Breaking the Ice

By Andre Lachapelle 

It was our ice breaker this weekend. We faced Mont-Tremblant. For me, the day before I finally committed. I went to buy a pair of boots and walking sticks. Voila! I have some of my equipment now.

Then we hit the road. We were at Sylvain's by 9:00am. Then, in three cars, we left for Mont-Tremblant.

We met our guide Mathieu in the parking lot. Mathieu is The Main One who will take us to the summit of Kilimanjaro. He made a short presentation on the essential material to have when mountain hiking.

First stage, going through the village. Nothing too difficult there if it wasn't for the delicious smell of the restaurants. Good steaks cooking on the grills, I thought of the meager sandwich in my bag ... Oh well! It's for a good cause.

We took four hours to reach the top. And two hours to descend. We took our time. We wanted to stay together. A united group. And that's what struck me. Complete agreement, without talking about it beforehand. We all conveyed a sense of community. It was really inspiring. I didn't expect this kind of team behavior on our first outing. This is something that normally develops over time I think. However we had it - straight away. What a great team we are!

And what to say about the ascent. Laughter at every turn! Really, we laughed ourselves to tears.

It is often said that walking the path is as important as achieving the goal. While our goal is to climb Kilimanjaro, our training (such as Mont Tremblant) is the path that leads towards this goal. I already learnt a lesson on Mont-Tremblant walking the path. You see, I'm the kind of person who will try once. 

If I fail, I will try again.  If I fail again, I'll say "the hell with it" and I'll move on.

But not Carmen. Carmen never flinched on Saturday. In any case, if she thought about quitting, it didn't show. What strength of character! What struck me most was that, at the top, she arrived at the cottage ... with a big smile! Against all the odds and the elements (it was raining cats and dogs on our heads), Carmen arrived smiling! She was smiling!

Well, what a lesson! In life, in the face of adversity. Again and again to continue without flinching. And in silence. And above all. With a smile!

Carmen thank you for this wonderful lesson of life. I will remember it.

Translated by Pamela Gauvin