Kilimanjaro records

Fastest ascent of Kilimanjaro

In 2001 Bruno Brunod of Italy managed to reach Uhuru Peak from Marangu Gate in just 5 hours 38 minutes and 40 seconds. This remains the fastest verified ascent of Kilimanjaro. There are a couple of unverified claims, however, with Sean Burch of Virginia claiming to have made it to the top on 7 June 2005 in 5 hours 28 minutes, and Christian Stangl of Austria claiming to have achieved the summit in 5 hours 36 minutes in October 2004.Incidentally, Bruno then ran back down the same way, reaching Marangu Gate just 2 hours 56 minutes and 12 seconds after summiting. Adding these up, his total time on the mountain was just over 8 hours 30 minutes. Impressive, but it’s not the record…

Fastest ascent and descent of Kilimanjaro

This belongs to Simon Mtuy (Tanzania), who runs the Summit Expeditions and Nomadic Experience trekking agency in Moshi. On December 26, 2004, Simon acheived the incredible time of 8 hours 27 minutes. Apparently, it took Simon 6 hours exactly to reach the summit via the Umbwe Route, and after seven minutes to catch his breath, just two hours 20 minutes to complete the descent to Mweka Gate.

In fact, it’s likely that Simon will be the holder for a while. His ultrarunning background combined with the fact that he climbs the mountain regularly mean that even if his rivals do beat his time, their reign is likely to be shortlived.Nor is that the end of Simon’s record-breaking exploits, for on the 22 February 2006 Simon climbed from Umbwe Gate to the summit and back again in a time of 9 hours and 19 minutes and, in doing so, achieved the fastest ever unaided ascent and descent (by unaided, they mean that Simon carried his own food, water and clothing). This despite suffering from a nasty bout of diarrhoea, as well as a three-minute break at the top to video himself, plus two further breaks to vomit!

Fastest ascent of Kilimanjaro (female)

Rebecca Rees-Evans (UK), part of the Team Kilimanjaro organization that organizes most of these record attempts, achieved the time of 13 hours 16 minutes and 37 seconds in reaching Uhuru Peak via the Marangu Route.

Youngest person to climb Kilimanjaro

Though we’ve heard rumours of a 7-year-old boy who climbed Kili, we have been unable to find any details. However, according to a report in a South African newspaper, Joshua Schumacher, a South African now living in Swaziland, managed to reach the summit early in 2002 aged just 9!

An impressive feat, not least because in breaking the record he must also have broken all sorts of rules, including the one that says you have to be at least ten to climb Kili! The youngest person to legally climb Kilimanjaro was Jordan Romero of Big Bear Lake, California, who, as reported in our Kilimanjaro News section, achieved the summit on the 23rd July 2006 at the tender age of ten years and 11 days old.

Oldest person to climb Kilimanjaro

Curiously, according to the Guinness Book of World Records American Carl Haupt holds the record for the oldest man to summit Kilimanjaro, being 79 when he reached the top in 2004. This must have come as something of a surprise to Frenchman Valtée Daniel, who has long been regarded as the oldest man ever to reach Africa’s highest point – and considering he was 87 when he made it to the top, we can see no reason why he’s not still the record holder. One can assume only that Monsieur Daniel’s expedition could not be verified according to the regulations governing Guinness records – though it seems a bit rough on the old fella to have his record snatched away by such a whippersnapper. However, as you may have noticed in the introduction to the book, Valtée’s achievement hasn’t been entirely forgotten and most people, including us, continue to consider Valtée the main man. So come back when you’re older, Carl, and try again.

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