Dipika Tripathi - more commonly known as Dips - made it! Last month, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and raised well over £25,000 for a good cause.
Dips works at The Manufacturer, selling print, digital, events sponsorship and bespoke products to anyone “who is interested in targeting the c-suite decision makers from the UK’s manufacturing industry”, as she says.
In September last year, she had the inspiring idea to manage the nearly impossible, climbing with eight other friends the highest trekking mountain in the world: Mount Kilimanjaro
‘That will be quite a challenge’, she thought, since the South African berg is the highest free-standing mountain in the world, towering no less than 5,895 metres above sea level.
However, the reason for this adventurous decision was motivated by a rather tragic occurrence.
Dips explained: “Last year a very dear friend of mine lost her father to cancer. One of his favourite sayings was ‘In the joy of others lies our own’.
“Honouring his sentiment, we decided to climb Kili this October and raise money for Myeloma UK – the nations’ only charity focused on the discovery, development and access to new effective treatments for myeloma.
“Myeloma, also known as multiple myeloma, is a cancer arising from plasma cells, a type of white blood cell which is made in the bone marrow. Through our fundraising efforts we managed to raise well over £25,000.
“My colleagues at The Manufacturer have been very supportive in my fundraising efforts this year. As my way of saying thank you, I decided to surprise them with a picture of me reading the latest copy of The Manufacturer at Uhuru Peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro.”
In total, it took Dips and her friends five days to climb to the top and another two days to return to base camp.
The most exciting thing Dips experienced on her adventure “was watching the horizon at sunrise at Stella point on summit day”.
And what was the most shocking experience on your journey, Dips?
“The fact that I could not shower for seven days and the experience of the extreme coldness on top of the mountain”, she answered.
