My mother and I climbed in July. She is 72 years old with a new knee, so she was slow in climbing. She didn't make the crater rim at Stella Point until 8:30, so the guide turned her around there. She did not start eating GU until 4:30 in the morning. We noticed it made a big differnce in her ability to climb quicker, so she probably could have made Uhuru if she had started taking the GU earlier. I would recommend carrying and using the stuff to anyone--but try it first at sea level because the two flavors we took make me shiver in disgust when I think of them 4 months later.

You can do it if you remember to walk slowly starting with day one. I let her set the pace every day and we had no altitude problems. Pole pole is your guide.

Thanks so much for that last response. WOW your mother is 70 somthing and did the climb, she must be an amazing women. What is GU?

GU is a horrible tasting gel like Powergel or others like that. I think it is some sort of glucose gel that gives you energy. She took it every hour from about 4 1/2 hours into the climb. It made the differnce and we wish she had started earlier.

Yes, she is an amazing woman. She only went on the trip because I couldn't find anyone to climb with me.

Most of the flavors of Gu are pretty good tasting to me.

My grandparents made the climb a couple of years ago... they were well into their 60s at the time. I figure if they can do it - anyone can! lol. Really, they are in amazing condition for their age and have done many other mountains before. What it really takes, however, is determination and persistence... good luck!

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Really, they are in amazing condition for their age and have done many other mountains before. What it really takes, however, is determination and persistence... good luck!

People develop mountain climbing fitness over a number of months or years, not weeks. People who have been using their muscles for such work for years, even if they are in their sixties, are far fitter than those who are younger, and have only climbed small hills.

Don't let the age of a climber fool you. Go one step further and ask them if they climb mountains or hills on a regular basis before deciding that ANYBODY can do a physically challenging task. That's not to say it can't be done, but it makes a huge difference to the ease and joy of the experience.