South Shields man scales Kilimanjaro for hearing dog charity

Ross Halboos, 32, who works on an offshore oil rig in the drilling industry, joined two colleagues to climb the mountain, which stands at 5,895m above sea level.

“Hiking and mountaineering are my passions”, explained Ross, “so when I heard that my colleagues planned to make the climb, I jumped at the chance to join them. Taking on such an iconic peak, surrounded by stunning landscapes, was too good an opportunity to miss.”

Ross explained why he chose to use the challenge to raise funds for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. “A few years ago, I saw someone with a hearing dog out walking. After visiting the charity’s website and reading stories about the difference these incredible animals make to deaf people’s lives, I was deeply moved.

“Since then, I’ve donated regularly to the charity, but I wanted to do more. The climb gave me an even greater chance to raise awareness of their life-changing work, and funds to help them train even more hearing dogs.”

The group of three, accompanied by experienced guides and porters, decided to take on Mount Kilimanjaro’s ‘Machame route’, also known as the ‘Whiskey route’, over six days. This offers stunning views and takes climbers through starkly contrasting climates, including rainforest, alpine desert and even glaciers.

“The porters were ridiculously impressive – they’ll be carrying some of our bags and also our tents and just cruise past us! We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Taking place in such demanding terrain, the awe-inspiring climb wasn’t without its challenges, and the hardest part by far was reaching the summit. “We left at midnight to make it to there for sunrise”, said Ross. “Once we got past 4000m, the altitude sickness kicked in and we had constant headaches and nausea.

“We were really unlucky with the weather. Every day as we were climbing, the sky had been crystal clear, but on the night we reached the summit, there was a massive, five-hour thunderstorm. Even so, seeing the sunrise at 5895m was an unforgettable experience.”

Ross Halboos, 32, who works on an offshore oil rig in the drilling industry, joined two colleagues to climb the mountain, which stands at 5,895m above sea level.

“Hiking and mountaineering are my passions”, explained Ross, “so when I heard that my colleagues planned to make the climb, I jumped at the chance to join them. Taking on such an iconic peak, surrounded by stunning landscapes, was too good an opportunity to miss.”

Ross explained why he chose to use the challenge to raise funds for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. “A few years ago, I saw someone with a hearing dog out walking. After visiting the charity’s website and reading stories about the difference these incredible animals make to deaf people’s lives, I was deeply moved.

“Since then, I’ve donated regularly to the charity, but I wanted to do more. The climb gave me an even greater chance to raise awareness of their life-changing work, and funds to help them train even more hearing dogs.”

The group of three, accompanied by experienced guides and porters, decided to take on Mount Kilimanjaro’s ‘Machame route’, also known as the ‘Whiskey route’, over six days. This offers stunning views and takes climbers through starkly contrasting climates, including rainforest, alpine desert and even glaciers.

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“The porters were ridiculously impressive – they’ll be carrying some of our bags and also our tents and just cruise past us! We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Taking place in such demanding terrain, the awe-inspiring climb wasn’t without its challenges, and the hardest part by far was reaching the summit. “We left at midnight to make it to there for sunrise”, said Ross. “Once we got past 4000m, the altitude sickness kicked in and we had constant headaches and nausea.

“We were really unlucky with the weather. Every day as we were climbing, the sky had been crystal clear, but on the night we reached the summit, there was a massive, five-hour thunderstorm. Even so, seeing the sunrise at 5895m was an unforgettable experience.”

On returning to the base of the mountain, Ross and his climbing comrades enjoyed a well-earned drink of the local Tanzanian beer, appropriately-named ‘Kilimanjaro’.

So far, Ross has raised an incredible £450 for Hearing Dogs. Anyone who would like to support him can visit his JustGiving page.