Climbing Kilamanjaro - total beginners - advice needed

eskimo

Hypothetical situation:

Your goal is to climb Mount Kilamanjaro. Your fitness level is relatively low. As far as doing such a climb goes, it's actually extremely low. However, it's now your goal.

You are prepared to go through however many years of preparation it takes to finally achieve that goal.

And now the questions...

1) How many years on average do you think it might take relatively unfit but otherwise completely healthy twenty-somethings with next-to-no climbing experience to prepare for the climb?

2) What would be involved in the preparation exactly?

These are open ended questions. We don't know what we're doing. We're just looking for help and advice. We've made it our goal, and we're aware it may take years of preparation. If anyone can help us out with expert knowledge or advice, it'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Mickeroo

Haven't done it myself, but from what i hear its not exactly technical. You're just walking up a hill, the altitude will make it harder, but honestly some pretty unfit people have climbed kilimanjaro. You will also get acclimatisation days on the trek to allow your body to adapt. It's realistic to have it done within 6mths to a year, just start hillwalking regularly.

I guy i know did it last year and didnt bother to train, he sits at a computer all day.

If you're healthy ie not overweight and of reasonable fitness it will be no problem.

Check out this thread also: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055446016

elprez

I did kili 5 years ago and it is a non technical climb but the altitude is what makes it hard, if you havnt any hiking experience I suggest you get in touch with adventure alternative who organise trips to kili. They are very good and would be able to advise you better than I can.

smurff

I will be climbing Kili next month...was seriously unfit when made the decision but joined my local hillwalking club 6 months ago and they have been so supportive. Recently climbed Carruntoohill and that was an important landmark. My friend always reminds me that it is our attitude, rather than our aptitude that determines our altitiude.

eskimo

Thank you for the replies! It has all helped! We're doing the climb in June 2010, and we can't wait! Now to spend the next 11 months preparing and researching! :-)

Mickeroo

eskimo wrote: »

Thank you for the replies! It has all helped! We're doing the climb in June 2010, and we can't wait! Now to spend the next 11 months preparing and researching! :-)

Goos luck with it, get yer boots on and get into the hills!

Hugh_C

Mickeroo wrote: »

Goos luck with it, get yer boots on and get into the hills!

Loads of advice on my kili journal at http://kili.intercuts.com. Brillant trip great fun. Pm if you want further advice

mithril

What was the incidence of sickness like on the climb? I did the INCA trail a few years back and while the trail itself was fabulous, almost 90% of the group came down with a flu like bug on the trail (almost certainly due to poor hygiene in the toilet area.
it must be very difficult to complete the climb if your respiratory system is already compromised due to illness. Killimanjaro is a lot higher and tougher than what we did.

Hugh_C

mithril wrote: »

What was the incidence of sickness like on the climb?

Almost everyone experienced some sort of altitude-related condition - I got off lightly with only headache and sleeplessness, my appetite remained good throughout, others got blinding headaches, dodgy stomachs and nausea, loss of appetite, three of the group of 22 got what might be described as acute (but not dangerous) mountain sickness. Everybody had a bad day on the trip, everybody felt sh1te at some time or other. All but two of the 22 used Diamox for the altitude (I didn't and I made it to the top).

6000m is a long way up (ok 5895 but nearly 6000), I could barely form a sentence up on top due to the thin air. But I would do it again for sure.

H

Sev

I dont see any reason why anybody can't make it up Kilimanjaro provided they have enough time to acclimatise. The biggest advice I can give, to improve your chances of summitting is to climb it over as many days as you can.

Many people do the Marangu route in 5 days. It may be the cheapest option, but it's extreme in terms of altitude gained per day. If you were to go on an organised trek in Nepal, for example, out to Everest base camp, you would probably never get much higher than 5500m and you would aim to ascend on average only 300m per day, to acclimatise best.

For the 5 day Kilimanjaro trek, if you keep to the schedule, you will ascend 3925m in only 66hrs. That's over 1400m per day! medically insane. A significant chunk of people will not make the summit because of this, and many will develop headaches and have a miserable time getting there! But its the way its done. Personally I had no problems, but then again I knew from experience, having trekked in nepal that I handled altitude fine.

The thing thats most likely gonna hamper your summit bid is altitude sickness. And theres absolutely nothing you can do about that, it affects people randomly, regardless of fitness. So the best advice I can give you, if you want to make it to the top, is don't try to summit in five days, give it at least seven.

Back to my original point.. I dont see any reason why anybody can't make it up Kilimanjaro provided they have enough time to acclimatise. This point is best exemplified by an American we met on our trek. This guy must have been at least 20 stone.. big big guy. Every morning that I set off, I never expected to see him arrive at the next camp in the evening in time for dinner, but he always did. I just couldnt imagine this guy sumitting, because I was finding it tough enough... but then again, I was keeping a very quick pace, thanks to our brisk walking guides.

His trick, was simply to take it nice and slowly, to go at his own pace. Everybody else was in a group of 3 or 4, and keeping regular pace. He was on his own with his own guide walking at his pace. He would set off much earlier in the morning, at like 6am, when normally groups would set off at like 9 or 10am. He would then arrive at the days destination usually 2 or 3 hours after most groups.

Long story short, he made it to the summit. I was very impressed. On the summit day in question, it took us maybe 5 or 6 hours to reach the top, he did it in about 10 or 12.

mckildare

Me and a friend are doing it in October, should be good fun! I just hope altitude sickness doesnt force me to stop Taking the Machame route with an extra day included (Summit on the 6th day)

How much clothes did ye bring? Thermals/normal?

Any of you reach summit by sunrise? This would be a bonus objective for me

Thanks!

smurff

I am just back from Kilimanjaro...decided at Christmas to do the trip and it was fantastic...went up the Rongai route which means we decended via the Marangu....it was a real bonus not to meet people coming down against us until we got to Kibo...the route itself was not challenging until the final day. A quarter of the group experienced nausea for 2 or 3 days, otehr than that there were a few mild headaches here and there...there is nothing technical about the routw and it was a fantastic trip...our guide led blind people to the summit, celebrities, and his eldest sumniter was 84...if you have any desire for this just go for it

MotteDai

Hi all, a very interesting tread. A friend and I were in Nepal last November we went up to about 4800m. The talk was that we took our time and that we went up & down etc etc therefore aclimatised. Were very keen to try Kili next year, darn weddings getting in way this year.

Can I ask those who mentioned above they had been, who you went with? Was it a brittish/Irish tour expedition company? Did you just book up and arrive over on your own looking for guides over there?

MotteDai

Oh and I ment to add for the origional thread owner, I was much lesser fit than my mate. I had done about 4 to 5 months of cycling and fitness levels for Nepal and I had no trouble, i also smoked. And smokes last longer at altitude, but smoking is stupid I dont condone it.:o

Sev

MotteDai wrote: »

Can I ask those who mentioned above they had been, who you went with? Was it a brittish/Irish tour expedition company? Did you just book up and arrive over on your own looking for guides over there?

I strongly recommend you book with a local agent in Moshi. If you book over the internet with some adventure company or through agencies in Ireland, or with an African adventures company or company based in Kenya etc. you're business will almost certainly be outsourced anyway to a local Moshi trekking agency, and the travel agency you booked with will take a large cut of your money for nothing.

I would recommend booking with Zara tours. www.zaratours.com
They operate out of a hotel in Moshi called the Springlands hotel, which is nice but quite a distance out of the town centre.

Sev

Also, it's very easy to get to Moshi from Nairobi. Theres a regular bus service and it takes about 6 hours I think.

MotteDai

Sev wrote: »

I strongly recommend you book with a local agent in Moshi. If you book over the internet with some adventure company or through agencies in Ireland, or with an African adventures company or company based in Kenya etc. you're business will almost certainly be outsourced anyway to a local Moshi trekking agency, and the travel agency you booked with will take a large cut of your money for nothing.

I would recommend booking with Zara tours. www.zaratours.com
They operate out of a hotel in Moshi called the Springlands hotel, which is nice but quite a distance out of the town centre.

Thanks Sev, sounds good. Also im sure it adds to the adventure depening on oneself.
All in what should one be budgeting? 2or 3K?

di2772

I climbed it a few years ago with absolutely no preparation. I was in no way fit either. Neither were most of the people in the group.

Nobody got sick, but a few hypochondriacs thought they were sick. Some of these thought they were suffering from altitude sickness when we were less than 500M, because someone told them that they might be feeling it at that stage. What a laugh.

In the end everybody made it up.

Its not as hard as people seem to say it is at all.

Just go and enjoy it. Do a safari afterwards though.

Sev

MotteDai wrote: »

Thanks Sev, sounds good. Also im sure it adds to the adventure depening on oneself.
All in what should one be budgeting? 2or 3K?

I guess if all you want to do is climb Kilimanjaro, then 2k should easily be enough, since you don't need to worry about meals or accommodation on the trek. You need only organise accommodation in Nairobi and Moshi, meals and a 6hr bus journey (assuming you fly into Nairobi).

But I wouldn't just go there to climb Kilimanjaro, you'd be missing out on so much to see in that part of the world. I would find out where the wildebeest migration is going to be when you're there and visit either the Serengeti or Masai Mara national park.

http://www.sunsafaris.com/serengeti-migration-route.html

Theres also the Ngorongoro Crater, just a short drive from Arusha (the hub of the tanzanian safari circuit, just 6hr bus from Nairobi) which is packed full of wildlife regardless of what season it is.

You will find that Africa is expensive, much more expensive than trekking in south east asia, china, india or south america. It's not very back packery, and caters more to people with too much money who want to ride in Luxury. So if you want your money to go a long way in Africa, you need to be shrewd.

Make sure you organise as much of it as independently as you can. And if you do organise part of your holiday, such as a short safari through a company, make sure youre dealing with people as far down the supply chain as possible. If you book on the internet for example, there are lots of large umbrella africa adventure companies who will be happy to organise your safari who will just pass your business on to another local operator and take a cut of your money.

Also, if you look into booking safaris over the internet, you'll only find expensive lodges offering expensive hotel rooms and expensive safaris. There are alternatives, you can camp in the masai mara or stay in very budget lodges, the difference in the price is enormous, but you wont find websites for these guys on the internet. You'll just have to pick up a lonely planet, find a couple of these guys under budget accommodation in the masai mara/serengeti section of the lonely planet guide, and contact them directly by email or phone.

When I was in Africa, we decided towards the end of our trip, we would do a short safari in the Masai Mara. Got picked up early in the morning from Nairobi in our own private safari van for two people, drove to the Masai Mara (6hrs from Nairobi), did an evening game drive, stayed overnight in a small camp site (tent provided, slept outside to the sounds of the serengeti while guarded by our own personal masai warrior security), baloon ride (organised through a fancy game lodge), then safari in the morning, and finally driven back to Nairobi, meals included and park entrance fee included. Excluding the cost of the morning balloon flight, this came to 300e each for two people with a company called ktsafaris.

http://www.ktsafaris-kenya.com/

This was by far cheaper than all other options we researched, but still way more expensive than it could have been, because at very short notice, we couldn't find anybody else to share the cost of transport and fuel for our 9 seater safari van! So if you're interested in tailoring a Safari in Kenya, but without it costing an arm and a leg, I'd look into this crowd.

Also, while in Africa, we went to Lake Nakuru national park, Ngorongoro Crater and Hell's Gate national park... but the Masai Mara was by far the best safari location we visited, it beat them all hands down, simply because the wildebeest migration was in force at the time we visited!

Also, an important thing to be aware of if climbing Kilimanjaro, is porter tips. The trekking companies make a big deal of it, and towards the end of your trek a meeting will be arranged for when you thank the porters and give them their tip. The amount suggested by the trekking companies is something like 10-15% of the cost of your trip which is massive. A ridiculous number of people will be involved in the operation of your guided group, cooks, guides, porters and each of them will be expecting their share of the tip, and if they don't get it, they can be VERY PUSHY. Beware!

Also, from Arusha, you can visit Zanzibar. It would require a long bus ride (full days driving, like 10-12hrs), a sleep over in Dar Es Salaam, and then a Ferry in the morning (3hrs). But if you like looking out the window and seeing the country these long bus journies can be rewarding, since you get to see the geography, the landscape and get a feel for the scale of the country as well as seeing more rural parts of Africa than you would by simply visiting large tourist/population centers.

Sorry for all the possibly irrelevant information, I'm just filling you in on the kind of information I would have liked to have known before I organised my trip to Africa!

Hugh_C

di2772 wrote: »

Nobody got sick, but a few hypochondriacs thought they were sick. Some of these thought they were suffering from altitude sickness when we were less than 500M, because someone told them that they might be feeling it at that stage.

500m?

The walk starts at 1800m ffs.

Despite di's iron lungs, lack of prep and a problem-free trek, hundreds of people get sick on Kilimanjaro every year and have to come down. So altitude sickness is a real problem for some, it is not in people's minds as suggested. While I was on the mountain last year there were 2 deaths reported.

To maximise your chances of making it to the top, advance prep is essential and do a longer trek - 7 days if you can.

Sev

I agree with Hugh_C.

As I said, in my previous post. Yes you may find the hike easy going, and not experience any symptoms of altitude sickness... but if you havn't been at altitude before, and you don't know how you will personally respond to it, then you're simply rolling a dice.

Kilimanjaro is extremely high, higher than any height you would expect to trek to in the Andes or Himalayas, so high that you will have to search hard to find travel insurance to cover you for trekking that high even though the climb will involve no technical mountainering. The reason for this is because altitude is dangerous.

Altitude sickness is a very serious condition, people die from it, and the only real cure is descent. The only real preventative measure you can take against it, is to ascend slowly allowing your body to acclimatise.

Climbing from 1800m to 5800m in less than 66hrs (as you would on the 5 day marangu trip) is for the majority of people TOO FAST, and not medically adviseable. I can say without any reservations that If you do the 5 day marangu trip, there is a greater than 50% chance that you will get altitude sickness, and that you will either not make the summit or that you will feel absolutely miserable trying. If you do get altitude sickness at 4000m, and you continue pushing on to the summit, you may die.

Although I do agree with one point that di makes, and that is people can be hypochondriacs at altitude.

paddylast

If your looking for lots of info on trekking kilimanjaro i would recommend picking up a copy of Henry stedmans book.

its contains pros and cons of all the routes and gives advice on equipment lists. also has section on Mt Meru if you wanted to acclimatise before doing kilimanjaro.

di2772

Hugh_C wrote: »

500m?

The walk starts at 1800m ffs.

Despite di's iron lungs, lack of prep and a problem-free trek, hundreds of people get sick on Kilimanjaro every year and have to come down. So altitude sickness is a real problem for some, it is not in people's minds as suggested. While I was on the mountain last year there were 2 deaths reported.

To maximise your chances of making it to the top, advance prep is essential and do a longer trek - 7 days if you can.

They were complaining of sickness before they were even on the mountain. Like i said .... Imagination.
Show us the links to the deaths?

Sev

di2772 wrote: »

Show us the links to the deaths?

Unfortunately not everybody's death has a link on the internet. But Wikipedia would have me believe that 10 people die on Kilimanjaro each year and quotes http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/7976 as a reference.

A quick Google search uncovered this article, in which the author seems to get across the severity of the risk of altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro
http://www.alpineascents.com/kili-article.htm. It's a pretty good read.

di2772

Sev wrote: »

Unfortunately not everybody's death has a link on the internet. But Wikipedia would have me believe that 10 people die on Kilimanjaro each year and quotes http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/7976 as a reference.

A quick Google search uncovered this article, in which the author seems to get across the severity of the risk of altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro
http://www.alpineascents.com/kili-article.htm. It's a pretty good read.

Wikipedia and one article that coupld have been made up - actually it reads like he pulled the info out of his arse alright.
How about something from a reputable news source.

I would have thought deaths on Kilimanjaro from altitude sickness would make the news. Especially when you know the exact time that they happened. So perhaps Hugh_c could tell us when he was there and then look up the news for those dates.

hugoline

According to this 'article', the deaths on Kili are not centrally recorded (not surprising as it's climbed from 2 different countries) and are estimated at 20-30 per year (not all due to altitude sickness though)

Many reported deaths are found on google this this this (but the article in the newspaper has been deleted since) and the list could go on...

Altitude sickness is usually not lethal, but it screws up your thinking which usually leads to stupid decisions with sometimes deadly consequences. The climbing in groups and trust in your guide can therefore be crucial.

I haven't climbed Kili myself yet but been on similar altitude and would definitely bring the thermals (reading some of the reports would suggest that too)

mckildare, enjoy the trip and don't worry too much about the altitude, there is not much you can do about that here in Ireland

Hugh_C

di2772 wrote: »

So perhaps Hugh_c could tell us when he was there and then look up the news for those dates.

26/09/08, knock yourself out!

di2772

Hugh_C wrote: »

26/09/08, knock yourself out!

No, knock yourself out. You made the statement. You prove it. Dont ask me to prove it for you.

I know people want to big up the achievement of climbing the mountain, but really, its not that hard to do at all.

Anyway this is getting off topic. The op should go and have a great time. No you wont die up there. And make sure and enjoy everything else Africa has to offer too when you come down.

brndonnie

hi guys - im planning a trip to kilamanjaro in august/sept and was looking for a reputable but cheap guide.

does anyone have any suggestions, warning or advice that is not already discussed in the earlier posts

thanks

p.s any advice on safari companies would also be greatly appreciated

Glenalla

Ahh. Sunrise from the top. What a trip. Its not easy but its not difficult but is it worth it! I have never felt such a feeling and nearly cried I was so over whelmed.

brndonnie

whow! what company guide did you use, was it expensive??

thanks

Glenalla

Used Zaras Planet in Dublin to book entire holiday to include Zanzibar for a week afterwards (really worth it to relax), they use "The Africian Walking Company" as guides on the mountain. The guides are excellent, always watching to make sure we we all ok and not getting altitude sickness. They guided but were not intrusive and also great craic into the bargin. As for difficulty, another group left the same time as us and had pooh poohed the climb as they were supposed to be going to Base Camp Everest which had been cancelled - they didnt make it, we did. Its very much a mental thing as well as physical. I trained by doing a 500 m climb every night after work for 3 months and doing 4-5 peaks of the high Mournes every saturday, it stood to me but was probably over the top as I saw others who had not trained get to the top although it was quite a struggle for them compared to how I felt, I could nearly have run up the last climb. Did the Rongai route which is very quiet and scenic. Not sure of the actual cost as we booked the break as well afterwards but dont skimp as it is worth every penny. Dont listen to a thing you read on american sites as they go so far over the top. If you want any more info let me know.

K09

brndonnie wrote: »

hi guys - im planning a trip to kilamanjaro in august/sept and was looking for a reputable but cheap guide.

does anyone have any suggestions, warning or advice that is not already discussed in the earlier posts

thanks

p.s any advice on safari companies would also be greatly appreciated

Hi,
I did Kilimanjaro a few yrs ago with a company called Mar tours. I found them to be excellent. The price was very reasonable. The guide Tosha was hugely experienced and knowledgeable. They picked me up from the airport, helped me find a place to stay in Moshi and made sure I had all the gear needed. Really fantastic.
Job was the guy running the company. He was brilliant. They also organise Safaris and my gf and I were able to customise our own safari. Could decide where we want to go, for how long, etc. And again our guide was brilliant. Very friendly and superb knowledge.

PM me if you want their contact details.