DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - We’ve reported on Ian McKeever before, but now that he’s bringing his godson up Kilimanjaro, he deserves another mention!

I saw this in the Irish Independent yesterday:

An intrepid young explorer from Dublin will soon attempt to become the youngest person ever to climb one of the highest mountains in the world……Sean McSharry from Stillorgan, Co Dublin, is the godson of Ian McKeever, who received worldwide acclaim when he climbed each of the continents’ highest peaks in the fastest possible time.

On April 24, Sean flies to Africa in the hope of becoming the youngest person to ever climb the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania — the highest mountain in Africa at a height of 5,898 metres.

The youngest person on record to ever reach the summit was Ryan J. Eckert, a 12-year-old American boy living in Nigeria who reached the top at age 12 with his father and older brother on August 16, 2005.

While not the most technical or difficult of the Seven Summits, I know of more than a few friends who have suffered from the altitude on this mountain meaning this is a cool ambition.
What’s most impressive is the Sean’s dedication to training (at the age of 10! - I wish I was this dedicated at that age :):

For the past three months Ian has put Sean through his paces in a rigorous training programme, which involves him changing his diet and eating lots of green vegetables, increasing his iron content and cutting out sweets. “They call me the broccoli kid in school,” said Sean.

Sean himself has now shaved almost 10 minutes off his climbing times on Camaderry hill in Glendalough, the training ground, which McKeever believes holds the key to his ultimate success or failure.

This just proves that you don’t need to have access to the highest, and best, facilities to reach the top of your sport, they’re using Camaderry Hill as the training ground. Put in enough dedication and effort (along with the best possible training methods supplied by physios and sports scientists) and it’s possible to peform very well on the world stage!

Here’s the link to Google Maps new terrrain feature as we mentioned previously on TGU.
- Neal :) -