Sean McCroskey and his dad, Jeff McCroskey, stretch out their sore muscles on Kilimanjaro. ---- RMI climber, Sean McCroskey recounts his first climb – Kilimanjaro in 2017. Read RMI Guide Casey Grom's dispatches of the team's climb here on the RMI Blog. Find out more about having your first climb featured on our blog! ---- In 2017, I was fortunate enough to climb and summit Kilimanjaro with my Dad (not only was I fortunate enough to do that but also have parents that let me skip the first two weeks of my last semester of college to go and do it!). I didn't have much climbing experience before but had done some hikes up Mt. Mitchell and Mauna Kea as well as worked out a lot to prepare. We arrived in Tanzania and immediately met our guide, Casey Grom. From the get-go my dad and I knew we would be in good hands going up the mountain. Climbing Kilimanjaro was a once in a lifetime experience made even better because of the RMI Team. Our porters were incredible, it was so nice to be able to arrive at camp and have everything set up for our team and to be able to toss our gear down and rest. Sean and Jeff McCroskey with some of their teammates on Kilimanjaro. At night we would bundle up, put our headlamps on, and sit around the dinner table and tell stories (some the funniest stories I've ever heard) and talk about life. I learned so much from a team of people from all different backgrounds. When we reached the top, I took out my Xavier University flag I got just before my freshman year of college and displayed it from the summit with my Dad. The best surprise though was the satellite phone call Casey let us each take from the top – my Dad called my mom and I got to call my best buds back home. Sean and Jeff McCroskey displaying their Xavier University flag on the summit of Kilimanjaro. We had such a great experience; we came back the following summer and climbed Mt. Rainier with Ben Liken and got to see Casey! Sean McCroskey