Mark Nelson (ECE’86) doesn’t shy away from outdoor sports. Skiing, surfing, scuba diving—he’s game for them all. But would he classify himself as an adventurer? No.
Mark did something very out of character, then, when he recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro—the tallest mountain in Africa. With the encouragement of his wife, Beth (P’87), Mark made the heroic ascent last winter to help raise funds for the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy in Southern California.
The couple had hoped to reach the summit together, but just short of the top, Beth was sidelined by illness and evacuated.
“Beth wanted to summit Mount Kilimanjaro as a personal challenge,” Mark says. “She talked me into it, and I agreed to go along and support her. It was very joyful overall, but it was a little bittersweet because Beth couldn’t be there with me.”
To prepare for the arduous ascent, Mark and Beth spent about nine months training near their Rancho Santa Fe, California, home, alongside a group of fellow climbers from the San Diego area.
Summitting Mount Kilimanjaro is no small feat, as it is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world—meaning it’s not part of a mountain range. The mountain is actually a volcano comprised of three volcanic cones, though it hasn’t erupted in roughly 200,000 years.
Accompanied by guides, Mark, Beth, and the rest of the group spent eight days trekking up and down the mountain. They navigated through various climates, including rainforests, deserts, and arctic environments.
“I found it to be very physically challenging,” Mark says. “We may have only hiked about six miles a day, but we were hiking at altitude. So, we went up by 1,000 to 1,500 feet every day. Even after all our preparation, it was still a real challenge.”
Unfortunately, on the day before the group was ready to make the final push to the top, Beth developed a respiratory virus and decided not to continue. She completed her descent not by foot but by helicopter.
“It was a huge disappointment to get so close but fall short of achieving my goal after nearly a year of training,” Beth says. “However, I was happy and proud that Mark made it to the summit on behalf of both of us since I urged him to go along with this idea from the beginning. He supported me every step of the way, and we still got to experience a lot along the journey.”
On the next day, Mark and the group awoke at midnight and completed the final stretch up to the summit.
“I was excited about the accomplishment,” Mark says. “I felt good about all the effort that had gone into achieving it.”
Once he reached the snow-capped peak—at a towering 19,341 feet—Mark proudly waved a Purdue flag to the surrounding panoramic view of plains, hills, and clouds. With help from a companion, he was able to snap a photograph of the moment.
“Beth and I met at Purdue, and we are very proud to be associated with the university,” Mark says. “We follow Purdue Athletics, and we went to see the men’s basketball team win their Final Four game in Arizona during March Madness last year. We thought it would be fun to take a picture with the flag at the summit.”
As it turns out, even somewhere as far away as Tanzania, Mark wasn’t the only one sporting the old gold and black.
During the descent, Mark followed a steep rural path through the dense rainforest to Mweka Gate, one of Mount Kilimanjaro’s main exit points, where Beth was waiting for him. There, they spotted a group of young Boilermakers wearing Purdue shirts and hats.
“It was great to be nearly halfway around the world, at the base of a mountain, and run into three or four Purdue graduates wearing their Purdue gear,” Mark says. “Everywhere you go, there are Purdue people.”
—Calandra Weaver
