Team Climbing Kilimanjaro’s Epic Double Ascent. On 7th October 7 members of Team Climbing Kilimanjaro reached the summit of Kilimanjaro before descending into the crater to spend a night at 5730m. In the morning using a different assault route and approaching the summit from the other side 5 members of the team summitted yet again completing a rare double summit achievement and traversing the peak from both directions. The team comprised six South African trekkers, David Brown, Bruce Johnstone, Shashikant Mani, Gareth and Irene Westerdale and Peter Wick, who had been training vigorously for a number of months to achieve the feat, together with our Mountain Team Leader. We can’t remember when last this feat was ever achieved.
Staff at ClimbingKilimanjaro.com regularly climb Kilimanjaro in order to ensure that standards are being consistently maintained and also because it is vital to our advisory role always to have a fresh appreciation of the mountain.
August’s Canadian Climbers Beaten by Another Canadian in the Race to Climb All 7 Summits Within the Least Time. On 27th November Dan Griffith, aged 55, became the climber to summit the highest peak on each of the seven continents within the least time. The entire feat took him only 6 months and 3 days.
The tenacious adventurer began the feat with his third attempt of Everest. He had been trying to summit since 1986. He is also the oldest Canadian to summit Everest.
1. Everest, 8848m, Nepal - May 24
3. McKinley (Denali), 6194m, Alaska - June 15
5. Elbrus, 5642m, Russia - July 4
7. Carstensz Pyramid, 4884m, Indonesia - September 24
4. Kilimanjaro, 5895m, Tanzania - October 3
2. Aconcagua, 6962m, Argentina - October 20
6. Vinson, 4897m, Antarctica - November 27
3rd October: Dan Griffith summitted with his family on his way to the record. Dan was joined by his 26 year old son Luke for 3 of the summits.
New Speed Record Attempt Scheduled for 17th March 2007. The Kilimanjaro world record holder for the unsupported record ascent (carrying all his food and kit and finding his own water) who summitted from Umbwe Gate (1661m) to the peak last February in 6 hours 33 and descended from the peak to Mweka Gate (1641m) in 2 hours 48 will be attempting to challenge the world record for the fastest supported ascent and descent (food and kit supplied by support teams stationed along the route). We will be supporting Mtuy’s historic attempt with a number of resupply stations along the route. The current record is held by Bruno Brunod with his ascent time of 5 hours 28 minutes.
Simon Mtuy is aiming to climb Kilimanjaro in 5 hours 20 minutes.
Kilimanjaro Marathon Registrations Now Open.
This phenomenal event held annually at the foot of Kilimanjaro draws hundreds of world class athletes from around the globe. But the event is not just for the elite. Enthusiastic amateurs are also encouraged. No race qualification is necessary and some competitors are expected to spend more than 7 and a half hours completing the course. The race is scheduled for 4th March 2007. Contact ClimbingKilimanjaro.com to book your place in this unforgettable competition.
Kilimanjaro’s Answer to the Hawaai Ironman: The Kiliman - 11 days of almost non-stop punishment.
Instead of a 4.8km swim, a 180km road ride and a reasonably flat marathon just imagine climbing Kilimanjaro to its summit, then the very next day after descending, circumnavigating the entire mountain with 248km of off-road biking, followed the day after that by a hilly marathon where you can expect to breathe 10% less air than on most other courses. This is what it takes to be one of the very few people each year who earn the title ‘Kiliman’.
The event begins with a standard ascent of the Machame Route over 6 days. This section is not timed but all competitors for the Kiliman are required to be assembled on the summit on the morning of 28th February. The next day is a slow descent. Friday 2nd March the clock starts with a 122km course that has 1773 vertical metres of height gain. On Saturday the race covers 136km and 1071m are ascended. Finally, the marathon starts on Sunday morning. Times for the three days’ phases are added together and the winner is the athlete with the lowest overall time. Competition is limited to 60 places so don’t delay. Contact us to book your place.
Bernard Goosen’s 3rd Scheduled Wheelchair Ascent of Kilimanjaro.
In 2003 Bernard Goosen achieved the world record for the highest summit reached in a wheelchair. Two years later he returned to the mountain to climb it again with another team of fighters - himself failing only narrowly and requiring some physical support to reach Gilman’s Point.
In October 2007 he plans to come back a third time with the aim of reaching Kilimanjaro’s summit with minimal support on a brand new route. He will be joined by a team of 6 and will be ascending with one of our special projects teams on our new Rongai Route with an assault bid via the Barafu Ridge. The endeavour is expected to take some 10 days.
Daniel Komen of Kenya won last year’s Kilimanjaro Marathon in a time of 2 hours 18. He is also the only man in history to have run two consecutive sub-4 minute miles back to back.
Last year’s Kiliman Winner, Brent Nicolaas Williamson of South Africa with an overall time of 16 hours 22 minutes and 1 second for the timed sections (bike and run).
Our New Superior 7 Day Rongai Route.
Rongai, while a very beautiful and quiet route, has always suffered a relatively low success rate because there are no topographical features on the route that allow climbers to climb high during the day time and sleep lower at night. We have found a way round this problem so that - similarly to the very successful Machame Route - climbers can now sleep 600m lower on the fourth night than they reached during that day. Rongai’ers will now be advised to opt for 7 days in order to take advantage of this strategy.
New Kili Climb Series Packages for 2007.
In response to your feedback we will be offering a brand new enhanced series of climbs in 2007 designed to give you the very best customised mountain experience on Kilimanjaro. For those of you fit young alpinists who want to travel super-lightweight with minimal staff support but no reduction in guiding professionalism we are introducing the new Lite Series. The Advantage Series will be there for the majority of climbers who will benefit from that additional tier of support - mess tents, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and high staff to climber ratios; and the Excel Series: now being offered for adventurers wanting to explore the magical crater and ash pit after their successful summit bids. We will also be offering a selection of the very best hotels in the area, as well as our standard accommodation options.
ClimbingKilimanjaro.com’s New Website. Look out for our brand new website coming soon and detailing some of our exciting new options, complete with new high resolution images and newly updated itineraries and route information.
