Park City Vet Set To Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro

Park City-based equine veterinarian Dr. Charmian Wright will leave for Africa in late this month to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on that continent.

At 19,300 feet, it hovers at the edge of the deadly red zone feared by climbers. Several Parkites have climbed Kilimanjaro, including Chris Waddell, a paraplegic who overcame incredible hardship to summit the fabled peak. Wright, who will face her own challenges on the ascent, says she took "some much needed inspiration" from the 2010 film "One Revolution," which chronicled Waddell's amazing feat.
"I'm doing this for two reasons," says the 57-year-old. "First, to reclaim my athleticism, which I have lost over the years. And second, I've wanted to go to Africa since I was a kid."
She'll join a handful of other climbers on the high-altitude odyssey organized by Alpine Ascents International.
Wright will need to overcome both physical injuries and a rapidly diminishing weight issue on her way to the summit. She will have lost 40 pound by the time she leaves, though she admits she'll still be a bit overweight.
That's the least of her problems.

She suffered a severe knee injury 17 years ago, when a horse she was examining kicked her. Less than a year later, while leading a camel (yes, camel) safari in southern Utah, she broke an ankle badly when she jumped off her camel to help another rider in trouble. She's bought special braces for both her knee and ankle for the epic climb.
 She admits she deals with "a fair amount of pain" but believes she can manage it on the climb.
"Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb," says Wright. "The major risk to climbers is altitude sickness. Pulmonary edema is a concern and there's no way of knowing how your body will react to the altitude until you're on the mountain," she says. Climbers will ascend without oxygen.
Wright spent last winter preparing through dieting and high-intensity exercise. She's also been hiking regularly at altitude for the last few months. Last week she took on the nearby Mt. Timpanogos trail, a 4,000-foot ascent that tops out at just below 12,000 feet.
"Some younger guys in good shape can do the hike in about seven hours. It took me all day," she said.
There was a delay along the way. True to form, Wright stopped on the trail to remove porcupine quills from an unfortunate dog. She will travel to Colorado a week before flying to Africa to hike Mt. Evans, near Pike's Peak, at just over 14,000 feet.
She's also been enduring regular sessions in a Salt Lake "CVAC" (cyclic variations in adaptive conditioning) chamber, which creates high altitude conditions by varying barometric pressure. For good measure, she's also been using a re-breathing system daily, which mimics hypoxia, or oxygen starvation.
Wright says she's probably spent more time preparing than most other climbers on the expedition.
"I need to because I'm still just barely average athletically. But one thing I've learned in this process is super important to everyone: no matter how old or how out of shape or how overweight we are, we all have the genetic machinery to be healthy and athletic. You don't have to be a born athlete. You just have to do the things to enable your body to fulfill that potential."
Nevertheless, Wright is a realist.
"Just being able to go on this trip is a terrific accomplishment for me," she says. "Because of my injuries, I know I may not summit Kilimanjaro and that's OK with me. My guess is I can manage it because I've been living with them for so long. If I make it, it will be one of the highest pinnacles of my life."