Advice from Experienced Climbers

It seems that there is no shortage of people within Nancy's and my "6 degrees of separation" who have made the climb to Mt. Kilimanjaro and all are very willing (thank heavens!) to share their experiences. I spoke with Aaron, who, by the way is a very impressive young man, and is the son of Nancy’s and my high school friend, Susan. Aaron talked with me for over an hour and a half a week ago Sunday. He shared everything from who he recommends for the guide group, to what equipment we'll need for the climb, to some of the nuances of living for 8-days without appropriate facilities, to how to train for altitude in our Illinois flat lands.

Aaron works with a surgeon who has climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents, which of course includes Mt. Everest. The surgeon was actually airlifted off Everest due to some kind of embolism during his first climb, but was able to complete the climb the second time around. The surgeon had recommended to Aaron to use Alpine Ascents, which is the same guide group the surgeon used for all of his climbs. It is a US based company and considered “top tier” as far as guide groups go. Of course, I’m all for “top tier” since I usually go for 4 and 5 star hotels. Alpine Ascents has a very impressive website http://www.alpineascents.com/ . Check it out.

Next, Aaron suggested that I follow the Alpine Ascents equipment list, which is on the web. I specifically asked him about trekking shoes and boots. He suggested the brand, Merrell (http://www.merrell.com/) for shoes and Asolo for boots. It is very important to get waterproof Gore-Tex for both. We will spend a day or two hiking through a rain forest, so water proof and things that dry quickly are very important. He also said, don’t bother with anything cotton or anything like tennis shoes or running shoes, because they take forever to dry and, as I found out Sunday as I ran in the rain in cotton running shorts and t-shirt, wet cotton weighs a lot more than wet synthetic fabrics. Aaron also said that a “seal line" boundary pack is very important. Evidently the Porters are not especially careful when setting down the climber supplies and more often than not, they will end up in a mud puddle. A seal line boundary pack is made of rubber with a special seal that keeps everything inside dry. Sleeping bag should be rated for 10 degrees, and knee gaiters are especially important to keep our feet dry. Thermal underwear is very important and should be a wool and synthetic blend or synthetic. We’ll also need glacier glasses, and those can be specially made for those of us who have prescription glasses. Some of the better suppliers Aaron suggested are: Moose Jaw out of Chicago, Mountain Hardware, and Outdoor Research.

Something that I hadn’t thought of is, we’ll need shots and, as you mentioned Nancy, we’ll need to start taking Malaria pills at least 3 months before we leave. I've got a call into the County Health Department and my doctor to see what is absolutely required, but I read an article online that said we needed everything from yellow fever to rabies (of all things); here's the list that was suggested in the article: Yellow Fever, Hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, Hepatitis A, Meningococcal meningitis, Rabies, and Typhoid . I think the the key is that Yellow Fever is the only REQUIRED vaccination and the others are recommended. I should hear back from the Health Department soon with the scoop...of course it will be the scoop for travel from the US, so the requirements may be different for travel from UAE.

As far as training goes, the only thing that Aaron strongly suggested, which made good sense to me, was that we should use a surgical mask while running and doing any cardio activities to reduce the oxygen flow during exertion. He said that this might help when it comes to altitude sickness.

There are a few other things he said we should do during the climb to help with the altitude and that is to take Acetazolamide (diamox) daily. It's a diuretic, but he said he didn't take it and on the push to the summit was very sorry he didn't.

There's other personal stuff that we talked about, like how girls use the facilities during the climb and that sort of thing...it was a little embarrassing for me to ask about it, but thankfully, Aaron was very straightforward with his answers. I guess there's a funnel thing made for girls, I found one called "Go girl", that is very helpful when there's no place to sit. The URL for that is: http://www.go-girl.com/ I thought it was very impressive that Aaron took the time to explain that aspect to me...I had wondered about it and had it on my list of questions, but I hadn't expected such a direct and matter of fact answer...It's a relief to have this information, because as I understand it, there are no shops scattered along the climb. Thank you Aaron - that 60 second part of our conversation saved me from 8 days of embarrassment!