Kili20twelve: paraglide from Kilimanjaro

Wednesday 4 May, 2011

Paraglide from Mount Kilimanjaro with Kili20twelve

Up to 200 paraglider pilots will be hiking to the top of Africa, 5,895m Kilimanjaro, and paragliding off en masse at the end of 2012 to raise some serious money for Tanzanian charities.

The Australian team behind the Kili20twelve project hope that by filling all 200 pilot places they have been allotted permits for, they can raise a million Australian dollars.

The Tanzanian authorities are fully backing the project, and the Kili20twelve team say it is the first time permits have ever been granted to fly from this peak. It has been flown before, but pilots have allegedly had to sneak their gliders past the park authorities.

Zeb Bertrand and Claire Roche flew tandem from the peak as part of their Seven Summits project in 1999, and Toma Coconea did a 170km flight from the summit back in 2007. Fellow Red Bull X-Alps pilot South African Pierre Carter is planning to resume his own seven summits bid in September after the X-Alps, with an attempt to fly off Kilimanjaro.

The recipient charities will be selected in June. The Tanzanian government has requested that they should be those that help people in the Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania, and in the areas of education, health and the environment. If you would like to nominate such a charity, you can do so before 31 May by filling in their online form, or emailing the organisers. The email should contain the name of the charity and a brief summary of the work it does.

Each pilot who participates in the event is required to raise a minimum of AU$5,000 in charity money. This is on top of the costs of travel, porters, accommodation etc. If the target of 200 pilots is reached, the money raised will be a million dollars.

If you are interested, registration opens in June and places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. The pre-registration form that is on the site now is to help organisers with planning, and you still need to register in June even if you have pre-registered.

www.kili20twelve.com