Hey everyone! I'm climbing Kili starting on July 8 on the Machame route. I'm getting pretty nervous because I'm worried about having enough time to train. I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I'm young (24). I've been training for a couple of weeks, but not as hard as I should be, I worry. I've been trying to get out there on the weekends and doing hikes in my area, usually about 7 - 10 miles over a weekend. I've also been doing stairs for about 30 minutes a day with a 30 pound pack. Does anyone have any training tips or suggestions to help me out? Should I focus on increasing my speed, time, or weight, or all three? I'm also going with Zara and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on them. Thanks for any advice you can give... about the mountain, training, or the trip!

Speed is pretty irrelevant, though if you can improve your recovery time by improving your cardiovascular fitness that may help.

Doing stairs with 30 pounds in your pack is a good option. Hiking on weekends is fine, distance doesn't matter so much it's more about how long, how much you're carrying and what kind of terrain. I'd recommend a hike from 3-5 hours long on variable terrain, preferably with significant hills, again with 30-odd pounds (that's about 15kg right?).

Good luck!

When I climbed I kept on leaving it and leaving it until before I knew it the day had arrived to depart for Kilimanjaro! I was far from, what I thought, fit enough but I personally think it's all about your mind rather than how fit you are.

If you're climbing with a reputable company they will do all they can to get you to the summit and this will involve getting acclimatised - which ultimately is the main stumbling block for many climbers. This will involve walking very, very slowly (pole, pole as you'll hear the porters say). Sometimes you actually think you're going too slowly to make it before your plane leaves for home! But, bare with it as a good guide will know exactly what they are doing and will access the strengths and weaknesses of all those that are climbing.

Don't panic though - when I climbed I was determined to make it and that's ultimately what you need - great determination.

Take a look at the diary of the trek I put together at Trek Kili and hopefully this will help in some way. Good luck and let us know how you got on when you return.

two things to work on.. cardio and patience! i think what you're doing is good, the hiking and the stairs. don't worry about speed... they'll make you stop every once in a while, and it's important to go slow because of the altitude (which is also why cardio is important).

good luck and have fun!!

I agree that while physical fitness plays a part the mental part of the hike is probably even more important. Get it set in your mind that you can and will make it to the summit and try to relax on summit day.
I went with Zara almost 2 years ago now, one thing I noticed was that some of the guides were GREAT and some seemed only average. We had an advantage in that a South African safari guide told them ahead of time to give us one of their best guides so we got someone who had a lot of experience and I trusted completely on the mountain. His name is Masaudi but I don't know if he's still guiding. At the time it sounded like he was looking forward to retirement, but you might ask for him and see if he's available.

I agree. We had a guide, Abel, who had climbed KILI 35 times previous and he was simply amazing. He gave everybody as much time as they needed, spoke and listened to all and on the final day's climb down we all enjoyed a lovely warm bottle of beer at Maweka Hut.

Unfortunately we found out, a few months after we'd returned to the UK that he'd tragically died in a car accident, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Thank you all for your advice! It's been very helpful in planning and training.

Climbing mountains is the ultimate tortoise game. "Slow and steady wins the race."

30 mins of 30 pounds on the stair stepper is good.

90 mins of 30 pounds is more realistic. Don't be afraid to stop and take breaks, but keep going.

Most "fit" climbers are incredibly lucky to average 1000 vertical feet of gain per hour.

Consider how many vertical feet you must climb to get to the top. How many hours of uphill will that be.

Finally, don't forget to practice walking downhill. It's amazing how many people are just plain BAD at walking downhill. It's hard. It's hard on your knees and joints. And you'll be doing it when you're very tired. To avoid injuries, make sure you know how to walk downhill with a heavy backpack.

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Originally posted by Skimaxpower:
Finally, don't forget to practice walking downhill. It's amazing how many people are just plain BAD at walking downhill. It's hard. It's hard on your knees and joints. And you'll be doing it when you're very tired. To avoid injuries, make sure you know how to walk downhill with a heavy backpack.

ugh i forgot about that! i must've blocked it out. trekking poles help a LOT with that.. some people wore knee braces too. you can rent poles when you're there. man, i remember when we were descending, i was so exhausted that at one point i tripped and was falling over.. was too tired to put my arms out in front of me. and lol i remember laying there for a couple seconds, not wanting to get up.

Yes, I found the descent actually more difficult the ascent to the summit. We climbed the Machame Gate route and on the way down it was basically scree (small stones) and you had to kind of do mini jumps, like you were skiing down and my big toe was actually numb for around 4 months after returning due to it pushing to the end of the boot all the way down.

I would highly recommend walking poles. I hadn't used them previously and was a little reluctant but they were fantastic and I used two which really helped relieve some of the pressure on your legs.