So why Kilimanjaro?

“Because it’s there” was George Mallory’s disarmingly simple response to being asked why he wanted to climb Everest, since I lack Mallory’s talent as a climber (in fact I lack virtually all talent as a climber) I couldn’t possibly brush aside the challenge of Kilimanjaro with a similarly flippant response!

So back to the question in hand, why Kilimanjaro?

1. IT’S BIG – At 5,895 m (19,341 ft) Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world, this means that as well as the substantial amount of effort required to reach the summit there is the additional factor of Altitude Sickness to contend with. 
2. IT’S ATTAINABLE – Despite its massive size Kilimanjaro doesn’t require a superhuman level of fitness and it doesn’t require a vast array of technical skills to reach the summit so therefore with sufficient motivation and preparation it should have a good chance of completing the trip. 
3. IT’S AFFORDABLE (?) – OK so I accept that there’s varying degrees of affordable but Kilimanjaro costs a little more than a good holiday (compared to the tens of thousands of dollars required to climb many of the Himalayan peaks) and requires comparatively little equipment. 
4. IT’S IMPRESSIVE - Despite the fact that thousands successfully summit Kilimanjaro every year it’s probably still a rare achievement amongst friends and family and certainly has the “wow factor” when brought up in conversation. 
5. IT’S KILIMANJARO!