How Fit You Need to be To Climb Kilimanjaro

So I have been thinking of climbing Kilimanjaro and the one thing I am wondering about is whether I am fit enough to make it to the summit of Kilimanjaro. I’ve been doing a ton of research on the topic and here is what I have found so far

You only need to have a moderate level of physical fitness to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. The routes to the summit of Kilimanjaro are not technical and any person fit enough to walk 8 miles (12KM) for 8 days consecutively can reach the summit successfully. The major factors that determine your success when climbing Kilimanjaro are how well you can acclimatize to higher altitudes your mental stamina and your ability to follow the climb guide’s instructions. Let’s look at the factors that determine your summit rate in more detail and determine if you are fit enough to conquer the tallest freestanding mountain on earth.

How Fit Do you need to be to Climb Kilimanjaro

Based on the research I did, being fit enough to comfortably walk 8 miles every day for 8 days gives you the highest chances of successfully summiting Mt Kilimanjaro. 

Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb and most of the trails are well used and with a mostly gentle incline. This means that you will not be very physically strained to make your way up the mountain. 

If you are able to put one foot in front of another for many hours on multiple days, then you are fit enough to climb Kilimanjaro. 

Here are my reasons for coming to this conclusion:

Your Entire Climb will be a Gentle Incline

Almost all ascent routes to the peak of Kilimanjaro have a small incline and does not require a high degree of physical fitness to get through them. Although not all the routes are the same, I found that some routes have vast distances which are flat and all you need to do in them is just walk. 

This means that for most of the climb up Kilimanjaro, you will be having a mild walk that would not be considered strenuous for most people.

Pole Pole (Slow pace)

To allow you to acclimatize to the change in elevation, you will need to walk at a very slow pace that is described in the Swahili word “pole pole” which means very slowly.

Ironically, I found that, on many occasions, the people who don’t make it to the summit are usually the physically fit ones who ignore the instructions to climb very slowly and start off at a fast pace up the mountain. They usually succumb to altitude sickness when they get to higher altitudes since their bodies did not have enough time to acclimatize to the changing altitude. I found your susceptibility to altitude sickness does not depend on how physically fit you are. 

Mountain Sickness is the actual Achilles Heel to Climbing Kilimanjaro for anyone

I needed to do more research on what I need to do to ensure that I don’t start experiencing mountain sickness on the climb I’m planning to Kilimanjaro so I went in the hunt for journals that give direction the risk factors that increase your chances of getting mountain sickness. Here is what I found: 

Risk factors for HAPE include rate of ascent, intensity of exercise and absolute altitude attained, although an individual predisposition to developing the condition is also well described and suggests an underlying genetic susceptibility.

Source: US National Library of Medicine National institute of health

My understanding of this statement is that the three factors that increase my chances of getting mountain sickness are 

1. How fast I go up the mountain
2. How intense my body works when climbing
3. The total change in elevation I attain each day.

You will notice that these are the exact things they tell you to walk slowly when climbing Kilimanjaro: to reduce your physical exhaustion when climbing and minimize the altitude gain each day to allow the body to get used to the new elevations.

This is the main reason why physical fitness comes second to how well you can acclimatize to the changing elevations when climbing Kilimanjaro.

Daily trek distances are mild

When climbing Kilimanjaro, the amount of distance you cover each day is mild. Here is an example of  the daily distances covered on the popular Lemosho route

Day	Distance in Kilometers	Distance in Miles
Day 1	6	3.7
Day 2	8	5
Day 3	11	6.8
Day 4	10	6.2
Day 5	5	3.1
Day 6	4	2.5
Day 7 (Summit Day)	12	7.4
Day 8	10	6.2

Source: Derived from an Itinerary Quotation from Ultimate Kilimanjaro

As you can see, you will be covering short distances per day and this is deliberate. It is meant to help you acclimatize to the higher altitude and give you the best chances of reaching the summit

Summit Day is the Hardest climb of all

As you notice on the table above, the summit day covers the longest distance and will be the most taxing of all the days you will spend climbing Kilimanjaro. The reason for this is due to the fact that your camp is located at a location that is considered a safe elevation but the peak is located at an altitude that is considered dangerous and not suitable for sleeping.

Summit day, being the second last day on the mountain means that you will be really tired if you did not pace yourself at the beginning and your fatigue will be complicated by the fact that you are already likely to be suffering from mountain sickness.

According to the High Altitude Medicine & Biology.Oct 2010 journal, Acute Mountain Sickness affects nearly 47% of climbers no matter what itinerary they take. 

47% (89/189) of climbers from all itineraries were AMS positive at 4730 m

Sourc: Incidence and predictors of acute mountain sickness among trekkers on Mount Kilimanjaro | High Altitude Medicine & Biology

This means that you stand a 50% chance of developing mountain sickness when you try to summit Kilimanjaro no matter what your level of physical fitness is and no matter what itinerary you use. 

Not being physically fit complicates your summit attempt since you will be fighting two (Pun Deliberately chosen 🙂 ) uphill battles: Mountain sickness and fatigue.

This means that even though you don’t need to be a superstar athlete to make the summit attempt, you will need to have a good degree of physical fitness and stamina to enable you to reach the summit on summit day.

Factors Determining your rate of success in climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

Acclimatization

How well your body can acclimatize to a change in elevation will be one of the biggest determinants of whether you are able to climb Kilimanjaro. Your ability to acclimatize to high altitudes does not depend on your physical fitness and the only way of preparing ahead of time for this is taking hikes in high elevations.

Numbers of days spent on the Climb

The fewer days you will spend on the actual trails making your way to the top the lower your chances of actually getting to the top.

This is because you will be gaining altitude too fast and you have a higher chance of developing mountain sickness and having to turn back and forfeit the attempt at the summit.

Mental stamina

As I have mentioned, the multi-day trek, coupled with dealing with mountain sickness requires mental stamina and an internal determination to make it up the summit. Based on what I have read, you will feel like turning back, especially when mild symptoms of mountain sickness kick in. Your mental fortitude to conquer these barriers are another main factor that will determine whether you are successful on your climb.

Following instructions

People who fail to follow the instructions of the guide to pace themselves end up succumbing to mountain sickness. Ironically, if you are physically fit, you are likely to ignore your guide’s instructions and push yourself too hard at the beginning. This may result in you not being able to complete your climb.

Your Guides’ Level of Experience

Getting a guide will be critical to your successful summit up Mt Kilimanjaro. Good guides have the necessary structure and experience to guide climbers successfully up to the summit. They would have the necessary measures to monitor symptoms of altitude sickness and offer guidance on what to do depending on the types of symptoms the climber is presenting. 

Using the best  route

There are routes that have lower chances of a successful ascent than others. The one route I would avoid (based on what I have read) is the Marangu Route. Although its the most established route offering hut accommodation throughout the route, it is very short (taking about 6 days) and does not give enough time for the boy to acclimatize before attempting the summit. Here is a video example of a couple that used this route and the lady didn’t make it to the summit.

Can you climb Kilimanjaro without training?

Based on the research I have done, I would not advise anyone to try climbing Kilimanjaro without training first. Although the climb is not physically strenuous, you will need to get your body used to walking long distances and if possible, experiencing a gain in elevation.

I would recommend that you train for at least 2 months before going to Tanzania. This will give you the best chances of success.

Going on actual hikes will simulate actual real-world Kilimanjaro trekking and will be the way I prepare for Kilimanjaro.