Best Advice

Best advice: Pay for a portable toilet. I also wanted a guide trained in wilderness emergencies and who carried a hyperbaric bag up the mountain. Both cost extra.

JACKIE CROSBY

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http://sevensummitsquest.blogspot.com/2010/01/kilimanjaro-2010-final.html

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I'm sure that any of the expedition companies will provide detailed lists of the required clothing and equipment but here are some practical tips on what to do with it.

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An amazing list of travel websites

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The Right Clothing

You probably haven't been able to escape the fact that earlier this year Jessica Biel (?) and a group of other celebrities (??) climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for clean water. They called their climb Summit on the Summit. A documentary of the climb will air on MTV on March 14th.

My wise friend Diane suggested that I check out the clothing that these hikers wore on their trip. Certainly they would be outfitted in the state of the art. It turns out that Eddie Bauer was a sponsor of the climb so much of the clothing was from that company. But it's a good company. It has a line of clothing called First Ascent. Here's what they wore and the category of each piece. I think I now understand the difference between "hardshell" and "softshell".

Outerwear Down Cold & Dry: Downlight Sweater Jacket
Outerwear Down Ultimate Cold Weather: Peak XV Down Jacket
Outerwear Hardshell: Frontpoint Jacket
Outerwear Softshell: Mountain Guide Jacket
Insulation Ultralight All-Activity: Bat Hang Hoodie
Outerwear Ultralight Rain & Wind: BC-100
Hardshell Pants: Rainier StormShell Pant
Trekking Backpack: Little Tahoma

At least this is a place to start. I ordered the backpack so that I can start practicing on day hikes this spring and summer.

The Routes

When I first started this blog, I set up a Google alert for "Kilimanjaro." So every day I get an email with links to any new posts on blogs and websites that contain the word "Kilimanjaro." It's amazing how many there are every day. I usually spend about an hour a day reading these alerts. Just when I think I have read all that I need to know and/or that I am really wasting my time, I find a site that just blows me away.

I have been trying to wrap my mind around the differences among the various routes - unsuccessfully until now.

Here is it: just as the name says Africa Travel Resource. There is a list on the left of each route. When you place your cursor over the name of a route, it highlights the route on the map. I assume that the dots are the overnight stops. Maybe I am a visual learner but I find this really helpful. This is the first site that I have found that describes a "North" route.

Here's what it says about the different routes:

"Trekkers who are less than absolutely confident about their fitness, or who are pressed for time should start with the Rongai route. Those absolutely confident in their fitness and willing to spend longer on the mountain to increase the chances of summit success should start by taking a look at the Shira route. People not too worried about costs but who simply want the ultimate trek should look at the North route."

This is going to be a really difficult but critical decision.

Getting Acclimated

How does this sound for getting acclimated to altitude before starting the Kili climb:

1. Fly to Amsterdam

2. Fly to Geneva

3. Take the train to Zermatt (5,315 feet)

4. From Zermatt, take the cog-wheel train up to Gornergrat (10,000 feet), then take a cable car to Stockhorn (11,588 feet) and hike around

6. Next day, from Zermatt, take a cable car to Little Matterhorn (12,533 feet) and hike around

7. Next day, take train back to Geneva, fly to Amsterdam

8. Stay overnight at the airport and then fly to Kilimanjaro

That's what the authors of Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (Carmichael and Stoaddard) did to acclimate to altitude and get over jet lag. They also suggest going to Chamonix, France as a closer, less expensive (but also lower) alternative to Zermatt.

Sounds great to me. All it takes is time and money!

Amazing photo

Apparently there is an individual Soichi Noguchi who is an astronaut on board the International Space Station who has been tweeting and sending pictures from space including this one of Mount Kilimanjaro.



The tag on the photo says that it was taken January 19, 2010. Pretty scary if it is supposed to be snow-capped!

You can see more pictures here. It also allows you to rotate the pictures which is very cool.