After back-to-back NRL titles, Trent Robinson is about to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa
With back-to-back NRL titles under his belt, Roosters coach Trent Robinson is about to embark on incredible personal journey and climb to the top of Africa’s highest mountain — Mount Kilimanjaro.
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Roosters coach Trent Robinson didn’t skip a single visit to Concord’s Peak Altitude training facility last week as he prepared to conquer daunting twin peaks — back-to-back grand finals and Mount Kilimanjaro.
The dormant volcano in Tanzania is almost 6000m above sea level and Robinson has spent months preparing for the climb of his life.
Now with successive premierships taken care of after Sunday’s 14-8 grand final victory over Canberra, the focus is firmly on his next project.
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“I have been doing altitude training four times a week over at Concord, so I have been going over there and doing that,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for probably four months.”
The supercoach will start climbing the highest mountain in Africa next week in support of the Mark Hughes Foundation.
“I really wanted a challenge,” Robinson said. “I wanted to help Mark and I’m about to set off next week, next Tuesday. It’s hard to switch now [from a rugby league mindset] but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Robinson and Hughes, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2013, have been mates for more than a decade and the gruelling trek is a way to help raise funds for the foundation.
Hughes and his former Newcastle teammate and Knights legend Danny Buderus will join Robinson on the climb.
Robinson has already scaled Grandes Jorasses, a mountain in Mont Blanc massif and the second highest in France at 4208m above sea level.
“I’ve been over four [thousand metres], the second highest in France,” Robinson said.
“I have climbed but I haven’t been over five [thousand metres]. I think it (Kilimanjaro) is 5895m, so that’s high.
“It’s a real test. I’m not concerned about the days walking, I’ve done enough of that. It’s more the altitude and making sure I’m prepared for that.”
As well as months of running and altitude training, Robinson will use the remarkable stories from world-renowned rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson to help him through the tough times.
The American duo famously scaled the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2015, a free climb previously considered unachievable.
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In July, Robinson invited Caldwell and Jorgeson to Roosters HQ to tell his players and staff the harrowing stories from their 19-day ascent.
A week later, Robinson announced he would be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in October.
The trek has already raised almost $53,000, and every dollar will go to the Hughes charity.
“We’ve raised a lot of money,” he said. “It will go to nurses who assist brain cancer patients. It’s a great cause and we can see that from the Beanie for Brain Cancer Round.
Robinson isn’t the only Rooster to achieve a huge personal milestone in the off-season.
Forward Angus Crichton is launching his own foundation, The First People Project, at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday night.
Crichton will travel the country to document Australia’s most remote indigenous communities.
You can support Robinson’s Kilimanjaro trek here: https://kilimanjaro2019.everydayhero.com/au/trent-robinson
And the First People Project here: https://www.firstpeopleproject.org/