Mt. Kilimanjaro

junii

Hi,
I want to climb this mountain next year. Has anybody done this here? How did you train for it?

cavedave

Has anybody done this here?

I have not done it and certainly did not do it here. I have two friends who did it in Africa.

How did you train for it?

General fitness which involves lots of hill walking and some stair machine.
High Altitude fitness, which builds up over time and is lost quickly. Kilimanjaro is odd because you cannot hike up hills near it get used to the depravation and then climb it. Last time i read the research climbing a mountain in the alps and then heading off two weeks later will not help your aclimitisation. But it would psychologically help knowing that you have been to this hieght before.

I would say do loads of hill walking here. Do the stair machine during the week if you are not near a mountain and read up the literature on high altitude adjustment.

Alun

Like cavedave said ... lot's of hillwalking and fitness excercises to get your general level of fitness up. It's the altitude that'll get you though, and the only thing to do is to acclimatize properly and take the advice of the guides and take the first few days very slooooowly, however painful it might be to walk that slowly.

I've not done it myself, but know two people who have, one of whom didn't make it due to altitude sickness. I have, however, had altitude sickness (at 4,000+ metres skiing in the US, without acclimatizing first!) and it isn't pleasant, I can tell you!

junii

Ill be very fit by that time from cycling so that aspect I won't need to worry about then. Ill look into acclimatizing though (sounds nasty).

junii

cavedave wrote:

I have not done it and certainly did not do it here. I have two friends who did it in Africa.

Anyone do it here as in "someone here in this forum" :rolleyes:

Alun

junii wrote:

Ill be very fit by that time from cycling so that aspect I won't need to worry about then. Ill look into acclimatizing though (sounds nasty).

Acclimatization is simply spending time (taking it easy) at altitude for a period (a day at least) before embarking on the actual climb, and also taking it very easy for the first day or so, getting used to the slow pace you'll be effectively forced to adopt when you get higher up, and the oxygen gets sparse.

As far as the cycling goes, I'm not sure that fitness in one sport necessarily translates to fitness in another. I've come across new hill walkers in our group who have declared themselves fit as a fiddle from practising other sports, or regular gym work, who have really struggled on steep climbs. On the other hand, I, as a regular hill walker, would probably collapse in a sweaty heap after just 5 minutes of something like squash for example.

piraka

Altitude sickness is your biggest worry, irrespective of how fit you are.

I picked up a nice little book in my travels called: Altitude Illness, Prevention & Treatment, Stephen Bezruchaka, M.D. Cordee.

A visit to your GP to discuss the trip, prior to going, would be advisable.

Evil Phil

Just to follow on what everybody else has said. I don't think cycling will translate well to such a big hike. Getting out into the hills will get you hill fit which is really what you're looking for. Take it easy while at altitude and watch your hydration levels. If you get dehydrated and you blood pressure drops then you'll probably will get altitude sickness.

cavedave

the guy who writes Ross O'Carrol Kelly was just on newstalk talking about climbing Kilimanjaro. There should be a podcast of it up on http://www.newstalk.ie/podcasting.html at some stage
David

junii

I checked there and its not posted yet but am looking forward to listening when it goes up. Cheers cavedave.

thirtyfoot

I've climbed Kili and while hiking is the best preparation being a regular and dedicated cyclist will prepare you pretty well for the physical side of Kili. (Judging by the condition of the average cyclists I know). Its still important to combine your cycling with a few long hikes closer to the trip. Although a regular hiker, I hadn't hiked for a year before Kili and I was fine thanks to being in reasonable shape otherwise.

Also, you may have an option to take an extra day on the climb. Take this. If you are taking an easier route the days are not that long and pretty flat, as far as I remembered the route we took involved 5-6 hour hikes (or even less), at a painfully slow pace. Ensure you go at this painfully slow pace. As others said, stay hydrated, and eat loads.

The only really difficult part is summit night. Depending which route you take, you may be waking at midnight for the summit, it'll be dark and you will be zig zagging up a scree slope for anything between 4-7 hours, with only the heels and arse of the person in front of you to look at. If you are a determined person, you'll be grand, its more mental than physical towards the end.

On our climb we met a pair of swedes who were skiers, they were in superb shape and super confident of making the summit, but we got the impression they were a bit soft. We also met a South African on his own, overweight, in bad shape, not very outdoorsy. He would trudge along each day and come in hours after the rest. On summit night, the swedes headed off first and broke trail, but half-way up the slope they gave up and headed back down. After we had summitted and were on the way down the mountain, we met the South African with still 3-4 hours walking to the summit. He was in bad shape and we doubted he would make it. But we met him at a lower camp the following day and he had made it, after 16 hours of hardship, he had done it because he was seriously determined. My point being its all in the head.

While Kili is not the greatest mountain in the world, at that altitude you do need to be careful and respect it and be fully aware of the consequences. Its the rapid ascent you need to be careful so in the trek in just take it really slow, get as fit as possible before you go and on summit night just don't give up, the summit sunrise is worth it!!

luvleyB

Hey I've been reading the posts. .. am also looking at heading up next year.
Just wondering how long is a decent preparation time needed? And if anyone knows which company has a good reputation for guides up - there are soo many!!
Brenda.

thirtyfoot

Preparation will depend on your current state of fitness, so thats a tough one to answer.

I used maranguhotel.com as they were a friend of a friend of a friend. Two brothers own it, their mother is from Cork.

Our guides were excellent and the very unfit South African also had a Maranguhotel guide and he was full of praise for him too for getting him to the top. They have a hotel at the gates to the park if you need stayover.

luvleyB

Thanks for that I'll look them up - do they have a website? I'll have a search anyway. As for fitness - i'm relatively fit, I run 3-4times a week for about 45mins, and do the odd bit of climbing/walking/running up hills. I guess the main bit of training will be getting some hill walking in.

TSDE

Just beware on what the acclimitisation period is like. A lot of people do the walk to the top in 5-6 days which is really way too quick and dangerous for people and doesnt give the body time to adjust!