A Paradise Valley great-grandmother who set out to
make history while raising money to benefit underprivileged kids has
achieved her goal.
Anne Lorimore, 85, successfully reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest stand-alone mountain in the world.
"We
are just waiting word from Guinness to make it official that she's the
oldest woman to reach the summit," spokeswoman Tess Dumlao said. "Her
mountain guide has no doubt they will confirm that Anne IS the oldest
woman to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro as she has met ALL the requirements and
got to the top unassisted and strong to her last step!"
Dumlao said certification from Guinness could take up to four months.
"I've
wanted to do it for a long time," Lorimor said in June. "My niece and
nephew were doing it, and I said, 'Please, I want to go,' and they said
yes. So I put it down on my bucket list that by 2015, I was climbing
Kilimanjaro."
And that's exactly what she did. Despite a bout with a nasty flu on day four of the climb, Lorimore made it to the summit.
Lorimor
used her record-setting climb to raise awareness and funds for
underprivileged children. That has always been a passion of hers. She
founded the Challenge Youth Fund in 2004.
Challenge Youth Fund, which is part of the Arizona Community Foundation,
works with other organizations to offer education and mentoring
opportunities to underserved children and teens, particularly foster and
orphaned children, as well as homeless youth.
"While I am not a
professional climber I've always enjoyed hiking. If I combine my
interest in climbing with my passion for helping children, what could be
better?" Lorimor said prior to her trip.
She called her adventure the KiliClimb for Kids. Donations will help build a new piano lab for Rosie's House, a music academy that provides free lessons for more than 400 Phoenix children. The cost for the lab is $50,000.
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