Pic d'Aneto and Mont Blanc, the members of the Spanish association "Cumbres a Ciegas" (Blind Summits) accompany Gérard, a Paralympic athlete, to the summit of Mount Kenya at an altitude of over 5,000 m.
Gérard (Gérard Descarrega Puigdevall) is one of the best blind athletes in the world. With two Paralympic gold medals obtained in Rio and Tokyo in the 400 m T11 event (totally blind). He is passionate about the mountains, he has incredible physical and mental abilities. At the age of 18, he became blind due to a genetic disease. But that didn't stop him!
Oscar Cadiach is a mountain guide, one of the greatest mountaineers in the world. He climbed 14 major peaks over 8,000 m without oxygen in 1984 and 2017!
Oscar and Xisco (Francisco López Smith) set up projects to conquer mountains never before reached by blind people. They help and inspire the international blind community and create unique documentaries.
This is how these three enthusiasts met and decided to climb the Pic d’Aneto in the Pyrenees (3404 m) together in 2020 and Mont Blanc in 2021. In 2022, they embarked on an even crazier project: climbing Mount Kenya and Point Batian, a project never before climbed by a blind person.
For this expedition, they were equipped with Guidetti 3-section folding poles 100% carbon and Guidetti telescopic poles. Ultra-light and strong, they allowed them to overcome the most technical terrain and guide Gérard throughout the path.
Crossing a torrent, avoiding a hole or navigating a very demanding scree slope, hiking poles allowed Gérard to replace some of the visual sensations thanks to the feeling between the tip of the pole and the ground. They provided him with great security and an unbreakable bond between him and his guide Oscar.
A magnificent adventure full of courage, self-improvement and humility, all in a magnificent setting.
"The climb was very hard, there were times when we struggled, we had to endure the altitude of climbing to more than 5000m with an almost unbearable headache, plus a storm caught us on the way down, it lasted several hours... 16 hours on the wall... we were lucky and we knew how to take advantage of it, we had to put a lot of courage into it after lightning struck us... Oscar and Félix, the other guide who accompanied us, are exceptional, we finally reached the objective and we are alive!!!!
Furthermore, the trek with the whole group was also a success, we fulfilled the objective, the whole group passed through the third point Lenana and we enjoyed a beautiful environment for 7 days of trekking across the entire Mount Kenya National Park. There were 16 of us on the expedition + 45 locals including porters, assistant cooks and local guides who accompanied us. Without them we would not have done anything," says Xisco.
Discover the reports dedicated to this wonderful adventure:
- The 1 https://photos.app.goo.gl/
- Antena 3: https://photos.app.goo.gl/
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