Who’s Trekked Kilimanjaro?

[BoilerBowHunter]

Hello Roksliders,

Wife and I are heading to Tanzania in January to “climb” Kilimanjaro. Looking for others who have done this before in order to ask some questions on clothing, gear, etc. I’ve read quite a bit, but nothing beats first hand knowledge. If you are willing to discuss please drop me a line here or shoot me a message. Thanks!

**EDITED TO INCLUDE QUESTIONS IF PEOPLE ARE JUST READING THE FIRST POST**

Boots - I have Crispis, but honestly I don’t want to lug them around if I don’t have to. Do you think waterproof Merrel Moabs would work when combined w gaiters? I’m inclined to think they’d be OK based on what the guide has said.

Insulation piece - How cold was it on your summit day? I’m reading various accounts and I see pictures where people are lightly dressed. The real question is how heavy duty of an insulated jacket do I need? I have a Sitka Kelvin Aerolite which I believe equates to 650 fill down. If I am layered up pretty good with a hard shell on top, do you think that’s sufficient? Or do I need a big, burly 800 fill down jacket?

Appreciate any feedback people are willing to share! We are greatly looking forward to the adventure.

 

[veganhunter]

I did it in 2013 as a college graduation gift for my brother, shoot me a PM with specific questions and I'm happy to give my advice.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Put me in the, no way column. Never been a climber, if you exclude going after Chuckar. Plus I'm way too old.

 

[ODB]

Good stuff. Safari njema

 

[ewade07]

My fiance did it this last July. Send me a PM and i can get details from her for you.

 

[davidsapp]

2001 for me, great trip. Last couple days somewhat punishing at high elevation, definitely Type 2 fun

 

[cuerro viejo]

Don’t go to the one in Florida. Brutal heat, huge mosquitos, crazy people on motorized scooters.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

The Breach: Kilimanjaro and the Conquest of Self (1981) Rob Taylor

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

Looks like there are a few folks who have done it. For the sake efficiency and for future Roksliders who may have the same questions, I’ll just post mine here. Really only two gear questions at the moment.


Boots - I have Crispis, but honestly I don’t want to lug them around if I don’t have to. Do you think waterproof Merrel Moabs would work when combined w gaiters? I’m inclined to think they’d be OK based on what the guide has said.

Insulation piece - How cold was it on your summit day? I’m reading various accounts and I see pictures where people are lightly dressed. The real question is how heavy duty of an insulated jacket do I need? I have a Sitka Kelvin Aerolite which I believe equates to 650 fill down. If I am layered up pretty good with a hard shell on top, do you think that’s sufficient? Or do I need a big, burly 800 fill down jacket?

Appreciate any feedback people are willing to share! We are greatly looking forward to the adventure.

 

[Poser]

A long time friend of mine is married to a woman named “Kili”, named after the mountain. Her father was a famous mountaineer and guide in the 60s-80s.

 

[davidsapp]

The summit day had snow, I can't recollect the depth, but I'm sure I was wearing Vasque Sundowners and gaiters.

You'll generate a lot of heat climbing and I think that I was mainly in a long sleeve T shirt while climbing and then would put on a puffy coat if not moving. I also had a rain jacket for wind/precip. The technical shirts are a lot better now than in 2001. I don't remember being uncomfortable, but I was 28 and I don't know if I realized what comfort was at the time.

I do remember a fairly constant headache the two days prior to summiting. It improved with descent, but was memorable in its discomfort. We were on diamox/acetazolamide prior and during the climb and we had been at a mission hospital in the Kenya Highlands at about 7000 feet for the two months prior to the climb.

 

[JeffP_Or]

I 'climbed' it in October 2001 - so 33 yo. I'll see if I can find a list and PM you [might be a bit as this is hunting season].

Looking at my climb log:
Summit day was from 15,500' and 30-degrees at midnight when we left high camp; somewhere before 17,500', still in the dark, it was 4-degrees and our water was freezing [external insulated wrap on nalgene and inside the packs]. The last pitch is a slog - very slow; not treacherous - just slow. Being slow and part of group where you need to go the speed of the weakest link, I was not able to generate any heat through exertion. I had made a poor choice and not taken a down jacket. We had a few in our party turn back at 17,500' and I nabbed a 600 [or less] fill inner jacket. That worked great - so a North Face waterproof shell, medium fleece, heavy-weight base layer and the borrowed down mid-layer. [CORRECTION: the borrowed down inner jacket replaced the mid-weight fleece which went into the pack].
We hit Stellar Point [the rim] just at sunrise; adrenaline kicked in and the sun was welcome. The last 750' to Uhuru [19,340'] was another 1.5 hours. Anytime we stopped was a time to bundle as noted above - the wind does not help.

Overall, it was 6.5 hours to get from high camp to summit; was only 1.5 hours to get from the summit back down to high camp.
The reaction of your body going from that elevation and back down is really phenomenal - we made it back down to 10k after packing high camp and it was like euphoria with the amount of oxygen available again.

Part of our group did diamox at about 10k and up; I did not as I didn't really seem impacted. Definitely felt the altitude at 15k and then got the pukes on the descent down from summit with headache. It all went away as we descended below 15k.

I believe I wore a pair of leather Cabelas Guide boots - 7" [Meindl]; uninsulated; gore-tex lined. The waterproof helps in the jungle as you work your way onto the mountain. Gaiters for sure for the scree on the mountain. We had great weather for the most part - minimal rain, no snow on the mountain that we dealt with. The rocks and scree ate up the boots pretty good. Mind you the locals wore flip-flops and tennis shoes mostly - I would not recommend that. There were a few small rock pitches and sections where a stable boot is helpful - a couple in our group had low-hikers and it wore on them as I recall. But it is basically 'just' a hike.

 

[JeffP_Or]

Found some O2 stats [they monitored us all on the trip] - kind of interesting:

• Starting numbers were about 56 heart rate/96 saturation.
• Summit [rest rate] was over 100 bpm/70 percent saturation; other people in the group were resting with 140 rate/60 saturation.

 

[Bendejo]

I climbed the lemosho route (6day) in June 2018. Gave lots of days for acclimatization. Basically wore runners till the last day, then used 3 season mountaineering boot( LS trango cube) on summit day
Bring micro spikes. Don't let a porter carry your micro spikes on summit day. Toe warmers saved my bacon above 17500'.
Hand warmers and thick gloves will help top.
Bring a big puffy w a hood, and a few mid layers.
So beautiful on the roof of Africa.
Pm me if you have any questions!

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

Thanks all for the replies. Sounds like the insulation layers are different for everyone. I’m sure a lot depends on the weather you get one summit day as well.