5 Top Tips for Best Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro

Although Mt. Kilimanjaro is a non-technical mountain and require no prior mountaineering experience (always better if you do), a lot of people ask me if there are any good tips. And I think it’s fair — it’s located in Tanzania which is already a big step into an adventure, it’s a high altitude climb, and a lot of the information online is scattered all over the place. So here are the 5 tips I would give to a beginner climber looking for any type of advice.

1. Don’t drink too much water before going to bed

I know many people would tell you to “DRINK LOTS” while in the mountains to avoid dehydration and getting high altitude sickness. This is true, but I don’t necessarily believe so before going to bed — which many people tend to do. Reason? Because quality sleep is far more important to keep you focused and physically ready for the summit day.

And in fact, there are already plenty of things that’ll avoid you from getting quality sleep, like sleeping in a tent or shared hut, people snoring next to you, headaches, cold nights, etc. Trust me, you don’t want to add another one which is to wake up for a toilet every 2 hours. Focus on getting a good nights sleep, and avoid as much stress as possible.

2. Avoid brand new or rental boots

One of the most important gears for your trek, is your footwear. I’ve seen many people bring either a brand new or rented boots, but if you’re really determined to summit this mountain, try and avoid the risks of getting blisters and any type of major pain. If it’s new, test it a couple of times for a walk or jog back home beforehand.

If you really have to rent it on-site, make sure you also bring your trekking socks (usually a bit thicker than your normal ones) with you and do a good fit test. You don’t want to suffer from every steps you take while in the mountain. It’s highly stressful, and it may take away that last push and motivation you need on the summit day.

3. Stay hydrated during the day with a Camelbak

I know I’ve mentioned in the beginning not to drink too much before going to bed, but make sure that’s not the case during the day. In the mountains, rather than drinking loads at every big stops you make with your group, it’s important to drink little and little before getting thirsty. I know that for some people, it holds them back from saying to the big group “hey! I wanna pull out my water bottle and get a sip!” as it stops the whole momentum. And it can get a bit annoying too if everyone in your group did this every 10 minutes.

So in order to avoid this and also have you constantly hydrated, I would highly suggest bringing any kind of hydration pack with you. It’s around $20-$40. You can always have a sip while your in the move, and it’s definitely worth the buy.

4. Choose the right tour operators and guides

The concept of “what you pay is what you get” applies heavily in Tanzania. You can make every effort to pay less, and some local tour operators may give you an incredibly cheap price (i.e $1100–$1300 for a normal Marangu trek), but there can be grey things happening behind the scenes. Some things I’ve actually seen and heard in the mountains are: assistant guide heading back home after 1st or 2nd day with some kind of excuse, less porters in your group than promised, low quality meals (which you won’t notice), porters being treated with very little respect (sleeping in a packed tent without mattresses or proper sleeping bag), getting surrounded by all staffs going crazy asking for tips on the last day — the list keeps going.

This is ultimately up to your moral values and ethics, but you should remember that happy and experienced crew=quality service. Quality service means you don’t have to deal with extra stress on top of the ones you’ll have to face climbing this mountain. If you want to search and book a trusted local tour operator, we can hopefully help you with that.

5. Everyone suffers on the summit day. Everyone.

Trust me, it’s not just you that’ll suffer on the summit day. Almost everyone will face some kind of an issue no matter how experienced you are. Headache, high altitude sickness, feeling super heavy, extreme wind, cold weather, you name it.

How do you overcome this? Well, you can rely on some pills for high altitude sickness or wear an extra layer if you’re feeling super cold. But in the end, it’s all determination and willpower. Make short goals. Try and reach the next big boulder you see 15m above. Focus on your next footstep, not the next checkpoint 2 hours away. Some people get skeptical when I say this, but it’s incredible how making “extreme short term goals” work really well in the mountains. It’ll get you going.

But having that said, always have the space to allow yourself to give up and head back. No climbs are worth your life and it’s really important to listen to your guide for final decisions — which you won’t be able to really do well like you would normally do back home (another reason you want to book a reliable tour operator).

Well, those were my 5 tips on climbing the highest peak of Africa. I hope it was helpful in anyway. Oh yeah, one last thing I can’t forget to mention: always remember to look back and glance at the beautiful view behind you. There’s always something great, and it’ll make you feel proud about every steps you’ve made :)