Hey,

I've read a bunch of blogs about people's climbing experiences, and none that I've read have had to abandon due to foul weather. Is there anyone out there that had to abandon due to a storm? How often are there days when you can't reach the summit? (I'm hoping to be on the summit on March 16th, but I added a buffer day to possible summit on the 17th).

Thanks,
Carl

I'm climbing soon, and have been talking to a couple climbing companies about the weather. Apparently there has been more snow (on Kili) and rain in the region than there has for the past 30 years for the past month. Reports of 15 feet of snow on the way to the crater rim. Highly irregular for these days.

I understand that all but a handful of the better companies have had to cancel climbs this past month due to the weather. The couple companies who have continued to climb were well prepared with the right camp equipment for this type of mountain weather.

Seems like you should check with your company.

Here is a picture from a few days ago on Kilimanjaro. Yes,
there is some snow. I am not sure if it's something to worry about.

http://www.mtkilimanjarologue.com/pictures/snows-on-kil...aro-aerial-view.html

Hi Carl

I climbed back in Nov 06. It rained alot!.. for the first 3days we were absolutely soaked through our gore-tex northface boots and gore-tex mountain equipment clothing. The rain came down so hard and from every angle - Imagine trying to put up a tent when the rain is coming down so heavily... when we got to the first camp, we couldn't wait to get our wet clothes off and get into our dry tent... but oh,no.... the inside of our tent was just fully of puddles and it leaked!

Then after the 3rd day, we were above the cloud and the rain so things got easier.

There were some amazing thunder storms on the 4th and 5th nights... wow - the lightning was absolutey fantastic.

And then we had a little bit of snow on our summit attempt - but nothing dramatic at all.

One thing I will say, is because there was so much rain cloud in November, we didn't get to see any of the amazing views from the mountain and even at the summit, there was too much cloud, so we couldn't see any of the mountain below us in fact it was even difficult to see the crater!

I wouldn't recommend going in either of the rainy seasons for this reason alone.

Hope you have a fantastic climb! - it really is an amazing feeling once you've reached the summit - I was on a high for weeks afterwards! - Want to go climb another mountain now!

Kelly

I just back from the climb in January and we had absolutely pristine days. The weather was gorgeous and it was chilly on the way to the top (esp when the clouds pass right through you) but it wasn't freezing. When i got to the top (Gilman's Point), I put on my rain pants and baclava because the wind was definitely cold. You can't predict it and even if was raining the week before, there is no guarantee that it will be the same when you go up. As my guide Isaac said...the mountain is like a chameleon.