Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s highest free-standing mountain, is a prime location for climbers, adventurists and tourists to visit and attempt to summit the 19,340 foot mountain.
Kilimanjaro was first climbed in 1889 by German geologist Hans Meyer, an Austrian climber Ludwig Purtscheller and a local guide Yohani Kinyala Lauwo. Since the first climb, Mt. Kilimanjaro hosts approximately 110,000 climbers each year.
Kilimanjaro is classified as a stratovolcano, a volcano composed of ash, lava and rock. The three cones that Kilimanjaro is made up of: Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Only two of the cones, Mawenzi and Shira, are extinct while Kibo is only dormant, which means it has the possibility to erupt again. The highest point on the entire mountain is point Uhuru, the Swahili word meaning “freedom.”
When summiting Kilimanjaro, climbers go through five different temperate zones. Temperatures fluctuate from 90° F to -40° F. In order to combat the extreme temperature swings, anyone who wants to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro is advised to invest in a significant amount of protective gear. Between gear, flights, a trekking company, vaccinations, medications and miscellaneous climbers spend around $5,000 in total to summit the mountain.
To reach the summit, climbers have 7 different options for routes: Northern Circuit, Lemosho, Rongai, Machame, Shira, Marangu and Umbwe. Each of the routes range in length from six to nine days and therefore range in intensity.
According to a Climb Kilimanjaro Guide study, the average summit success rate between all climbers and routes is 65 percent. However, routes such as the Northern Circuit route have a 95 percent success rate and climbers only need to be physically fit in order to reach the summit.
