'Legless' climber Spencer West conquers Kilimanjaro using only hands

Jun 23, 2012 |

London

Tags:

Kilimanjaro

Famous climber Spencer West has reached the top of Africa's highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, with just the help of his hands.

Despite having no legs, the 31-year-old climbed to the summit of 19,341-foot-high Mount Kilimanjaro in a record seven days.

"The moment the summit was within sight was incredible. The summit sign seemed almost like a mirage," the Daily Mirror quoted West, as saying.

We looked around and realised that, after seven gruelling days of relentless climbing, after 20,000 feet of our blood, sweat, tears and vomit we had actually made it. The bleeding fingers and blisters were all worth it," he added.

Spencer, who completed the climb with the help of his best friends David Johnson and Alex Meers, had both his legs amputated at the age of five after being born with a genetic disorder.

The brave mountaineer spent a year training for the expedition and scaled the lower slopes in his wheelchair, but for 80% of the trek he used only his hands to climb the Uhuru peak in Tanzania.

Only around half the people who set out to conquer the mountain successfully reach the summit.

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