Ice Climber Will Gadd's Incredible Ice Climb In Africa Before The Natural Phenomenon Disappears

You Won't Believe Where This Guy Is Ice Climbing
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Will Gadd doesn't have a 9-5 job. If his current job had a title it would read “Professional Ice Climber”. He is also paraglider pilot and formerly held the paragliding world distance record and in January 2015 he also became the first person ever to climb the ice-covered rock wall next to the Horseshoe at Niagara Falls.

One of Gadd's most remarkable adventures was to Mount Kilmanjaro on a week-long trek, scaling to a tiny precipice at the top of Arica's highest mountain. Upon arrival at the peak, Gadd was struck by the sheer size of the task he faced: “The ice that I had pictures of wasn’t there, it was gone. The things I planned to climb were gone. It was really striking to stand on top of the mountain and look around and feel this absence of ice.”

Speaking exclusively to The Huffington Post UK; Gadd said: "The experience of climbing ice on Kilimanjaro led me to start a multi-year quest to document the vanishing places on earth using my sports to really get in closer and personal with the geography that won't be there in just a few years. I want to see, document and share these places before they are gone forever. My kids will enjoy the pictures if nothing else."

Ice Climber Will Gadd
(01 of14)
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The idea seemed so incongruous with my idea of Africa; a really hot place with ice climbing?
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(02 of14)
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I filed it under, "I'll get to that one of these days," but then I read that the ice would likely completely vanish by 2020 or earlier
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(03 of14)
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As it was there just wasn't that much left; more than 90 percent of the ice has melted in the last 80 years or so, and that rate of melt is accelerating.
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(04 of14)
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The glaciers were situated at 5,895 meters above sea level.
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(05 of14)
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Will Gadd is the first person in the world to climb the steep, technical ice on Kilimanjaro using modern gear.
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(06 of14)
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"By 2020, there's a good chance there won't be any ice left there at all – turning what is a once-in-a-lifetime experience into a once-an-epoch one."
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(07 of14)
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Gadd described the glaciers as “fins of ice sticking out of hot sand… like icebergs on a tropical beach!”
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(08 of14)
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The biggest challenge was altitude - “At 6,000m, it's tough to walk,” says Will.
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(09 of14)
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The ice has been on top of Kilimanjaro for 12,000 years.
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(10 of14)
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As for the climbing, it wasn't easy. “The climbing is very technically challenging.”
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(11 of14)
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“Doing 50 pull-ups at sea level is tough. Doing them at 6,000m is a lot tougher.”
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(12 of14)
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“We would literally climb stuff that wouldn't be there the next day.”
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(13 of14)
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“I've climbed a lot of ice, but this was the last of it's kind."
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)
(14 of14)
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The glaciers are just small remnants truly in their last gasp. I felt very lucky to be there!”
(credit:Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool)