An 89-year-old woman from Phoenix, Arizona, has become the oldest to climb Africa’s highest mountain.

Anne Lorimor, a former university instructor, reached the summit earlier this month after a nine-day trek. Anne climbed for Creating Exciting Futures, her own charity that she founded to support disadvantaged youth.

This is actually not the first time she’s reached the summit, either, having previously climbed it just four years ago with her niece and nephew. On that occasion she became the oldest woman to have reached the summit, as recorded on our record Kilimanjaro climbs page.

However, just a few months after her 2015 climb her place in the record books was lost when Russian octagenarian Angela Vorobeva reached the top aged 86 years and 267 days.

But her latest climb not only beats Angela’s record for being the oldest woman to reach the summit, but also eclipses the feat of the previous record holder for the oldest person to get to the top, Fred Distelhorst, from Vail, Colorado, who on July 20th 2017 climbed to Uhuru Peak at the age of 88.

Huge congratulations to Anne on her successful climb and new record.

In September this year two men from Northern Ireland became the first to serve fish and chips at  Kilimanjaro’s Barafu Camp, a dizzying 4662m (15,295ft) above sea level.

Alan Hanna, who runs Pitstop Fast Food in Kilkeel and Malachy Mallon, who owns Dungannon’s Dolphin Takeaway, set up what is believed to be the world’s highest ‘pop-up chippy’ to raise funds for the Fishermen’s Mission UK Charity.

Before the pair even set foot on the mountain they also served up Britain’s national dish at the Fortune Kids and Education Foundation Orphanage Center, on the slopes of Mount Meru.

When asked before the climb why they wanted to undertake such a difficult and, let’s face it, bizarre challenge, Malachy explained “It is our aim to raise lots of money for charity but we also wish to showcase the passion and unity of the UK Fish & Chip industry and promote fish & chips as healthier takeaway option. The Kilimanjaro Chippy Challenge is the perfect way to do all that in record-breaking style, on top of a world stage, and we are looking forward to the challenge!”

They were able to cook Britain’s national dish despite being equipped with only a two-ring camping stove and no running water. Nevertheless everything they cooked was, according to reports, devoured by those lucky enough to be staying at Barafu that night.

The duo raised over £27,000, with £20,000 going to the Fishermen’s Mission. This Christian charity has been operating for over a century, working alongside regular emergency services to aid fishermen in distress at sea, as well as providing welfare to fishermen and their families back on dry land.

The other £7000 went to the Fortune Orphanage which looks after children under five.

While Alan and Malachy’s climb is certainly impressive, it’s not the first time takeaway food has been seen on Kilimanjaro. Back in 2016 we reported on a pizza delivery that was made to the Roof of Africa as part of a publicity stunt by Pizza Hut.

Nevertheless, Congratulations to both Alan and Malachy on what is undoubtedly a great achievement, and on raising such a large amount of money for what is a very worthwhile charity

UPDATE AUGUST 2023: Due to the significant doubts surrounding this expedition, we have chosen not to recognise Ognen Živković’s climb as the record.

On 6 August 2023 the record for the youngest person to have climbed Kilimanjaro appeared to have been broken. Five-year-old Ognjen Živković from Serbia took seven days to complete his trek, taking the Machame Route to the summit.

Unfortunately, several eyewitnesses got in touch with us, independently, and before I’d even written about his climb, to tell me of the disturbing sight they’d seen near the summit of Kili of a young child being carried down the slopes, semi-conscious, on the back of a porter.

As any mountaineer will tell you, to successfully climb a mountain you need to a) do it under your own steam; and b) climb both up and down.

And so, due to the significant doubts surrounding this expedition, we have chosen not to recognise Ognen’s climb as the record.

And so we still say that Coaltan Tanner, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the US, is the youngest person ever to climb Kilimanjaro.

Coaltan reached the summit on 22 October 2018 at 11.40am.

He was born on September 18th, 2012, meaning he was just six years, one month and a few days when he made it to Uhuru Peak.

We first heard about Coaltan’s desire to reach the summit of Africa’s Highest Mountain back in January 2018, when his mum, Caitlyn, contacted us seeking help for her son’s climb, and to help her negotiate the tricky red tape that surrounds any such attempt. (For those of you who don’t know, the legal minimum age for climbing Kilimanjaro is ten, so special permission has to be sought from the park authorities, KINAPA, before any such climb can take place.) The following extract from the original email that she sent to us will give you some idea of why they were so keen for their son to climb:

“Coaltan found out about extreme mountain climbing from an explorer book that he got for Christmas last year and frequently asks us to read to him before bedtime. It’s called “How to be a World Explorer, your all-terrain training manual”. Page 82 is about climbing Mount Everest. After we told him we are not going to take him to Mount Everest any time soon, he wanted to know what other high mountains he could climb…and thus started his infatuation with climbing Kilimanjaro.”

It appears that Coaltan’s talent for trekking emerged at an early age, as this next extract makes clear:

“We didn’t realise Coaltan had the stamina or will to climb up mountains until we accidentally took him on an 8 mile, very steep hike up the Sandia Mountains to see an old plane crash site last summer. We were under the impression that it was only a 4-mile hike, but quickly realised that it was 4 miles one way, 8 miles round trip. He was only 4 years old at the time and we periodically asked him if he wanted to quit and head down, but he was determined to get to the crash and finish the hike. Since he had enough snacks and water, he did fine and we were completely shocked that he was able and willing to hike that far with such ease.” 

There are, of course, plenty of people who will be horrified at the thought of someone taking such a young child up to the summit of Kilimanjaro. But his mother, a pharmacist back in New Mexico, and his engineer father, who use to be a marine,  took every precaution. This included having a doctor clear Coaltan for the climb. Coaltan also went on a couple of 5-7 day treks, hiking and camping at 13,000ft, before he’d even set foot in Tanzania.

This was actually Coaltan’s second attempt at the summit. A first, back in July, was aborted when the local guides, fearing that they would have their licences taken away, refused to take him to the summit. So a second attempt was arranged in October and my friend (and brilliant guide), Nick Basso, was able to successfully take him to the summit with the Majestic trekking company.

Though there have been younger children who have stood at the summit of Kilimanjaro, they have been carried at least part of the way by guides/porters rather than making their way up the mountain under their own steam.

Coaltan’s achievement breaks one of the longest-held Kilimanjaro records – and also clears up any doubt as to who the actual record-holder is. Back in 2008, Keats Boyd, from Los Angeles, climbed to the top aged seven. His record stood until January this year, when Cash Callahan, also aged seven, managed the same feat. Unfortunately, Keats Boyd had become pretty much untraceable and so without knowing his exact birth date we could never ascertain who, exactly, was the youngest of them all. Thankfully, with Coaltan now reaching the summit we have a new – and undisputed – record holder!

You can watch a video of Coaltan’s climb here.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

A Scottish woman is believed to have become the world’s first quadruple amputee to have reached the summit of Africa’s Highest mountain. Corinne Hutton reached the top on Friday, 5 October, as part of a team of 11 people raising money for the amputee charity Finding Your Feet.

Corrine, who originally hails from Renfrewshire but now lives in Lochwinnoch, lost her lower legs and hands in 2013 after becoming ill with septicaemia and pneumonia but used prosthetics to help her reach Uhuru Peak at the very top of Kilimanjaro.

This is not Ms Hutton’s first extraordinary feat, for she had already become the first female quadruple amputee to climb Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis.  According to updates on the charity’s website and facebook page, Corinne suffered from blisters from day one; it should also be mentioned that in addition to her more visible disabilities, Ms Hutton also had a lung removed last year following an infection.

Together, Ms Hutton’s expedition raised what is believed to be around £30,000 for the charity.She joins a pretty long line of people overcoming enormous disabilities to reach the summit of Africa’s Highest Mountain. These include such heroes as Bern Goosen, who twice managed to get to the top in his wheelchair; Erica Davis, who in 2012 became the first woman to do so; Spencer West, who lost his legs at the age of five due to a rare genetic disorder but on 2012 managed to ascend entirely on his hands; and Kyle Maynard, who on January 15, 2012, became the first quadruple amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro without assistance, by crawling to the summit in just 10 days.

Congratulations everyone – that’s just awe-inspiring!

Earlier this month, on the morning of the 16 March, 2018, Montannah Kenney managed to walk from the park gates to the very summit of Africa’s Highest Mountain. In doing so, she became the youngest girl ever to climb to the top of Kilimanjaro.

Miss Kenney, from Austin, Texas, climbed with her mum. They planned the trek in memory of Montannah’s father, who died when Montannah was just three years old.

Not only did Montannah smash the record – which had previously been held by eight-year-old Roxy Getter from Florida, but she also came close to becoming the youngest person, male or female, ever to reach the summit! While it is not known exactly how old Keats Boyd, the first seven-year-old to climb Kili, was when he climbed Kili, we do know that Cash Callahan, who reached the summit in January this year, was just a month younger than Montannah when he summited. (To be precise, Montannah was 2,865 days old when she reached the top, while Cash was 2,824 days.)

Nevertheless, what a fantastic achievement – well done Montannah!

It’s been a busy time on Kilimanjaro. This morning Danish athlete Kristina Schou Madsen contacted us to point out that she has just smashed the record for the fastest climb-and-descent of Kilimanjaro by a woman. Her time of 6 hours, 52 minutes and 54 seconds using the Mweka Route (which is usually used as a descent-only route by people coming down from the summit).

The record has been verified by the  International Skyrunning Federation  and Kristina supplied GPS and Video evidence to prove her achievement.

The second record was bought to my attention by Eddie Frank of Tusker, one of the oldest trekking companies on Kilimanjaro. Eddie wrote to us to say that his company has just led a seven-year-old boy to the summit of Africa’s highest mountain. Cash Callahan, from Boulder Colorado, climbed with his ten-year-old brother and both his parents.

The question remains, however, as to whether Cash is actually the youngest person to climb Kilimanjaro. The record has been held since 2008 by Keats Boyd of Los Angeles, who was also seven.

The problem is, nobody has been able to contact Keats to find out exactly how old he was to the nearest day when he reached Uhuru Peak (the summit of Kilimanjaro). So for the moment we’ll just have to say that Cash is possibly the new record  holder – and we’ll update our records page accordingly.

You can see a video of Cash’s climb by clicking on the link below.

Nice one Cash – that’s a fantastic achievement!

It’s finally been officially confirmed that Dr Fred Distelhorst, a retired orthodontist from Vail, Colorado, has become, at 88, the oldest person ever to climb Kilimanjaro.

Dr Distelhorst climbed with his grand-daughter, Ellen Edgerton, who was already in Tanzania volunteering for a charity project.

The duo took six days to climb Africa’s highest mountain, finally reaching the summit on July 20th 2017.

Unusually, Dr Distelhorst took oxygen for the final push to the summit, as recommended by his doctor, but otherwise found the climb relatively straightforward; indeed, Dr Distelhorst is quoted as saying that he was surprised the climb ‘wasn’t harder’.

Regular readers of this website will know that the record for the oldest person to climb Kili has been broken more often than any other over the past few years, with the previous holder, Angela Vorobeva,  who set her record on October 29th 2015 at the age of 86 years, 267 days.

Thankfully, Dr Distelhorst also beats the ‘unofficial’ record set by the mysterious Valtee Daniel, a Frenchman whom I only read about once while researching for the first edition of our guidebook way back in 2001, and whom I have never heard anything else about since. Mr Daniel’s climb has never been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records, who insist that any record attempt is verified by independent witnesses and must be filmed, photographed and meticulously documented in a log book. Mr Daniel was said to be 87 at the time of his climb – so Dr Distelhorst has eclipsed this record too.

You can read more about the records for Kilimanjaro on our dedicated records page.

An eight-year-old girl from Florida, US, has become the youngest ever female to climb Kilimanjaro all the way to its 5895m summit. Roxy Getter,  from Punta Gorda, reached the summit with her family earlier this month. Also in their party was her dad Bob and mother Sarah, as well as ten-year-old brother, Ben – thus surely setting another record as the youngest siblings ever to reach the top.

The family trained in Florida by climbing multi-storey car parks and the steps of a local stadium. And despite Florida’s sea level altitude, the family all made it to the top without succumbing to altitude sickness.

Remarkably, the climb was the first time the family had even camped out together, let alone tackle an enormous mountain!

We offer our hearty congratulations to Roxy, Ben, and everyone in the party who made it to Uhuru Peak.

Kilimanjaro has picked up yet another record. Last month thirty women from across the world played a full ninety-minute football game (that’s soccer to our American friends) in the Crater of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The game, between Volcano FC and Glacier FC, ended in a nil-nil draw but the result wasn’t really the point. The people behind the event, Equal Playing Fields, had arranged the match to highlight the inequality between men and women in sport.

Among the players were several ex-internationals from the world of women’s football, including Erin Blankenship and Lori Lindsey from the US and England midfielder Rachel Unitt. The pitch was marked out with flour to cause no long-lasting damage to the Crater.

The trip was organised through top Kili climbing company Nature Discovery, who have a great report about the match.