BootsnAll Travel Community

Any updates on . . .

Final Outfitter/Company Decision
Blogs
Mountain Training/Exercise
Great online web find
New or Must have climbing gear/technology
Completed Trekks
and last but not least . . . Recent SUMMITS!!

I am REALLY looking for a Kili "Fix/Update" right now

I think that Donovan is over there right now.
When he comes back, ask him about all that new gear that he just got.

Our most exhalted ruler, Donovan, is trekking in Tibet.

gsutiger2 - All the better outfitters have gear lists and how to prepare physically e.g. Tusker, Thompson, Kiliwarriors, Mountain Madness and IMG, etc. Look at all of them and create your own list and plan.

The best thing you can do is get good waterproof hiking boots and go 50 plus miles in them prior to your Kilimanjaro hike. If they are broken in well, they will be your best friends.

All the other clothes are sensible layers.

Have fun...

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by gsutiger2:
Any updates on . . .

Final Outfitter/Company Decision
Blogs
Mountain Training/Exercise
Great online web find
New or Must have climbing gear/technology
Completed Trekks
and last but not least . . . Recent SUMMITS!!

I am REALLY looking for a Kili "Fix/Update" right now

Just got back to Australia last week after a successful summit. Some of the details:

Company: African Walking Company
My rating: very good
Guides: excellent. Friendly, good communicators, attention to detail, proactive in checking on health/wellbeing of trekkers
Food: excellent. Hot breakfast, lunch, dinner on all days.
Facilities: good (they carried up a toilet tent, mess tent, our individual tents were reasonable enough for 2 people)
Porters: Excellent, well looked after. Summit porters were fantastic.

Route: Shira
Days: 8 (summit on day 7, midnight start)
Climbers: 10
Made it to Uhuru: 7 (including me)
Made it to Stella: 2
Pulled out: 1 (at Karanga, chest cold etc, guide didn't want to risk her)

Preparation: Did 2-5 hour walks each weekend, hilly of course. Bought boots early (7 months beforehand) and used them for all those walks. Also did gym work to build up leg and upper body muscle endurance (for walking, carrying a pack) and general fitness work. Had a personal trainer once a week for 4 months, someone who does a lot of climbing/walking himself so he knew what was required - really big help!

All up did about 7 months preparation, though I'd been doing a fitness routine for 2 years.

Must have: excellent, comfortable, waterproof boots. Excellent rain jacket (Goretex 3-layer jacket I had was well worth the money). At least 2 lots of merino thermals (it gets cold in camp from day 1, so good to have a pair to sleep in). Lots of layers for summit night - I wore 2 base layers, walking shirt, thin fleece (100g), thick fleece (200), Goretex jacket...and I admit, I was cold when we stopped to rest.

Good, warm gloves - thermal liner is a must...I just had a fleece glove and then rain/wind proof over the top and my hands were freezing on summit night. Had to give my walking poles to a porter and put my hands in my pockets for half an hour to warm them up. Have some gloves that are comfortable in "not-too-cold" weather. Most days it clouded over from 11am onwards and was pretty chilly without the sun.

Bladder with hose for water!!! You will not be wanting to stuff around with water bottles, particularly on summit day. BUT, blow the water back into your bladder so it doesn't freeze, and even worth investing in some insulation for the hose itself. One person in our group had the water freeze in their bladder hose within an hour of leaving camp and were damn thirsty by the top.

Take a reasonably big, but light, duffel bag and make sure you take more warm gear than you think you'll need, not less. I only had the 2 fleece jumpers and they stank by the end! LOL. I regretted not having one to wear just while I was sleeping (in addition to the thermals).

Kick arse sleeping bag too.

The company you sign up with will give you a list of essential/recommended/optional gear. Follow it meticulously! If they offer to hire you a foam mattress, do it! Much easier than lugging one with you and back (I took an inflatable one, mostly self inflatable, and blowing it up/rolling it up each day were two of the most physically demanding things I did each day! LOL).

Wow thanks for the information! That is good that your whole group was pretty successful!

Hi,I did the Kili climb Sept 07, made it to the top no problem bloody cold but.
Used a company called Lasi Tours,prices was fair I thought, I had a package 6night7day hike (the more days on the mountain the better successes to summit), 3night4day safari, hotel and airport transfers. There a basic company but good value for money looked after us well.

I trained up for about 3 months before,doing long hilly hikes. Took a good pair of hike boots warn in, 2 layers of soxs, 1pair thermos, fleece pullover,thin windproof jacket a Northface down jacket,Dub brand snow pants and jacket to go over the top, pair of good gloves, And almost forgot a good sleeping bag season 3 to 4, I used a Mont Spindrift Very nice.
Having said all that, it is a bit to carry but not to much,
One member of our group hired all his gear from a place in Arusha,some of the gear was basic I think, but he made it up, with 7 thin layers and a few uncomfortable nights.
He told me the Sleeping bag and hiking sticks, jackets cost him $50 for hire, way to go if you don't want to carry your own gear around for the rest of your trip around Africa, His Sleeping bag look grotti but.
Oh yeah and this guy did it in runners too,crazy !

But I think the main ingredient is will power you gotta want it to get it.
Hope this helps.
Cheers

I did the climb about a month ago. We decided to go with Tropical Trails and had a very good experience with them. Our guide, Arnold, was fantastic. It was just my friend and I. We did the Machame route and opted for 7days/6nights. We both successfully reached Uhuru on October 27th with relatively few problems, although we both had a touch of nausea just before reaching Stella. Still, we pushed through it no problem. It was a good time to climb since the moon was just passed full. Did not even need to turn on my headlamp for the nighttime climb to the summit.

We did not do any specific training for the climb, although I am a (very very slow) marathon runner and my friend also does a fair amount of distance running.

Bring warm gloves. Bring gloves that are warmer than you could ever imagine needing, and they may be just warm enough. Seriously, and I come from Minnesota, summit day gets cold and your hands will be the first thing that feels it. Aside from that, pretty much what everyone else said. Lots of warm clothing with an eye toward keeping dry as well. A good day pack. Some form of skin protection from the windburn that you will get on your nose is also not a bad idea. I used some Burt's Bees stuff and it worked out fairly well.