Chad Lewis set to climb Kilimanjaro for a cause

Thursday, May 5, 2011
Posted: 3:06 p.m.

By Reuben Frank
CSNPhilly.com

Nothings really changed for Chad Lewis. Hes still trying to buck the odds and make it to the top of the mountain.

In his improbable nine-year NFL career, it was a figurative mountain. Lewis went from a walk-on at Brigham Young to an undrafted free agent released by two teams to a three-time Pro Bowl tight end.

This time, its a literal mountain.

A really high one.

Lewis, 39, is part of an NFL-sponsored group thats planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next week to raise awareness of the Wounded Warriors Project, a non-profit organization created to help servicemen and women who have suffered serious injuries while serving the country in the military.

The group will also include former Eagles defensive coordinator and Titans head coach Jeff Fisher and former Patriots star Tedy Bruschi, plus four wounded warriors badly injured in combat.

We talk about how tough football is, but Ive never been shot at or lost a limb, Lewis said. These guys are real heroes. The things theyve seen and been through, I cant comprehend. Any little bit I can do to raise awareness of the Wounded Warriors Project and help these guys attain their goals, Im honored to do it.

Eagles fans remember Lewis as the sure-handed, tough and inspirational tight end who quickly became a young Donovan McNabbs favorite target a decade ago. Lewis finished his career with 229 catches for 2,361 yards and 23 touchdowns, plus two more in the 2004 NFC Championship Game. His 38 postseason receptions are a club record.

But long before Lewis arrived in the NFL, he was an avid mountain climber and hiker. As a kid in Utah, Lewis and his father often went on long, arduous hikes at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park not far from the family home in Orem, Utah.

Ive hiked my whole life, Lewis said. The tallest mountain Ive climbed was Kings Peak, which is 13,400 feet and the highest peak in Utah. I did Timpanogos (11,749 feet) four times. So I fit the bill for what they were looking for.

Kilimanjaro is not a particularly technical climb -- there are no cliffs, no switchbacks, no rope climbing -- but at 19,341 feet, its the highest peak in Africa and 6,000 feet higher than anything Lewis has climbed before.

Lewis and the other climbers will arrive in Tanzania on May 11 and begin acclimatizing two days later. They hope to reach the summit on May 18.

Its not a technical mountain, but its not an easy mountain, Lewis said. The big challenge is the elevation and altitude sickness. Half the people who attempt Kilimanjaro dont succeed. The two ways you try to prepare for that are 1) Be in shape and 2) Go slow, so your body slowly acclimates to the altitude.

The NFL group will be supplanted by 48 porters -- natives who summit Kilimanjaro regularly, are physically conditioned to the rigors of the rarified air and know every step of the trails.

Its a huge group, Lewis said. Were going to look like something out of epic 1960s film Lawrence of Arabia out there.

The big challenge of Kilimanjaro comes above 14,000 feet, when the thinning oxygen makes each step more difficult the closer you get to the summit. Before the group begins the ascent, theyll spend three days hiking horizontally at 14,000 feet. Basically, theyll loop around the mountain 5,000 feet below the peak so when the real climbing begins, their bodies are used to the dwindling oxygen 3 12 miles above the Earth.

The biggest thing is go slow, Lewis said. The guides will keep telling us, Polle, polle, polle. Go slow and let your body adapt. Youre going to feel great at the beginning and you want to go faster, but you have to take it easy or you wont make it to the top.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located about 25 miles south of the Kenyan border in the extreme northern tip of Tanzania, in Eastern Africa, not far west of the Indian Ocean. Although its not one of the 100 highest mountains in the world -- theyre all in southeastern Asia -- its one of the highest climbable mountains in the world and also one of the worlds largest free-standing mountains. Kilimanjaro is composed of three inactive volcanoes -- theres no record of any of them ever erupting.

Lewis and the NFL group will start out their trek in the Serengeti plain and hike through jungle, rain forest and alpine moorland before working toward the so-called Uhuru peak, or Freedom peak.

If the weather is favorable, well leave at 2 a.m., and well only be above 14,000 feet for a few hours, Lewis said. I know its going to be challenging, but Ive been through Andy Reids training camp, so I know I can handle anything.

Im planning on getting to the summit and taking an Eagles flag to the roof of Africa.

Even though Kilimanjaro is located just 200 miles south of the equator, the peak is always covered in snow. The extreme temperature changes are another challenge Lewis and the other climbers will face.

Under Armour is sponsoring the trip and outfitting all the climbers with gear thats appropriate for the various climates and weather conditions theyll encounter.

Its arctic on top, he said. Freezing cold.

Lewis, who now works in the athletic department at BYU, has prepared for the climb near his home in Provo with long hikes along the Jeep trails in the foothills of the Uinta National Forest, just out his backdoor. Hes been going on long runs in hiking boots with a stuffed pack on his back.

Im sure I look pretty funny, he said. Hey, look at that guy running around in boots with a giant backpack on. Im sure people think its pretty weird.

Before the group flies off to Eastern Africa, theyll spend a day in New York City on Monday. On the schedule are a trip to Ground Zero and a ride on the New York Fire Departments new Fireboat 343 -- named in honor of the 343 New York firefighers who lost their lives in the 911 attacks.

Lewis said he couldnt turn down the offer to participate in the climb, not for a cause that means as much to him as Wounded Warriors Project and its new Believe in Heroes campaign.

Among those who will be climbing with Lewis, Bruschi and Fisher are Bryan Wagner of Exter, Calif., and Ben Lunak of Grand Forks, N.D., who each lost a leg; Mike Wilson of Annapolis, Md., who suffered a brain injury; and Nancy Schiliro of Hartsdale, N.Y., who lost an eye while serving her country.

I was honored when they asked me, Lewis said. Its something that, for whatever reason, when I was born, I was born with a deep desire to succeed in whatever I tried to do. So its definitely important to me to get to the summit. Ill definitely be aware of my body and how Im feeling and keep an eye on that.

But the real desire is to help those wounded warriors get to the top of the mountain. For me, thats what its all about.

E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.comThose interested can follow Chad Lewis and the Wounded Warriors in their progress climbing Mount Kilimanjaro at www.believeinheroes.org or at http:www.facebook.combelieveinheroes.

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