Mount Kilimanjaro Essay

SafariDreamers.com Safari/Mount Kilimanjaro Contest

My name is Trevor Olson and I have lived in Bozeman for my entire life. I have just graduated from Montana State University with two d

egrees; one in Mathematics and the other in Physics. Eventually I plan on going to graduate school for astrophysics, but before that I need to take a break and experience life a little considering I’ve been attending school for 17 years straight. I’ve never REALLY been out of Bozeman before. Sure, I’ve taken a few trips here and there around the west part of our country, but that just isn’t far enough! Hence, I am applying to go to Mount Kilimanjaro.

At 19,340 feet above sea level, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. It is located very near the equator, and due to its height one can experience nearly every type of climate on the hike up. This makes it perfect for someone that wants to experience a lot of the world in one place. Personally, one of my lifelong goals is to travel around the globe and Mount Kilimanjaro is an interesting approach to see what I’ll be getting myself into. Another goal of mine is to climb the Seven Summits, and assuming I’m able to do Kilimanjaro, I’ll only have six more summits to complete. What a great opportunity to start ticking these off my list.

In my free time you will be able to find me outside. I love to Rock Climb, Ski, Mountain Bike, and Hike among various other outdoor activities. In fact, to show you my love of the outdoors, one just needs to look at my book collection. Aside from the numerous books on math and physics, you will find books on climbing and mountaineering. Some of the books I own include Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, Rock Climbing Montana, Paradise Valley: a rock-climber’s guide, The Seven Summits, which is the true story of the first two people to climb the seven summits, Between a rock and a Hard Place, Rock Climbing Red Rocks, Tramping in New Zealand, Climbing New Zealand, and Tenzing: Hero of Everest. Plus, the list goes on.

I love being on the peaks of Mountains as well. Some of my mountain accomplishments include Hyalite Peak, Mount Blackmore, and The Sphinx. I have climbed Sacajawea Peak, Saddle Peak, and Mount Baldy all in one day. I have climbed Devils Tower on four separate occasions and I have climbed Liberty Bell in Washington. One of my most memorable accomplishments was climbing Granite Peak, which is the tallest mountain in Montana, and considered to be the third most difficult high point in the United States, following Mount McKinley in Alaska, and Gannett Peak in Wyoming. Granite Peak, at 12,799 feet above sea level is the highest I’ve been to (while still standing on the ground).

In the winter time, you can find me at Bridger Bowl, Hiking Blackmore, Hiking Sacajawea Peak or at Beehive Basin building kickers. If I’m not at one of those places, I am studying. I consider myself to be one of those “Ridge Hippies” that you’ll see hiking the ridge all day every day. I also like hanging out on the terrain park at Bridger as well, working on sliding rails and landing fakie. With this in mind, I think it would be fun to ask the guides on the Kilimanjaro trip to see if I could bring my skis along. I’ve heard it is decent skiing, and although it is not the only skiing that can be done in Africa, it is probably the best. Wouldn’t it be a blast not only to climb the peak, but to ski down it as well! Plus I’d love to have the opportunity to ski this mountain before global warming wipes the snows of Kilimanjaro out. This could happen as early as 2020 which isn’t far away at all. Without this opportunity, I may only be able to read about the snows as written by Ernest Hemingway (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/heming.html).

Besides my love of the outdoors, you will find that I am an all around fun lover. I consider myself to be a professional entertainer. (Get your mind out of the gutter! I do magic shows! J ) I have performed magic and juggling shows for various birthday parties and weddings. I have even been on stage at Kids Fest! That is, if I’m not in the costumes running around giving kids hugs. I also enjoy unicycling, slacklining, and crate stacking (For an explanation of slacklining and crate stacking, see the pictures below). In a sense, I am an aspiring circus performer. So maybe I haven’t run away to the circus yet, but it sure does make for exciting times in a tent. I love performing tricks for my camping buddies. In fact, I just got back from a week long trip to the boundary waters where my friends are still wondering how I performed some of those tricks!

You may be wondering how I afford to take the few trips I do take. During school I held two jobs. First of all I work at the Taylor Planetarium. I absolutely worship giving the laser shows that the Moose sponsors! (A little brown nosing never hurt anyone, right?) Besides the laser shows, I give the live star shows. I know the northern night sky backwards and forwards. However, I have never seen the southern sky, and I hear it is gorgeous! What a treat it would be to be able to see the large and small Magellanic Clouds! My second job during the school year was working at the Willson Auditorium. I have worked at the Willson for 5 years now. At the Willson I am a stagehand. I’ve worked all sorts plays and operas as well as concerts. My favorite thing to do at the Willson is operate the light board, although the rail is fun too. Currently the job that is helping me pay off my school debt is delivering for FedEx. It is decent work, and it pays really well!

My plan for the next year is trying to get out of Bozeman any way that I can. 23 years in this place is good for now. I could easily see myself living here, since I treasure Bozeman so much but I believe that travel is necessary. Therefore I am also going to try to make it to New Zealand sometime in the next year. It will be an extended trip probably about a year long, if all goes well. In preparation for that trip I have gotten my passport and I just received a working holiday visa that allows me to visit the country for up to a year before they kick me out. Maybe I could even fly directly from Africa to New Zealand instead of coming back to Bozeman! It would probably even be cheaper for both the Moose/SafariDreamers and for me!

Well, I suppose that does it. See below for various pictures of me doing some of the activities that I enjoy. I realize that your decision on the winning entry is going to be a very arduous task. Hopefully my overwhelming interest in Mount Kilimanjaro will be enough to make your decision a little easier though. May the best entrant win!

First, I would like to offer a disclaimer for the pictures. I am trying to make them large enough so that you can get an idea, but small enough so that my file isn’t a few gigs. If you are interested in these pictures, and would like higher quality ones, please email me for them.

These are pictures of me Crate Stacking. The Blue Crate marks 10 Crates high. My all time Record is 23 crates high! At 11 inches per crate, that is a little over 21 feet in the air!

This is a picture of me Slacklining. This is the Picture that was featured in our college newspaper, the Exponent.

Here I am attempting to highline. Highlining is slacklining but up high. The chasm that I am attempting to cross is about 60 feet wide and about 80 feet off the ground.

Here I am climbing at Point Dume in California. It’s a stunning area located directly on the ocean.