文/王儒

乞力馬扎羅山：賦予中國女性新面貌

文/王儒

Chinese women climb Kilimanjaro

登山隊成員在坦桑尼亞乞力馬扎羅山腳下

各行各業(yè)的中國中年女性下班后能干什么呢？去做個美發(fā)或者去購個物嗎？

去非洲旅行，攀登乞力馬扎羅山怎么樣？

12名來自各行各業(yè)的中國女性，年齡從37到54不等，組成了一個登山隊，其中有律師事務(wù)所合伙人，一名電視制作人和幾個企業(yè)家。她們共花了120多個小時，成功登頂乞力馬扎羅山最高峰。

她們稱自己為“中國第一支女性業(yè)余登山隊”。在登頂乞力馬扎羅山后，她們又在計劃下一場旅行，要去征服其它大洲上的最高峰。

這次登山隊的組織者王建梅今年43歲，是北京一個旅游雜志的主編，她提出這個計劃是因為她意識到現(xiàn)在大城市的職業(yè)女性的需求。

What can middle-aged professional women do after work? Visit the hair-dresser or go shopping?

How about traveling to Africa and climbing the peak of Kilimanjaro?

12 Chinese women between 37 and 54, from different professions including a partner in a law firm, a TV producer and entrepreneurs, spent over 120 hours climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Dubbing themselves “the first amateur women’s mountaineering team in China”, they have begun to plan their next adventures climbing the highest mountains on other continents.

Wang Jianmei, 43, editor-in-chief of a tourism magazine in Beijing, the organizer of the special climbing team, proposed the trip because she saw the growing need of professional women in big cities.

王建梅說：“我們這樣的女人事業(yè)和家庭都處理得很好。但有時候我們也會壓力很大，精疲力竭，會很渴望逃離日常生活，用一種完全不同的方式找尋自我?！?/p>

登山隊中兩名成員因為高原反應(yīng)只爬到了4600米。剩下的10位女性在一個大風(fēng)夜出發(fā)，攀上巖石峭壁，還趕上了一場突如其來的冰雹。但最終，她們登上了乞力馬扎羅山的最高峰，冰雪覆蓋的烏呼魯峰。

和其他成功登頂?shù)牡巧秸咭粯?，這10位女性也得到了乞力馬扎羅國家公園頒發(fā)的證書。

游客和登山者攀登乞力馬扎羅山可以選擇不同的路線。盡管沒有攀登喜馬拉雅山那么有挑戰(zhàn)性，但乞力馬扎羅山海拔高、溫度低、氣候變化多端，攀登這個非洲之脊也是困難重重，充滿危險。

想要攀登乞力馬扎羅山的人必須保證他們身體素質(zhì)很好，并準(zhǔn)備配套裝備。 最近幾年，也有關(guān)于因攀登乞力馬扎羅山造成的意外死亡，大部分人是因為低體溫癥和巖石滑坡。

“對于我們來說，最大的挑戰(zhàn)不是山峰，而是我們自己。我們要相信在我們這個年紀(jì)，依舊可以迎接登山的挑戰(zhàn)，”王建梅說，“除了10年前在北京爬過香山外，我還從沒爬過山。”

“大家都說爬乞力馬扎羅山并不十分困難，但我們也必須做好充分準(zhǔn)備。我讀過海明威的《乞力馬扎羅山的雪》，但我之前一點都不愛運動，更不用說爬一座大陸的最高峰了?！彪娨曋谱魅饲乩僬f。

12名女性先是開始散步和游泳，然后開始接受專業(yè)登山運動員的體能訓(xùn)練。

莊嚴(yán)今年54歲，是一名律師，也是該登山隊中年紀(jì)最大的人。她這樣描述自己站在5900米高度上的感受：“感覺像分娩一樣，會感到疼痛和害怕，但最后等待你的是巨大的喜悅?！?/p>

“Women like us handle career and family well, but sometimes we feel so stressed and exhausted that we have a strong desire to escape from routine life and discover ourselves, in a totally different ways.” Wang says.

Due to altitude sickness, two members quit at 4,600 meters. The remaining 10 women set out in the windy night, tramped over rocky cliffs and advanced through a sudden hailstorm. Finally, they reached the snow-covered Uhuru summit, the highest point of Kilimanjaro.

The 10 women, like other climbers who reach the summit, received certificates from the Kilimanjaro national park.

Kilimanjaro offers seven different routes for tourists and climbers. Though not as challenging as climbing the Himalayas, the high elevation, low temperature and changeable weather makes climbing the roof of Africa a difficult and dangerous trek.

People who want to climb Kilimanjaro need to ensure that they are physically capable and properly equipped.

Some deaths of climbers have been reported in recent years on Kilimanjaro, most due to hypothermia and rock slides.

“For us, the biggest challenge was not the mountain but ourselves, our confidences to meet the challenge in our ages,”Wang says, “I hadn’t climbed any mountain except the Fragrant Hill (in Beijing) 10 years ago.”

“People often say that climbing Kilimanjaro is not very hard, but we must be well-prepared.”

“I read Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro, but I refused almost any sport, let alone climbing up one of the highest mountains.” says Qin Lei, a TV producer .

The 12 women took up jogging and swimming and received physical training .

“It felt like giving birth. You suffered from pain and fear in the process, but the ultimate happiness at that moment is incomparable.” Zhuang Yan, 54, a lawyer and the oldest member in the team, describes the feeling standing at the peak’s altitude of 5,900 meters.

登山隊成員登頂后合影