Amazing feats and records on Kilimanjaro

Though it’s been less than 150 years since Hans Meyer became the first person to set foot on the summit of Kilimanjaro, people have been finding many different ways of conquering the Roof of Africa since then. The following is a collection of posts about amazing climbs that we’ve reported on over the past five years. The COVID pandemic has, of course, curtailed many record attempts and other climbs over the past couple of years – but there are still plenty of stories here to enjoy, amuse, and inspire.

  • Kilimanjaro's Kibo summit from Mawenzi on a beautiful summer's day

89-year-old woman climbs Kilimanjaro!

July 30th, 2019|

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 [...]

New record for youngest person to reach the top

October 26th, 2018|

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 [...]

  • Beautiful shot of the sign at the summit of Kilimanjaro

New record for oldest person to climb Kilimanjaro!

September 2nd, 2017|

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 [...]

  • Descending from the summit with Mawenzi rising above the clouds

Highest ever football match played on Kilimanjaro

July 16th, 2017|

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, [...]

  • The tops of six giant groundsels in a row

Africa’s Biggest Tree found on Kilimanjaro!

November 28th, 2016|

Africa’s tallest indigenous tree has been discovered in a remote corner of Kilimanjaro. The tree is, measures a whopping 81.5 metres, and is of the species Entandrophragma excelsum. Scientists from the University of Bayreuth in [...]

  • Beautiful shot of the sign at the summit of Kilimanjaro

The first woman to climb Kilimanjaro

October 4th, 2016|

Last week The Guardian here in the UK reproduced an account of Sheila MacDonald's 1927 ascent of Kilimanjaro. The climb is significant as it is possible that this was the first ascent to the summit [...]

  • Descending on the Marangu Route from Kibo Huts towards Mawenzi

Amputee team to climb Kilimanjaro

May 6th, 2015|

So you don't think you've got what it takes, physically, to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro? Check out these individuals from the San Antonio Amputee Foundation, all climbing Africa's HIghest Mountain in December this year [...]

  • Beautiful shot of the sign at the summit of Kilimanjaro

New Speed Record for Climbing Kilimanjaro

August 18th, 2014|

Once again the record books are going to have to be rewritten: Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff has just set a new speed record for climbing Kilimanjaro and returning to the gate again, completing the distance in [...]

Who has climbed Kilimanjaro the most?

June 5th, 2014|

Last year I was contacted by a well-known US-based trekking company who wanted to know which person had climbed Kilimanjaro the greatest number of times. I replied that the holder of this record would [...]