Kilimanjaro Report About A Freezing Mountain Climb

Kilimanjaro Report Diary

Kilimanjaro Report Climbing Operator Used:

Duration and Route:

8 days January 2005, Lemosho Glades Route

Journal Author: Matthew Clifton, USA

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Matthew and his dad Jim (63) successfully climbed the African mountain after a safari in the Serengeti but it wasn't all plain sailing. Here is their Kilimanjaro report....

Climb Highlights:

The big advantage of taking the Lemosho route is that because it takes a little longer it gives you some time to acclimatize to the altitude and that means no altitude sickness. Many people fail to reach the summit because they want to get there too fast.

The first day saw them hiking through the rain forest to the big tree camp (3 hours, 2100 ft. elevation gain, 9022 ft.) with slick clay underfoot that caused a bit of slipping and sliding. There were monkeys in the surrounding trees and it began to rain as they were nearing camp.

The second day was the hardest except for the actual summit when they hiked up to the Shira Plateau (6 hours, 2750 ft. elevation gain, 11483 ft.) but it was worthwhile for the spectacular views.

Day three was spent getting to Shira hut camp (3 hours, 1000 ft. elevation gain, 12467 ft.) with a piping hot meal waiting to reward them for their efforts.

Days four to six were spent getting from Shira hut to the Barafu camp (3 hours, 1312 ft. elevation gain, 15091 ft.) from which they would make an attempt on the summit. The scenery is beautiful and because the pace is slow you get ample time to enjoy it. The mountain is reasonably congested with climbers and at one camp there were 100 clients and 400 porters waiting their turn to go higher.

Matthew and Jim slept very little (about 2 hours each) because of the excitement of the summit on day seven. They started hiking at 12am which was to last for 12 hours (4249 ft. elevation gain, ~7000 ft. elevation decent, highpoint 19340 ft, camp at ~12500 ft.).

But it was cold...VERY cold and a 30 mph wind soon blew snow and ice across the face of the mountain causing a wind chill of around -25° to -35°F. By 6am they had made it to the top of Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro Report Tips & Recommendations:

Although the weather on the summit is normally good, having the proper gear can make the difference in the off chance that you have a freak storm.

Train for the climb. It was unbelievable how many people thought that they could go from the couch to 19,000+ ft. with no training. Stairmaster, running, swimming, etc. will make it a much more enjoyable experience for you. Kilimanjaro is an expensive mountain to climb, so do yourself a favour and prepare.

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