Kilimanjaro??

FreekyGeek

Hi, I've been thinking of climbing Kilimanjaro but have never done a high altitude climb before :eek: .

Has anyone any info on this?
How fit should I really be?
What experiences have you had (good or bad)?

Any info would be great. I hadn't planned attempting it until next year but I think I need to start training for it now.

Evil Phil

You could come to the Irish Alpine meet being held in Switzerland this year. Its in July and you'll get introduction courses quite cheap plus the chance to climb and meet with more experienced people. http://www.mountaineering.ie/ has the details. You'll need to learn about travelling on glaciers etc I'd imagine.

While I've never had an emergency in the moutains (yet!) I came down with altitude sickness last year for the first time, it sucks really bad, but it wasn't a bad case just vomiting and headaches. You'll need to be arobically fit so do lots of hillwalking. When are you thinking of going? I've never been to Africa and I'd like to do Kilimanjaro.

Humblebee

My ex's uncle did it a few years ago. Said it was grueling. To go to the top, I think you have to be fairly experienced. It can be pretty dangerous. There are guided expeditions to lower points on the mountain, but I guess it's not the same as going to the tippity top.

Kevin_rc_ie

yeah i'd say it's hard to get to the tippity tip top.

What's the longest trek you've been on previously Freeky? How high have you gone?

Enduro

I did it a few years ago.

Its not in the slightest bit technical. Its a walk all the way. No technical training required. Certainly no glacier skills required. The fitter you are the less likely it is that altitude will have a bad effect, but everybody goes up Kili too fast, and as a result nearly everybody gets altitude sickness. The best training you could do in Ireland would be to do lots of very long hillwalks at the weekends.

Its mandatory to hire a guide. Its easiest to organise a package of guides and porters, and go up with the minimum of effort on your part. They'll carry all the gear and food, and cook all the meals. Luxury! The packages can be arranged before you go, or out in Arushe or Moshe when you get there (but don't forget to haggle!). You'll also have to pay park fees by the day. Its as a result of all these daily charges that everyone tries to go up and down as fast as possible. However it will make a huge difference if you take a few extra days going up to gradually acclimatise as you go. You're less likely to spend your time up on the top wanting to vomit the whole time. Its worth learning a bit about altitude acclimitisation strategies to understand the best approach (up... the down again...and up a bit more, then down again....). Spending the money to take a slow planned ascent will be far more benificial than a years worth of low altitude training.

As to the overall experience.... it was the best holiday I ever had. Fantastic. I strongly recommend you take as much time as possible to travel around (Kenya/Tanzania) afterwards. Another recommendation is not to take the standard tourist route (coca-cola route) up, but to do something like the whiskey route. Do some research there....

larryone

my girlfriend is planning on going there in the summer. she's done quite a bit of hiking in uganda, but nothing like kilmanjaro