Team Sole Sisters

Melissa Guthrie, 14, simply loves being outdoors. Having lived on a game ranch in Zululand surrounded by wildlife Melissa needed no encouragement to explore the wonders of nature from as early as she can remember. The family’s move to Cape Town in 2008 gave Melissa even more opportunities to spend time outside. With the Cape’s beautiful beaches and vast mountain ranges, Melissa soon took to learning to hike, surf, scuba dive and trail run.

Living close to the Table Mountain National Park allowed the family to spend weekends exploring the numerous established mountain trails around Cape Town. What usually started out as casual picnic hikes with the family normally ended up in competitive trail runs back home with her sister. For some, mountains are simply addictive; Melissa is clearly hooked!

The idea of climbing more challenging mountains, led Melissa to start looking at the big mountains of the world. The 7 Summits is a challenge to climb the highest peaks on each of the world’s continents and Melissa’s long term goal is to join the small group of mountaineers who have accomplished this great feat. Melissa’s work ethic and unwavering determination to succeed will surely see her reach her goal.

Melissa is a grade 8 pupil at Wynberg Girls’ High School in Cape Town. She is a keen participant in humanitarian initiatives and is always looking to see how she can offer a hand to those less fortunate. Melissa and her younger sister Hannah founded Team Sole Sisters in early 2011, which they plan to turn into a humanitarian foundation someday. Team Sole Sisters’ first campaign will be the climb of Mt Kilimanjaro in October 2011 in aid of the Bobs for Good Foundation, a public beneficiary organization that collects donations for the purchase and distribution of school shoes for the more than 7 million children in South Africa who don’t have school shoes.

Hannah Guthrie, 9, is a ‘never-say-die’ kind of girl. Never scared of a challenge, she is determined to become the youngest legal summiteer of Mt Kilimanjaro on the 17^th October 2011.

Hannah enjoys swimming, trail running and rock climbing and has a plan to get her open water scuba diving license when she returns from Mt Kilimanjaro.

A grade 4 pupil at Wynberg Girls’ Junior School in Cape Town, Hannah is keen to inspire other kids to dream big and follow their goals. Encouraged by Personal Fitness Instructor parents to eat healthy and exercise regularly, Hannah has seen the benefits herself and wants to share the ‘healthy living’ message with other kids. Together with her teammate sister Melissa, Hannah is out to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Her first big climb of Mt Kilimanjaro is in aid of a kids charity. Team Sole Sisters hopes to raise awareness for the plight of the millions of kids who walk to school over rough African terrain barefoot.

Hannah’s preparation for Mt Kilimanjaro started in January 2011. She has stuck to a rigorous schedule of swimming, running and weekly hikes and has built up a solid foundation of endurance and strength that even she is surprised at.