Suwanee Man Begins Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb on Friday

A Suwanee man and others began Friday a mission to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa.

Kyle Maynard, who operates No Excuses CrossFit in Suwanee and also is a motivational speaker, arrived in Tanzania on Wednesday and began the climb Friday morning (Eastern time), according to the mission's Twitter feed and website postings. (Time in Tanzania is eight hours later than U.S. Eastern time, according to Internet reports.)

"Our team arrived at the machame gate and have started our trek up the mountain!," according to a website posting dated Friday. "... 16 days until the summit!

Maynard, 25, would become the first quadruple amputee to make it up the fourth-highest peak of the Seven Summits without assistance. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa, some 19,300 feet above sea level. Stone Mountain (1,686 feet at its summit) was a training ground for Maynard.

Maynard is part of a seven-member team for the mission. The team's aim is to inspire both military veterans returning to civilian life and also to inspire children born with disabilities.

Maynard has noted that many veterans face difficulty finding employment when they re-enter civilian life, and sometimes take their own lives when the challenges become too much.

Also, Maynard, a congenital amputee, hopes to help disabled children overcome their handicaps.

Part of the mission involved Maynard's team visiting a school in Moshi, Tanzania -- the Mwereni Integrated School for the Blind, where the team spent time with children confronting difficulties of living with a disability in a third-world country. Through a donation from K2 Summit Productions, Team Kilimanjaro has delivered $25,000 worth of medical supplies to the children, according to a website posting.

Suwanee Patch will have continued updates on Maynard's Kilimanjaro climb.