Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Media Contact: Hallie Hart | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | Hallie.hart@oKstate.edu
The rich, rose colors of a panoramic birth surrounded Bryson Wolfe as it approached the snow -covered summit. The climbers moved like slippery soap rods across fragmented volcanic rock, and Wolfe collided in Ben Simpson with 19,341 meters above sea level.
In a way, their foggy brain closed in the same rational thought.
“We have to grab the shirts.”
In the indecent wind, Wolfe and Simpson drew the business school T -shirts that match the Gray Spears from their bags and held clothes for a photo, representing their school as they offered evidence of a step towards their dream.
Wolfe and Simpson, the elderly of the Oklahoma State University, had climbed to their first mountain.
It was Peak Uhuru on Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa and one of seven famous summits. Somewhere somewhere during their weekly journey through five ecological climatic zones, Wolfe addressed Simpson.
“Dude, this started with a handshake,” said Wolfe, a double in management and management information systems.
Their memorable adventure, indeed, began as a scene from a comedy of friends.
Wolfe and Simpson, tall friends from Tulsa, observed a mountaineering documentary together when Wolfe was a beginner of Osu, before Simpson was transferred to Osu by a young military college. Afraid of seven summits – the highest mountains on each continent – they made a pact to scale the geological giants together.
They waved on it.
About three years later, starting on New Year’s Day, they traveled to Tanzania and passed the first summit outside their list. For Wolfe and Simpson, the climb symbolized their growth through the college, a prelude to their predicted May 2025 graduation. At the same time, it was a testimony to their immutable friendship, the connection they created as teammates in sports numerous in Metro Christian’s Metro High School.
“For me, and I know about Ben, it was an emotional journey,” Wolfe said.
Simpson, a university the main study with a general business minor, is in the United States Army, planning to graduate and meet his military demands before returning to OSU for another degree in engineering. Among the classes, work on Orange Café planet and Simpson’s Army’s responsibilities, friends squeezed at daily training sessions for climbing. They also went to the affordable hunt for clothing, using coupons and finding second -hand accessories that were costly effective but durable.
Everything led to a seven-day push towards the summit.
Day 1
Wolfe and Simpson knew they had no experience compared to the other seven tourists in their group.
A man had stayed in a Mount Everest base camp. One woman had lived in the Alps Dolomite.
Wolfe and Simpson were trained in Stillwater with height masks.
As the Local Business Logo shows Stillwater Summit Co., the establishment of their college city is 986 meters. Mount Kilimanjaro, though not the highest of the seven summits, is like collecting nearly 20 waters on top of each other.
Although the impressive fairy tales of their peers made Wolfe and Simpson feel a little conscious, they made it clear that they had researched and prepared in their own ways. They stayed in shape running around Boomer Lake, McMurtry Lake and Lake Carl Blackwell. Friends successfully completed a variety of extreme challenges, including an event called death by 5K, which consisted of running 10 5ks in 24 hours. Why not get another sleeping volcano?
“We are no one special,” Simpson said. “We just said we would do it, so we did it.”
They found comfort knowing that they were not alone. A large group of Tanzanian guidelines and goalkeepers make travel, first aid training and knowledge of the best ways, sometimes physically offering a hand in unfaithful situations. This is their careers, and some locals have summarized hundreds of times.
Wolfe and Simpson realized that experts would have to hear if they hoped to do it once.
Throughout the journey, they learned about the geographical, spiritual and historical importance of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, starting with their journey to an art museum the day before climbing.
Then it was time to set foot on the 43-mile Lemosho road. It led the group through the lush, green forest, a picturesque foreword to the rugged terrain that eventually reached.
Day 2
The effects of high altitude did not take much to discover themselves.
At an altitude of about 11,500 meters, the fingers of the climbers are swelling. Eye pressure increased.
Wolfe briefly had a mobile signal, so he checked with his family, knowing that he would not be able to write about the rest of the climb. Although home thoughts already crawl in his mind, he understood how to live at the moment.
Wolfe and Simpson stayed away from their phones, in addition to playing some songs in the tent and photographing pictures of the changing landscape and abundant wildlife.
“This was a beautiful little break from social media,” Wolfe said. “You just been able to have effective thoughts and not distracting from anything. You don’t want to be distracted.”
Day 3
The height increased from 11,500 meters to nearly 14,000. Simpson noticed.
The mask in height could not simulate this.
“I wasn’t a happy camera,” Simpson said. “And then you make the look and feel a little better.”
Day 4
A climber had to be evacuated.
Medical staff did not want to take any chance when its oxygen levels were plunged, so they made sure it was safe. Despite the sadness of leaving a team member, Wolfe and Simpson also found security knowing they were in good hands if a health problem was born.
The group climbed the clouds while Wolfe and Simpson continued to motivate each other. The loss of the established appetite and the minds were blurred with height. Looking back after climbing, they cheated on their delirious states.
“Our conversations probably seemed bad,” Simpson said. “The most trivial task, you have to be so deliberate because your brain just doesn’t have it.”
Day 5
Wolfe had to learn how to sleep in an unusual place.
He bowed to a steep mountain with the wind lugging around him. Temperatures dropped and the climbers continued to postpone.
“Here it becomes gnarly,” Wolfe said.
Day 6
The climbers stopped at a camp for their last nod before the time came to reach the top.
Closing their eyes around 10:00 am, they rested for an hour. The stars unfolded like a shiny blanket over the climbers as they woke up. Simpson compared the heavenly model to Cheshire cat’s ordery cartoons smile.
The time was strategic. If they woke up at 11:00 am, then they will summit with a stunning sun by greeting them.
“For me, and I know about Ben, it was an emotional journey.”
– Bryson Wolfe, business student Spears
Day 7, midnight
The morning menu consisted of anything that climbers could force themselves to eat. Wolfe managed to saddle two cookies and a few pieces of popcorn, but the vomiting was hit as soon as Stella Point, one of the three official Kilimanjaro summits, approached. The guidelines stayed by the climbers while prevented on uneven rock, dealing with height diseases.
“It feels like putting a pillow on your face and running a marathon,” Simpson said.
The marathon was almost over.
From Stella Point, the Highlanders had a relatively short trip to Peak Uhuru, the real summit. The morning sun said hello, replacing the bitter cold with slightly warmer temperatures as they reached their final destination.
Wolfe and Simpson were amazed at the beauty of nature by their 19,341 meters.
They sang “Happy Birthday” for a group member. They took pictures.
After posing with their matching T -shirts, Wolfe and Simpson knew what to do. It is common to present a gift of gratitude to the Lead guide, the trusted Highlands that make a living enabling tourists to safest the unknown terrain. Wolfe said Mali’s guides influenced his business philosophy, reminding him to take care of others in every career he pursues.
A guide now has a Business Shirt Spaars School of Business as an extra layer to wear on the mountain.
Day 8
The descent was like the end of a novel. The suspension faded and everything became easier.
Falling up, the group walked through the rain forest, where a wild fire was recently abducted in the area.
“You can see the Rainforest building actively together,” Simpson said. “It was obvious how fast he was restoring himself again.”
The mountaineers’ bodies also recovered.
Fighting the aircraft neighborhood and prolonged height disease, Wolfe and Simpson made it back to OSU for the first day of the spring semester. In the class of developing Wolfe’s talent, students were asked to say what they did during the winter break, and he mentioned as if it were a usual vacation meeting.
He and Simpson do not boast of him, but personal meaning is clear.
As they prepare for life after graduation, they see values in balancing adventure work that builds character and friendship. They are planning for the next summit, Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.
Future employers may know this: Wolfe and Simpson take the promise of a handshake seriously.
And they won’t leave a friend after.
“We just want to inspire people to do the same and do what they are passionate about,” Wolfe said. “Just don’t stop, because there is no point to stop and there is no guarantee of anything. Do what you can while you can, and do it to the maximum. That’s the biggest thing for us.”