It seems that there is no such word as ‘impossible’ in the Bannon household in Jonesborough, Co Armagh.
Conor Bannon has an immune deficiency, but the young adventurer does not allow this to limit him in any way and on 30 October 2018 he became the youngest person from Northern Ireland to reach the summit of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. Conor and his mum took on the adventure together and departed from Dublin airport on her 40th birthday.
The 11 year-old has inherited his sense of adventure from his parents, both of whom boast very impressive CVs.
My dad climbed Everest, so he would take us hiking up mountains a lot - I like doing stuff like that
Boston-native Lauren has completed the Marathon des Sables, which is a 156-mile challenge in the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert, while his father Terence – also known as ‘Banjo’ – was the second person from Northern Ireland to climb Mount Everest.
Indeed, it was on the slippery slopes of this trek that he met Lauren.
Conor shares his adventure with Irish Country Living:
“My dad climbed Everest, so he would take us hiking up mountains a lot - I like doing stuff like that.
"I read my dad’s book (Ascending the Dream: The Life and Climbs of Banjo Bannon) so he didn’t have to tell me many stories about Everest because I read about all the things that had happened.
"My dad was sick at base camp and my mum was there with her friends, and he saw a person called Green Boots who fell asleep and then froze to death.
Conor Bannon with his mother, Lauren O'Malley, his father, Terence Bannon, and younger brother, Rowan. \ Philip Doyle
“My mum asked me one day if I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro and I thought ok and then she said: ‘We will fundraise for NI Children’s Hospice’. I had a few months to train.
"We hiked a mountain every week, sometimes two or three and I would run every day. I climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland and I did boxing, Gaelic football and hurling too.
“It took us five days to go up (Kilimanjaro) and two days to come back down.
"We did the Lemosho route and it took ages to get on to the actual mountain, you didn’t get onto the mountain to near enough the last day.
"The route was covered with trees and big hills, so you had to get over that and then there is a big spike in the middle that you have to climb.
“If you had to go to the toilet you had to go behind a rock. At some places there were toilets, but it was basically a hole in the ground.
"The smell was worse than anything I have ever smelled in my life.
“Going to the summit was the hardest part. I didn’t get any sleep because we had done a hike earlier that day, it was about seven hours long.
"We tried to get some rest, but it was really hard because it was daytime and people were chatting. Then we left at midnight just as I was starting to fall asleep. About 45 minutes into it, I started puking all over place.
"The altitude does that. It’s hard to breathe and you get a sore head, but I took medicine for that. Sometimes it felt like your head was going to bust.
“You hike all the way up to this place called Stella Point. It looks a lot like the summit, which everyone thinks it is, but once you get up there you see that there is another good mile.
"That is the bit where everyone gives up.
"About 50% of people go back but I thought: ‘I am not going to because I am so close and most people never get this far’.
“There was snow at the top (of the summit) and when you looked to the right there was a big drop. We were only there for about three minutes. A lot of people thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I did. I am the youngest person from Northern Ireland to do it. I might even be the youngest in the world to have done my route.
“It was way easier coming down and it didn’t rain at all.
"On the way up it lashed. The worst day was day three. It was even colder than Slieve Gullion (in Co Armagh).
"It was raining and we were soaking and then that was turning near enough into ice.
“When I got back to camp after the summit the porters threw me up in the air and had a big sing song. Then we had a two-hour sleep.
"Afterwards we had to do more hiking. I liked going down because I had reached the summit and I was going home soon. I enjoyed not being in school. I just did the 11 Plus (examination) and it was hard, I am far better at doing physical stuff.
“When we got to the bottom the first thing I did was go to a normal toilet.
"That night I slept really well and I was starving because that morning I had one bite of bread and an energy tablet.
“We raised over £6,000 for the Children’s Hospice. We started fundraising before we went and it finished a wee while after we came home. It feels good to raise money for children who need it more than me.”
Read more
Inspire series: I walked 500 miles of the Camino solo at 56
"Failure wasn't an option" - the farm-to-fork cafe on the Long Mile Rd
It seems that there is no such word as ‘impossible’ in the Bannon household in Jonesborough, Co Armagh.
Conor Bannon has an immune deficiency, but the young adventurer does not allow this to limit him in any way and on 30 October 2018 he became the youngest person from Northern Ireland to reach the summit of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. Conor and his mum took on the adventure together and departed from Dublin airport on her 40th birthday.
The 11 year-old has inherited his sense of adventure from his parents, both of whom boast very impressive CVs.
My dad climbed Everest, so he would take us hiking up mountains a lot - I like doing stuff like that
Boston-native Lauren has completed the Marathon des Sables, which is a 156-mile challenge in the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert, while his father Terence – also known as ‘Banjo’ – was the second person from Northern Ireland to climb Mount Everest.
Indeed, it was on the slippery slopes of this trek that he met Lauren.
Conor shares his adventure with Irish Country Living:
“My dad climbed Everest, so he would take us hiking up mountains a lot - I like doing stuff like that.
"I read my dad’s book (Ascending the Dream: The Life and Climbs of Banjo Bannon) so he didn’t have to tell me many stories about Everest because I read about all the things that had happened.
"My dad was sick at base camp and my mum was there with her friends, and he saw a person called Green Boots who fell asleep and then froze to death.
Conor Bannon with his mother, Lauren O'Malley, his father, Terence Bannon, and younger brother, Rowan. \ Philip Doyle
“My mum asked me one day if I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro and I thought ok and then she said: ‘We will fundraise for NI Children’s Hospice’. I had a few months to train.
"We hiked a mountain every week, sometimes two or three and I would run every day. I climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland and I did boxing, Gaelic football and hurling too.
“It took us five days to go up (Kilimanjaro) and two days to come back down.
"We did the Lemosho route and it took ages to get on to the actual mountain, you didn’t get onto the mountain to near enough the last day.
"The route was covered with trees and big hills, so you had to get over that and then there is a big spike in the middle that you have to climb.
“If you had to go to the toilet you had to go behind a rock. At some places there were toilets, but it was basically a hole in the ground.
"The smell was worse than anything I have ever smelled in my life.
“Going to the summit was the hardest part. I didn’t get any sleep because we had done a hike earlier that day, it was about seven hours long.
"We tried to get some rest, but it was really hard because it was daytime and people were chatting. Then we left at midnight just as I was starting to fall asleep. About 45 minutes into it, I started puking all over place.
"The altitude does that. It’s hard to breathe and you get a sore head, but I took medicine for that. Sometimes it felt like your head was going to bust.
“You hike all the way up to this place called Stella Point. It looks a lot like the summit, which everyone thinks it is, but once you get up there you see that there is another good mile.
"That is the bit where everyone gives up.
"About 50% of people go back but I thought: ‘I am not going to because I am so close and most people never get this far’.
“There was snow at the top (of the summit) and when you looked to the right there was a big drop. We were only there for about three minutes. A lot of people thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I did. I am the youngest person from Northern Ireland to do it. I might even be the youngest in the world to have done my route.
“It was way easier coming down and it didn’t rain at all.
"On the way up it lashed. The worst day was day three. It was even colder than Slieve Gullion (in Co Armagh).
"It was raining and we were soaking and then that was turning near enough into ice.
“When I got back to camp after the summit the porters threw me up in the air and had a big sing song. Then we had a two-hour sleep.
"Afterwards we had to do more hiking. I liked going down because I had reached the summit and I was going home soon. I enjoyed not being in school. I just did the 11 Plus (examination) and it was hard, I am far better at doing physical stuff.
“When we got to the bottom the first thing I did was go to a normal toilet.
"That night I slept really well and I was starving because that morning I had one bite of bread and an energy tablet.
“We raised over £6,000 for the Children’s Hospice. We started fundraising before we went and it finished a wee while after we came home. It feels good to raise money for children who need it more than me.”
Read more
Inspire series: I walked 500 miles of the Camino solo at 56
"Failure wasn't an option" - the farm-to-fork cafe on the Long Mile Rd
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