Envision reaches new heights

When a team of fundraisers set about planning a charity climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, one of their considerations was how their progress, and ultimately success, might be tracked and recorded.

Thanks to Envision’s proven capabilities of providing unique tracking and mapping, the 15-strong Grundfos team set off confident that every step of the challenging expedition would be monitored in real time.

Envision was the natural choice for the team as Europump Services, the UK service division of Grundfos, already uses the system to track its 45-strong team of service engineers. Tracking a group of 15 climbers up one of the world’s highest mountains was something the Envision team took in their stride.

“When we heard that Grundfos was doing such a great charity event we were eager to lend our support not only as sponsors but to officially track the team and show just how versatile and reliable Envision is – even in one of the highest and most remote places on earth,” commented Peter Maddocks, director at Envision.

None of the team needed any special tracking equipment, just their GPS enabled mobile phones which is all Envision requires to collect and relay information, even at almost 19,500 ft (5,895m)

Data gathered from the trek - which followed the ‘Marangu Route’, one of seven official routes up the mountain – was transferred back to Envision HQ where it was plotted and reports were produced to show the progress of the five-day ascent.

Milestones of the trek have been charted and teamed up with on location photographs from the climb which started in lush rainforest. On day two at 3,700m, according to the team the landscape changed considerably to sand and rock. More of the same terrain took the team to day five where they set off on the final 1,000m at midnight in order to take advantage of the frozen landscape. Unfortunately the frosts never came leaving the team to struggle on ground that shifted underfoot.

“The tough terrain and altitude sickness took its toll at that point,” explained Peter Fletcher, group leader and service director at Grundfos Pumps in the UK.

Ten of the 15 original climbers made it to the summit where Envision was there to ‘greet’ them (see photo). The team still managed to raise an impressive €120,000 which will help the SACRED Trust (the South African Children’s Resource for Education and Development), to buy computers and help educate more children in African townships.

“The climb was challenging and exhilarating and thanks to Envision we knew there was a watchful eye on us along the way. Additionally, we now have maps and charts and can see exactly where and when we achieved what,” added Peter Fletcher.