The following is an extract from Africa Travel Resources (ATR) advice regarding fitness. Please note that ATR will be providing us with our mountain guides and porters.

 

When people speak of this degree of difficulty, they are mainly referring to one single part of the climb, which is the six to eight hour section up to the summit. This part really is tough, mainly due to the extreme altitude.For the most part, the days that precede this ascent are not too physically demanding for anyone with a reasonable degree of fitness. That is not to say that even this easy. A combination of adverse factors such as bad weather, altitude sickness and general tiredness arising from being out on the mountain can make even the easiest walking days very tough indeed. Climbing Kilimanjaro is therefore as much about perseverance and will to succeed as it is about sheer physical fitness.

 

That is not to say that you should take this as an excuse not to get yourself into good physical shape before the climb. Any reasonable exercise is good, but especially walking. You should be able to walk for several hours on consecutive days without too much problem. Add to this some more aerobic activities such as cycling or running and you should be getting towards the kinds of fitness levels that you will need for a serious attempt on the mountain. There is more detailed information on this subject in the later section which deals with preparing for the climb.

 

When people speak of this degree of difficulty, they are mainly referring to one single part of the climb, which is the six to eight hour section up to the summit. This part really is tough, mainly due to the extreme altitude.For the most part, the days that precede this ascent are not too physically demanding for anyone with a reasonable degree of fitness. That is not to say that even this easy. A combination of adverse factors such as bad weather, altitude sickness and general tiredness arising from being out on the mountain can make even the easiest walking days very tough indeed. Climbing Kilimanjaro is therefore as much about perseverance and will to succeed as it is about sheer physical fitness.