These 10 tips won't actually guarantee you'll reach the summit of Africa's highest, but follow them and you'll give yourself the best possible chance.
1) Don’t just sit there, do it!
Many people dream of climbing Kilimanjaro, but how many of them actually take the plunge? It needn’t be as difficult or as expensive as you’d think to get to the summit, but the most important thing is to commit yourself to climbing it. Telling someone you’re going to climb it, and set a date. That way, you’ll feel more duty bound to get off the sofa and give it a go.
Before you book:
2) Do your homework.
Find out as much as you can about the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro long before you go. That way you’ll be prepared. The fact that you’re reading this should show you that, at the very least, you’ve made a start. Buy, and read, the Trailblazer Kilimanjaro the Trekking Guide to Africa's Highest Mountain: Includes Mount Meru & Guides to Arusha, Moshi, Marangu, Nairobi & Dar-Es-Salaam
. Having read many other Kilimanjaro guidebooks, we’d argue that it’s the best there is by a considerable margin.
3) Realise that it’s going to cost you.
Climbing Kilimanjaro is almost certainly something you’ll do only once, so why jeopardise your chances of success by cutting corners? Spend what you have to in order to ensure you enjoy your climb. This advice applies to your choice of route, your choice of climb operator and your choice of equipment – it can be bloody cold and windy at 4am halfway into space – so make sure you’ve not skimped on your clothing and / or equipment.
4) Choose the right route.
Your choice of route will be a major factor in determining whether you reach the summit or not. Each route has its pros and cons, so find out about them all and choose the one that will be right for you. We wouldn’t recommend the Marangu or the standard Rongai, as they’re short and give you little chance to acclimatise. That’s not to say that people don’t make it to the summit, and enjoy the experience, on these routes, just that they lessen your chance of summitting whilst increasing your chances of vomiting. The fact that we went on Team Kilimanjaro’s 7-day Rongai route naturally biases us towards it, but our decision to go with this route came at the end of a lot of research. A good place to start your research would be on Team Kilimanjaro’s ROUTES page. (If it seems like we have a bias toward Team Kilimanjaro, well, yes, we probably do, simply because their ethos seems to have more to do with getting you safely on and off the mountain than with pure profit. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t other climb operators who’ll offer the same level of service, just that Team Kilimanjaro are very good at what they do. We’d book with them again).
5) Choose a good climb operator.
There are lots of companies that will offer to take you up Kilimanjaro, many of whom will offer the experience at a comparatively low price. Remember though, climbing with an operator that has well-trained guides will make your experience not only more enjoyable, but also safer. The Trailblazer Trekking Guide lists them all, so start your research there. A distinction must be made between the climb operators (such as Team Kilimanjaro, Zara, African Walking Company, Kiliwarriors) who actually run the climbs, and tour operators (such as Exodus, Explore Worldwide, KEA) who make the booking for you - taking their ‘cut’, of course - and pass you on to a climb operator of their choice when you reach Tanzania. Using a tour operator can be an easy way to book as they’ll generally give you an all-in price including flights, but has the downside that you’re paying a ‘middle-man’ to arrange something you can do yourself via the internet. Also, booking through a tour operator will almost certainly mean you will join a group travelling on a set date. If you’re happy to do that, fine, but if you’d prefer to have your own private trek, taking place on dates chosen by you, then consider approaching a climb operator directly. You’d imagine this option to be more expensive, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
6) Steer clear of ‘charity challenges’.
This sounds awful, but really, some of the charities truly are taking the mickey. What they tend to offer is the shortest itinerary with the cheaper operators, lessening your chances of success. In fact, if you try to push yourself too hard on a short itinerary, you also lessen your chances of getting off the mountain under your own steam (see tip 8). The charity challenges usually ask you to raise a minimum amount of sponsorship – typically about £3000 – and then you get to do the climb for free! Sounds great, but unless you have a significant amount of time on your hands or a heap of rich friends, raising that amount of money is going to be awfully hard work, and you may end up paying just as much yourself as if you’d booked the climb elsewhere. Also, as a significant portion of that £3000 (or whatever it is) goes to the climb operator on the mountain / hotel / airline, only the leftovers ever actually go towards the cause. Instead, we recommend you book the trek that’s best for you and independently raise money for your chosen charity. This way you can set your own – realistic - target for fundraising, happy in the knowledge that all the money you raise goes to a good cause.
Before you go:
7) Prepare yourself.
By this, we mean make sure you’ve spent a few nights in a tent and done a little training. Some say you needn’t do much training and it’s true that you don’t need to be super-fit to summit Kilimanjaro, but make sure you do at least a modicum of strenuous hillwalking before you go - even a little will give you more confidence when you reach the mountain. Oh, and stop worrying about the toilets / food. The former are not that bad, although having to visit them at 4600m when it’s -10 degrees Celsius and the middle of the night is unpleasant, but hey, that’s camping for you, and the food is delicious. Lower down the mountain you’ll be hungry and eat too much, but this is a good thing as it’ll give you energy for the later stages of the climb when the altitude may destroy your appetite. And also, make sure you get hold of all the equipment you’re asked to bring on the equipment list provided by your climb operator. A Camelbak or similar is incredibly useful for taking in the minimum of 3 to 5 litres of water you’ll have to drink every day on the mountain in order to combat the possibility of succumbing to altitude sickness.
8) Find out about mountain sickness.
This is vitally important for anyone going to altitude. Do some research, either on the internet or from books, so that you know how to cope with it and what to do if (when) you’re affected. Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment (Mountaineers Outdoor Expert)
by Steven Bezruchka is a cheap pocket book that is useful to carry with you on the mountain. Also, find out about the various drugs that are claimed to help alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness, and consider whether you wish to take them. If you do, test them out for side-effects before you go.
On the mountain:
9) Take it slowly.
Your guide will tell you this but it’s worth repeating. On the first day of our climb we were overtaken by a German gentleman travelling so quickly that his concerned-looking guide was almost running to keep up with him. On our descent at Kibo huts we overheard some trekkers talking about a German man who’d been carted down the mountain unconscious in a wheelchair the previous day. He’d been affected by AMS. The same man? We'll never know for sure, but it might well have been. Why tire yourself out when you can take it slowly? There are no prizes for getting to the top first – someone’s done that already.
10) When things get tough realise that what you’re doing is simply a remarkable thing.
Good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment