Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Guide for Kilimanjaro

I attempted Kilimanjaro in 2009 via the Machame Route but got very sick and had to turn back on the summit day. I think I had the flu which exacerbated my altitude sickness. I went with Alpine Ascents which was top notch, but I don't want to spend that kind of money this time. I would also like to go up a different route (thinking Rongai). Plan most likely August 2012. I need to find a guide and was wondering if anybody knew of one. I just want to do it either one on one or with a very small group. I would like to try to experience the mountain as quiet as possible. Does anybody know of an inexpensive but trustworthy and experienced guide? Thanks for any suggestions.

Casey

Kurt Wedberg at SMI in Bishop, CA.

Kurt Wedburg owner of Sierra Mountaineering International is the perfect choice. I have been up Mt Russell and Mt Langley with him and had wonderful days on each. Jack and I have been to his seminar on Kilimanjaroo multiple times and were impressed with his trip and his expertise. And I have just signed up to go on his June 2012 trip up Kilimanjaroo! I have no idea what Alpine Ascents cost. I am mostly interested in the knowledge of who I am with.
Blessings, Betsy

I've used both Alpine Ascents International and Sierra Mountaineering International and have had great experiences with both companies. SMI will probably be a bit cheaper than AAI, but if you want real savings you could go directly to an African company. I know people that have had successful trips with local companies - although I wouldn't want to do that myself. I think the added expense is worth the expertise of an American guide, especially in the safety department. If panning a trip today I would go with SMI because I know and trust Kurt Wedberg.

I highly recommend this outfit, Zara, they were excellent:

http://zara.co.tz/

Its an African company. The guides spoke English well and were very nice and knowledgeable about the hike and the region. The food was delicious and no one had any digestive trouble. We had very high quality tents, eating arrangements, water, etc. We did the Machame route back in March of 2009 and had a really great time. I found that route to be a good tour of the mountain, with a smart altitude acclimatization schedule. Everyone, including American guides, is required to hire local guides and porters anyway so why not cut out the middleman?

Here's why, maybe: the African guides I had didn't know much about mountaineering in general, only their mountain specifically, but they are really good at climbing Kili. I didn't find this to be a problem since I feel I have enough experience with altitude to make the necessary decisions, but others might consider this an issue. Their game plan and climb itinerary is very good, but there wasn't much of an orientation session for things like pressure breathing, rest step, etc. They did encourage us to drink extra water and breathe more than usual, but I'm not sure if they understand the physiological reasons behind what they're saying. I'm not sure I would rely on the guides I had to identify altitude sickness early on and things like that. Know how to do this yourself. I was reasonably confident that they would carry my sorry ass down if I become incapacitated, since we saw a few people go down in such fashion. Most of the people we saw that were really suffering on summit day were rushing up the peak with very sloppy footwork, churning the volcanic dust under their flailing boots... no rest step technique.

No matter who your guiding outfit is, bring your used but fully functional mountaineering gear, boots, clothing, etc., to donate to the locals. You will win friends.

http://brentcoe.smugmug.com/Hiking-Climbing-and-Scrambling/Kilimanjaro-362009/

http://brentcoe.smugmug.com/Hiking-Climbing-and-Scrambling/Kilimanjaro-Part-2-362009/8129018_nMfhmB

Betsy, when you come back from Africa with the HA Bug, be sure to sign up for KW's trip down to the Mexico Volcanoes... that will cure it for a while.

HA = High Altitude.

If you get bit so bad that you start to consider heading up to McKinley, let me know... I've recently had thoughts about taking it off of my "Do Not Climb" list.

M.C. did a trip to Kili on her own a few years ago. She could provide advice on going solo. I believe one of the requirements is that you have a guide for the climb... meaning no true solo ascents.

Betsy, congrats on locking down Kili next June! Is Jack going as well? Barb and I hope to see you at the Portal later next summer for a thorough recounting of your successful ascent!

I used Zara and they were fine. We saw other groups with premium guide outfits and noticed these differences:

They had a western guide plus a local guide
Their dining hall tent was bigger
They probably ate more expensive food
One group had their own porta-pot that was carried from one camp to the next.

We never went hungry with Zara.
Our mountain guide knew how to climb Kili but probably not anywhere else
We summitted safely and successfully.

FYI: we went up the Lemosho Route in 7 days. I really liked this route for its scenery and preparation. Our group was well acclimatized by the time we hit Barafu camp at 15,600'.

Last word of advise: save some energy for getting down from the summit. Skating down 4,000' of volcanic rock takes energy and attention. I've seen people bonk going DOWN the mountain. Be sure to eat some Clif Blocks at the summit. Cheetos might work.

Kurt Wedberg and his team from SMI are the way to go. He has so many intangibles that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else. He has great relationships with people in all the places he guides that can be invaluable and make the trip a lot more fun and memorable.

You might try getting in touch with him and he can probably give you some excellent advice.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Before choosing a company, you may want to check out the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Web Site. There is a link to the IMEC Partnership Program that can help you pick a local or international service that pays porters a decent wage. Zara, which is probably the biggest local company, is not a member.

See you on the mountain, maybe. I head out next month, in January. After doing a lot of research, I ended up choosing a U.S. outfitter rather than a local one for a number of reasons (including route, social justice, and safety), even recognizing the significant cost differential.

I highly recommend the great folks at goodearthtours.com Go via the recently reopened Western Breach route-you will have less people and more fun!And I think you'll like their prices. The great thing about these guys is that they have a US office as well as an African office. Have fun!

I used Zara, and was very satisfied. They will pick you up at the airport and they have their own hotel, so they handle your trip from beginning to end. The price was right, and they did a good job. Book through zaratours.com.

I climbed Kili in 2006 and we used Zara. Good People.

Just back from Kili. Loved it. Some questions to ask a Kili outfitter before hiring:

1. Are you a member of the Kili Porters Association? (Relates to fair wages for porters).

2. Do you provide cold weather gear, tents, hot meals, etc., to your porters?

3. Do you bring Oxygen, a Gamow bag, an AED to all camps and to the summit? (I saw someone with HACE at the summit, who had chosen a different company, being half-carried/led down the mountain by a single guide; I later found out that his outfit did not bring 02 to the summit, so they had to run some up to him while he was being lead down, meaning it would be some time before he would get 02.)

4. Do you require your head guides to have first aid and/or first responder training? What about your assistant guides? Who provides this training? How often is retraining required?

5. Do you carry your own stretcher/litter to the camps and the summit, or do you depend on the carts available for such purposes at the camps? (Relates to both comfort and how quickly someone can be evacuated.)

6. What training do your chef/waiter have in health and hygiene? What water treatment method(s) do you use? (Turns out I have a reaction to the PUR system ... good thing I brought my Steripen as I ended up treating my own water.)

7. Do you bring private toilets, or rely on those at the camps? (May not be as much an issue for men as it is for women. I am still traumatized by my brief foray into the public toilet at Barafu. Some, like me, may find private toilets worth the expense.)

8. Routing. On our 9-day Lemosho trek, 12 of 12 successfully summitted with no major medical emergencies. And yet, I kept watching people, who had chosen different companies and shorter routes (particularly Machame and Marangu), be helped or carted down in stretchers, and saw and/or heard about MANY cases of HAPE and HACE from those on those routes. Summitting statistics for those we met on other routes was 50 percent or lower, with many of those who did make it to Stella Point turning back rather than going for the summit.

9. Time of ascent to summit: of those people who did a nighttime summit ascent, almost all looked somewhat grim and grey on the way back down, with few to no smiles. Day time ascents are entirely doable. Realizing that this is subjective, we seemed to have more smiles in our group.

Who did you end up using?

I used Thompson Treks. As with all decisions, there were pros and cons. As a first timer to Kili, they were a good choice for me and gave me the confidence I needed. If I was a more experienced climber, I would probably have gone with a smaller, more specialized group (e.g., Rongai route with Kurt Wedberg).

Pros: Thompson does well according the criteria listed above. They are members of KPA. They provide cold weather gear to their porters. Excellent routing. Extensive training/first aid equipment/first responder training, etc., at least for their head guides (all the guides were Tanzanian, BTW). Private toilets. They do the longer Lemosho route (but not the Rongai route, though I suspect that can be arranged). From what I could tell, they are one of the most safety-oriented providers out there. Or at least, based on what I saw with my own eyes, they were one the most safety oriented on the mountain at the time I was there. Very high success rate. Strong on small creature comforts, which I thought could be an issue in a 10 day trek. The Gamow bag, AED, and 02 follow the trekkers up to the summit, so are available if/when needed.

Cons: Very expensive. Unless you arrange a private climb, group size varies and, in our case, was on the too large size in my opinion. Some may prefer to support locally-owned businesses (as I generally do). Thompson is, in some sense, the American behemoth on the mountain (along with Tusker and, one might say, Mountain Madness). While they have very good written pre-trip information, I found the office staff less knowledgeable about than I am about some equipment issues, which was annoying (e.g, use of soft shell pants).

I made my decision based on what could go wrong, rather than what could go right. If you had a crystal ball and knew how you were going to deal with altitude and GI issues, you could save a lot of money on this trek (as much as 70 percent of the cost). I wanted a provider that trained and equipped its staff to handle the kinds of worst case scenarios that may arise. And I didn't want to be associated with, or responsible for, porter abuse (several porters die every year on Kili).


I don't want to be overly negative -- while Kili presents its risks, my own view is that they can be well-managed to the point of being at a level that I, personally, find acceptable. I did witness the kinds of serious consequences that may arise on the mountain in other groups (particularly those who took the shorter routes, such as Machame), including HACE, and saw several evacuations. I heard second hand about several cases of HAPE that arose in other groups while we were climbing, and an altitude-related death that occurred on the mountain while we were there. I also heard about guides in another group encouraging a guy with HAPE to keep climbing (rather than turn him around). And I later found out that the outfitter for a guy I saw with HACE being led from the summit (staggering, and losing his sight) did not bring 02 up to the summit, so that 02 had to be walked up to him while he was being walked down (if it was available at all).

In my group, we had 12 clients, with differing levels of prior climbing experience, but basically all novices (I had the most high altitude and hiking experience in the group). All 12 of us summitted successfully. We experienced no serious altitude-related medical issues.

Very concise write up Akichow, just the thing that helps others make good decisions, thanks