‘It’s a dream:’ Prince Albert woman completes climb of Africa’s tallest mountain

By Nigel Maxwell

Prince Albert’s Bernadette Lavoie described climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain, as the hardest thing she’s ever done mentally and physically.

Over the course of six days, Lavoie hiked over 74 kilometres and reached an elevation of more than 19,000 feet. On Thursday with her feet firmly planted back on the ground in Prince Albert, Lavoie spoke with paNOW.

“The feeling to get there was sheer relief because it was physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “(There’s) nothing to really prepare you for that lack of oxygen and that intensity.”

Lavoie recalled how her group initially started their hike at 11 p.m. and when they reached their destination it was 6 a.m.

“So as you are seeing the sunrise, it’s almost like you are walking on the moon,” she described.

Over the course of the 74km hike, Lavoie was quite literally exposed to a number of different climates, ranging from the hot rain forest to the desert, and the arctic. Lavoie recalled nights when she was seeing her breath in her tent all night long.

“You wear every piece of clothing you have to bed,” she said.

Describing the hike itself, Lavoie explained her guides would bring her group up to a certain elevation and then bring them back down in order to get used to the elevation and get their lungs strong.

On the final ascent to the summit, which was done mostly in the dark, Lavoie’s group followed a set of headlamps.

“It’s eerie because you are in the complete dark and all you can hear is heavy breathing, and you are following this little line of lights up the mountain,” she said. “It’s really surreal.”

In addition to her climb up the mountain, Lavoie also had the opportunity to meet the locals and to tour a local school. The tour company Lavoie went with supports various local charities, and the lodge where the group stayed was associated with a school for orphans or for single parents who could not afford the costs of a regular school.

In the weeks leading up to her climb, Lavoie raised more than $20,000 for Hope’s Home, a childcare centre in Prince Albert for children with complex medical needs.

“It’s a dream and I’m just so grateful for the support of the community and my family,” she said, while also noting it’s been tough to come back and reclimatize.

When asked if she was planning another adventure, Lavoie confirmed that in April she and her daughter will be going to the Galapagos Islands.

“But that will be slightly more relaxing. We won’t be sleeping in a tent, let’s put it that way,” she said.