The screening of a film documenting a County native’s attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro has raised $1,500 for the Loyalist Humane Society.

At the summit of Mount Kilamanjaro (CartierProds still)

Carter Purtelle’s 40 minute Ascending the Void was shot over eight days in Tanzania last October and released through this company CartierProds.

The aspiring documentarian and filmmaker met with a team of climbers from all over the world and travelled by way of the Lemosho Gate. The Lemosho Route is considered the most beautiful of all the trekking trails up Mount Kilimanjaro. It crosses the entire Shira Plateau from west to east in a pleasant, relatively flat hike.

Purtelle called himself somewhat of an experienced hiker but traversing one of the planet’s highest summits was no “walk in the park.”

“It was really cool. It’s obviously very difficult to breathe and you have to acclimatize and train your body along the route but once you are at the summit, it’s like you are on another planet,” Purtelle told the Gazette.”It was like being on Mars.”

The film details hiking through the various climatic zones from the rainforest at Lemosho to the Alpine Desert and touches on the process of the hike, the building camaraderie amongst the team, each of the roles the porters and guides take on and the arduous portion of scaling the Barranco Wall before finally stepping on the Uhuru Peak.

Carter Purtelle during his trek to the summit of Mount Kilamanjaro. (CartierProds)

The film is available to watch online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0rcYsj1ag

Gail Robinson of the Loyalist Humane Society was more than happy to accept the proceeds from a screening of Ascending the Void held at the Regent Theatre earlier this year.

“It’s always appreciated when folks in the community think of the animals and can raise some money for us. It always goes to a good cause and good use,” Robinson added.