Climb Kilimanjaro: You’ll Never Make It. You’re From Florida. The High Altitude Sickness, You Know….

There is absolutely nothing like sharing a BHAG (Big Hairy Ass Goal) with a friend and having them take a dump on it.

Especially when said friend is ridiculously clueless, as this one was, when a Medium.com commenter mentioned to them that she was considering climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

My Medium friend lost her husband not long go. Such profound events often cause us to rethink and redirect our lives. That she’s thinking about taking on one of the worlds’ seven great peaks is no surprise to me. She’s around fifty, and working with a trainer. She’s pointing at next July. Perfect timing.

How much do you want to bet her so-called friend has never set foot in Africa, to say nothing of summitting the continent’s largest free-standing mountain? I’d bet a great deal. Yet people like this have ever so much to say about why you and I can’t do what we decide we want to try, and do their best to dissuade us.

Usually based on thoughtless opinions (and equaully thoughtless motivations, but that’s a different matter entirely).

The some 50,000 people who attempt Kili every year come from every walk of life and every level of elevation. What this “friend” doesn’t understand is that fitness has nothing to do with altitude sickness. The best climbers in the world- people who have topped out Denali and Aconcagua for example- can bonk heading up Kili for no other reason than it’s their turn today. A bad gut, a headache, makes no difference. It happens with all the predictability of….well, winning the lottery.

There are people who are lifetime smokers who made it, hiking merrily past some lifetime uber-athlete writhing out in agony in their tent. Sometimes it’s just your day to get ill. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done. Lots of folks stop, slow down, head downhill a bit and then keep right on going. It depends. And that’s the whole point.

It is a sad habit of folks who are short on dreams and very big on denying others theirs that they work hard to pour tar on the enthusiasm of people they say they care about. That’s not love. That’s abusive. Friends don’t crap on friends’ dreams. They throw their hearts behind them, and find ways to build support.

When quadriplegics and blind folks and an 88-year-old doctor (https://peakplanet.com/peak-planet-guides-oldest-person-climb-kilimanjaro/) end up right below the big sign to celebrate, forgive me, but who are YOU to say to anyone out there that they can’t do the same?

Who is anyone, for that matter, to be a naysayer when it’s your dream to give this a shot?

The beauty of this mountain is that it doesn’t require any special climbing gear. It’s a straightforward (albeit challenging) walk all the way up on some eight different routes. Your choice of route and the time you spend on the mountain to acclimate have a great deal to do with your success rate. That, and how hard you trained and for how long.

My Medium friend is already in training for next July. That’s how much time I put in. She’s taking it seriously, just like I did. When you start early, train long and develop strength and endurance, your chances of making it go up exponentially.

Truth? Nobody can guarantee you a summit. What you are guaranteed is a simply extraordinary experience.

That’s heavily driven by who you choose as your guide up the mountain. I’ve climbed with one of the top guides from Peak Planet, which, unlike many African operators, ONLY focuses on Kilimanjaro and a few safari days before or after to give you variety. The skill sets and safety training, as well as their medical backgrounds, are the buffers that create an environment of trust. You can’t get that with low-cost operators who push for a swift ascent.

Swift ascents are nearly guaranteed to fail, for all the obvious reasons. You cannot race altitude, unless you have trained specifically for that, and some do. But for you and me and my Medium friend, respect for altitude and the demands that very low oxygen place on the body argue strenuously against quick ascents. There are routes which rise gently and allow plenty of time, and those routes have much higher success rates than others.

Let’s take a moment to focus on safety. For anyone to be successful, the attention to medical indicators (blood pressure, pulse, oxygen content of the blood and the like) is critical . Every single night. Not only this but whether you’re taking your daily meds, eating well and hydrating. A LOT. Without a superbly trained team in place on the mountain with you, you may get ill, those symptoms may get overlooked. By trying to go too cheaply it can cost you dearly. While you don’t have to go top dollar for your trip, it does make sense to invest in teams that provide this kind of high quality service. It not only could save your summit, but it could also save your life. When you submit to the cold stethoscope in the evening for a few minutes so that your guide can check your lungs, you are committing to a healthy ascent.

Why Kili in the first place? It’s the most accessible of the world’s largest peaks. It’s a great first ascent, because so many have done it, and many good outfitters like Peak Planet have put all the pieces together to make it a fun and safe journey. The key is to let go of the need to summit, and prepare like a professional. That allows the experience to simply unfold as it will, and your body will rise to the challenge.You learn to navigate the intellectual and emotional challenges as you go. Those are a wholly different part of the climb.

What you do need is training, heart, fortitude and endurance. Match that with a very well-prepared team, and you have a really good shot at getting to the top. For some very solid advice on what to do, what to bring and what’s involved, please see https://peakplanet.com/climb-preparation/.

Kilimanjaro is a personal, unique experience for each of us who have climbed her. Nobody can speak for you, should you decide to give it a shot. Nobody can dictate to you your chances of a summit. Whether or not you make it has everything to do with solid preparation, hydration, proper diet, the right support team, and your willingness to listen to your guides.

Not everyone does, and that can be dangerous.

For example, if your guide does a medical check (not all companies do this, and they are a MUST for a safe climb) and you’re displaying symptoms that are cause for concern, it’s time for you to stop. That may mean that you head downhill for a short while until your body regains its equilibrium, or stop altogether if your body is in real distress. Each of us responds uniquely to the challenges of oxygen deprivation. Even some of the world’s top athletes, including NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis and tennis champ Martina Navritalova, didn’t make it. Navritalova developed serious problems and had to be evacuated off the mountain. She had a doctor with her. Most of us- if we choose well- have medically-trained guides who know precisely what to look for. You do not argue with them.

Yet, people that others might assume couldn’t possibly make it to the top have, including three-time Kili climber Kara Richardson Whitely. She weighed 300 lbs, and twice made it to the top. Again: who is anyone to tell you or me or anyone else whether or not you can make it?

Precisely.

There are several kinds of folks out there when it comes to one of the world’s great peaks:

• Those who have climbed her (and please, let’s remember that our guides and porters have done this several hundred times in many cases)
• Those who tried and failed
• Those who are dreaming of climbing her (like my Medium.com friend)
• Those who have your back and want you to succeed
• Those who have lots of opinions based on neither knowledge nor experience and are happy to pontificate about your dream of climbing her-especially to convince you to quit

One of the keys to success is surrounding ourselves with those who believe in us when we have a dream. If you, like a great many of us, want to reach for the brass ring at the top of Africa’s tallest free-standing mountain, the journey begins with an idea. It culminates at or near the top, when we gather people around us- friends and a professional guide crew- to help us get there. Your guides want you to make it too- but safely, in good health, and laughing all the way up and down the mountain.

My Thai masseuse Melissa attempted Kilimanjaro some years ago. She made it partway up the summit. She was done. For her, that was her summit. Her body had taken her up to 17,000' feet. As my guide told me on my summit, the mountain has a lesson to teach us all if we’re listening. For Melissa, it was when to stop, when her body had reached its limit. This is superbly important information:how to attend to the conversation we are having with our limitations.

My Florida friend is likely to do well, if for no other reason than she is approaching this task with respect. Those who are not humbled by the challenge tend to fail spectacularly. Kili may see a lot of summit attempts, but somewhere around 40% don’t make it (the actual stats are notoriously sketchy). In this way, Kilimanjaro becomes a metaphor for a great many challenges in life. When we bow to the authority of Life, and bring our best to the table, we will be gifted with life lessons. We have no idea what they’ll be, but they will indeed be gifts.

No one who is a true friend would deny us that opportunity.

Ready to take on Kilimanjaro? Pick the right outfit, the right friends, and commit yourself to a solid training program. Then begin your trek with the respect this extraordinary mountain deserves.

See you at the top- I hope!