PEAK PERFORMANCE INSTRUCTOR CONQUERS KILIMANJARO.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro -- sometimes called the ``roof of Africa'' -- is just too high up for idle chatter.

College of the Canyons instructor Kevin Anthony, 56, learned how altitude and oxygen depletion affects his desire to talk when he climbed the 19,335-foot Tanzanian peak last year.

Anthony found another group of hikers from Nashville, Tenn., at the snow-capped summit. But he wasn't about to start talking to them about country music.

``When you're at 19,000 feet, you don't have a lot to say. You're just trying to breathe and enjoy the scenery and say congratulations,'' Anthony said.

Now, Anthony is happy to talk about the experience. The instructor of culinary arts and hotel management will give a free talk Tuesday about his trek up Africa's tallest peak.

``You climb mountains like this, it changes your life,'' he said. ``I found it changed my life.''

When Anthony, a Studio City resident, started his hike through a leafy jungle criss-crossed by elephant tracks, he was accompanied by four other hikers, two guides and 12 porters to carry the tents and food. Farther up the path, as the surroundings got more treacherous, the hike proved too much for two hikers and a porter, who all turned back.

Anthony took medication during the weeklong hike to combat the potentially fatal effects of altitude sickness. But he couldn't smell his food so he lacked appetite. Since there was so little oxygen only a few quick steps could leave him breathless, and the temperatures shifted wildly between day and night.

``At 18,000 feet, the sun is like a blowtorch,'' Anthony said. ``We just got in our tent and we spent all day in our tent, because it was just too brilliant to be out.''

Near the summit, as Anthony's party went up a trail that hugs the side of the mountain, the trail gave way under the feet of a fellow hiker. She fell down flat, hanging off the mountain face, and a guide had to pull her to safety.

The party continued to the summit, and then made a quick journey back down the mountain.

Audrey Green, dean of program development at College of the Canyons, has worked with Anthony on the creation of a culinary arts program and described him as a man of varied interests.

``He likes challenges,'' she said. ``He seems like he would be a person that would climb mountains; I'm not surprised.''

Anthony's trip up the mountain had risks. A leg of the hike Anthony took, called the Western Breach, has since been closed after several hikers died in a rockslide.

But for Anthony, Mount Kilimanjaro is also a place of great beauty -- a largely silent landscape where he could see the savanna below and look back down the mountain at sites he'd camped in on previous nights.

``When you're climbing, you're very into the moment,'' he said. ``You've got to be really paying attention, so you're very aware of your surroundings. To me it was beautiful.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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IF YOU GO

Kevin Anthony will talk about his trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, at College of the Canyons in Room M-318.

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2 photos, box

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(1 -- color) Kevin Anthony, an instructor in culinary arts and hotel management at College of the Canyons, will give a free talk Tuesday morning about his trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak.

Kevin Anthony/Special to the Daily News

(2 -- color) College of the Canyons instructor Kevin Anthony recently climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

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IF YOU GO (see text)