As dawn broke on Sun 24th Mar, Fridge Man Mike Copeland walked into the record books by becoming the first person to reach Kilimanjaro’s summit (Uhuru) with a fridge on his back.

Mike is raising awareness of mental illnesses and raising funds for the MIND (North Staffs) charity.

With the assistance and expertise of Travel and Trek, this ambitious, and some say ‘crazy’ adventure, was months in the planning including acquiring the fridge in Tanzania. Mike flew into Tanzania on 16 Mar and spent a day stripping down and fixing the fridge to his A-frame and sticking all of the sponsored advertising (prepared in the UK) to the fridge.

He began trekking on 18 Mar, with his guide and small support crew. The route was carefully thought out, avoiding awkward sections like the Barranco Wall.

Reaching Kilimanjaro’s summit is a feat in itself, primarily due to the altitude (5895m/19,305′) but when you add the weight of the fridge (around 30kg), it adds a new dimension. At that altitude, Mike says, ‘it was like breathing through a straw’.

As you would expect with a 3-mile vertical climb, the weather varied hugely. Cloudless warm sunny days were mixed with a snowy ascent to the summit (through the night), and temperatures of around -8°C.

Mike exited Kilimanjaro’s National Park on Mon 25th Mar, after 8 days on the mountain. He arrived back in the UK on 27th Mar.

Having raised more than £20,000 (as of 8 Jun 2024), the money is being used to set up and run a weekly alliance group for men called ‘Mindful Men’. It will begin in September and offer a holistic approach to men’s mental health by combining talking therapies, guest speakers, and outdoor physical workshops.

The fridge symbolises the burden that is carried by those who suffer from mental health issues – it weighs heavy.

Fridge Man (Mike Copeland) left the Armed Forces after 8 years of service and soon struggled with the lack of structure in his life. His mental health suffered terribly. Having been a Physical Training Instructor, he once again turned his focus on physical fitness. He went into bodybuilding and won numerous National amateur titles. This brought some much-needed structure and discipline back into his life. And then Covid struck. That period was the beginning of his exploits in raising awareness and funds for mental health charities. That expanded into hiking and the fridge followed as he looked to raise awareness of mental health issues. After his previous challenges, he needed something big to get the public to donate, so he chose Kilimanjaro. He aims to raise at least £20,000 for this Kilimanjaro climb.

You can support Fridge Man by donating to his cause. Just a few pounds will make a difference to someone.

We all know that Kilimanjaro is a tough cookie, and reaching its summit is not a given. There are numerous challenges that Fridge Man Mike faced:

The Physical Effort – The fridge + his daysack (inside the fridge) will weigh around 30 – 35 kg. This level of weight is going to have an impact on the physical effort required to ascend.

The Altitude – At 5895m, Kilimanjaro is high. It’s around 600m (nearly 2000 feet) higher than Everest Base Camp. Sufficient acclimatisation was included to offset altitude sickness.

The Route – The route we chose for Fridge Man was carefully considered. It was a combination of the Lemosho route (first 2 days) + the northern circuit + the Rongai to the summit. This combination was chosen because:

The Weather – This challenge takes place in mid-March, so the rains are due. The northern circuit is in the rain shadow, so he should be dry on that side.

The Barranco Wall – This short (about 1 hr), steep, vertigo-inducing ascent is on the southern circuit and we felt it should be avoided. The sheer awkward size of the fridge is not going to be the most stable of things, (especially if it was wet) so it was avoided.

The fridge itself was acquired in Tanzania specifically for this purpose. Fridge Man Mike made the adjustments and fixed it to his A-frame himself on arrival. The A-frame, brackets, and nuts/bolts were all taken from the UK by Mike himself. All of the electrical workings and the compressor were stripped out. An ex-military A-frame was then bolted onto the rear fridge wall, with the aid of a bracket, to allow the whole thing to be carried. A strap is then wrapped around the outside to prevent the door from opening!

Fridge Man took his A-frame, bracket, and set of nuts and bolts to fix to the fridge that was acquired for him in Tanzania.