1Can be fatalAltitude · HAPE · December 2010
Fitter than you, and still carried down
Martina Navratilova, nine-time Wimbledon champion, was climbing for a charity when the altitude caught up with her at about 4,500 m (14,800 ft). Porters carried her down through the night, and she was flown to Nairobi, where doctors found high-altitude pulmonary oedema: fluid on the lungs. She left hospital three days later.
Do this instead
- Fitness doesn't protect you from altitude. Days on the mountain do.
- Know the signs of HAPE: breathless even at rest, a wet cough, a gurgle in the chest, falling behind everyone. Tell your guide the same hour.
- Going down is the treatment. The earlier you turn round, the shorter the walk to safety.
Sources: Associated Press, via Bangor Daily News ↗ · Ahram Online ↗
2Can be fatalAltitude · HAPE · August 2023
A young climber lost to altitude illness
A 28-year-old bank executive from Singapore, remembered as jovial and a lover of travel and the outdoors, had shown normal readings each day of the trek, his operator said. On the morning of the summit push his blood-oxygen level fell and his heart rate rose. He turned back and went down with a guide, but his condition worsened at camp and he died. The operator gave the cause as high-altitude pulmonary oedema, and his family has since sought answers about what happened.
We remember him, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
What we can all learn
- A falling oxygen reading with a rising heart rate can be an early sign of HAPE. Tell your guide straight away, and take it seriously even if you feel all right.
- Before you book, ask whether the crew carries a pulse oximeter, bottled oxygen and a stretcher, and how they would bring someone down quickly at night.
- Give your family your operator's emergency number and your insurer's, so they can get clear information quickly if anything happens.
Sources: South China Morning Post ↗ · The Straits Times, via Asia News Network ↗
3Can be fatalIllness · Altitude · July 2016
Gugu Zulu, and climbing while unwell
Gugu Zulu, a much-loved South African rally champion, was climbing with his wife Letshego for the Trek4Mandela charity. The day before he died, he shared that he had flu-like symptoms and was finding the climb hard. He then developed breathing problems. The medical team put him on a drip and brought him down the mountain, but sadly he died.
We remember Gugu Zulu, and our thoughts and prayers are with Letshego, his family and everyone who loved him.
What we can all learn
- Altitude and a cold or chest infection are a risky combination, and early HAPE can look like a chest infection. If you feel unwell, tell your guide early, however much you want to carry on.
- If you're ill before the climb starts, ask about moving your dates. Flexible bookings and insurance exist for exactly this.
- Difficulty breathing on the mountain is a reason to go down straight away.
Sources: News24 ↗ · The Citizen (Tanzania) ↗
4Can be fatalAltitude · HACE · Summit night
Brick walls that weren't there
Rod, a 56-year-old from St Leonards, started seeing brick walls and handrails beside the path on summit night, about 150 metres below the top. It was high-altitude cerebral oedema, swelling of the brain, and his team got him down to Horombo fast. Another climber, writing on SummitPost, saw dead friends and relatives on the way up and asked the guide to turn round.
Do this instead
- Hallucinations, confusion, stumbling or slurred speech are HACE until proven otherwise. The cure is down, immediately.
- The person with HACE is the worst judge of it. Agree before you go that you'll watch each other, and that the guide's call is final.
- A quick check: can they walk heel-to-toe in a straight line? If not, turn round.
Sources: Bognor Regis Observer ↗ · SummitPost ↗
5Can be fatalRoute · Rockfall · January 2006 · Western Breach
Three climbers lost to rockfall on the Western Breach
Early on 4 January 2006, rocks broke loose above the Arrow Glacier on the Western Breach. Three American climbers died and several porters were injured. The park closed the route, and an investigation pointed to melting ice, which had been holding the rocks in place. When the route reopened, groups had to cross earlier in the day, on a line that spends less time under the cliffs.
We remember the three climbers who died, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and with the porters who were hurt.
What we can all learn
- Route choice is a safety decision. For a first climb, pick a standard route: Lemosho, Machame, Rongai, Marangu or the Northern Circuit.
- The glaciers are shrinking, and loose rock comes with that. If an operator sells the Western Breach, ask how and when they cross it.
Sources: Mail & Guardian ↗ · NBC News ↗
6Can be fatalRescue · December 2025 · Barafu
Five lives lost on a rescue flight
On 24 December 2025 a rescue helicopter went down between Barafu Camp and Kibo Hut, at around 4,700 m, while bringing two Czech climbers who had fallen ill off the mountain. All five people on board died: the two climbers, and the doctor, guide and pilot who had flown up to help them. Tanzania's aviation authority opened an investigation.
We remember all five, including the crew who lost their lives trying to help others, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families.
What we can all learn
- Rescue crews take real risks to reach climbers at altitude, and helicopters depend on weather, daylight and thin air. They can't always come.
- The best protection is enough days to acclimatise, and walking down early when someone is unwell.
- Buy insurance that covers helicopter evacuation up to 6,000 m. Read the policy wording, not the brochure.
Sources: Al Jazeera ↗ · The Citizen (Tanzania) ↗
7Can be fatalCrew welfare · Weather · September 2003
Three porters lost in a storm
On 17 September 2003, during a late-season storm, three porters lost their lives. They didn't have proper clothing and are believed to have died of hypothermia. At the time, porters carried more than 25 kg of climbers' food and gear for less than US$6 a day. The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project was set up that same year to improve their pay, kit and treatment.
We remember the three porters who died, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families. Every summit on Kilimanjaro rests on the work of crews like theirs.
What we can all learn
- The operator you choose decides whether your crew has sleeping bags, boots and warm jackets. Choosing a KPAP partner helps.
- On day one, notice what the porters are wearing. If it doesn't look enough for a night at 4,600 m, ask your operator about it.
Sources: American Alpine Club ↗ · Wikipedia: Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project ↗
8Ends climbsBooking · On arrival in Tanzania
The trip that was never booked
A group of charity trekkers raising money for Hope4, which helps orphans and refugees in Moldova, landed in Tanzania to find their climb didn't exist. The founder of Aspire Adventures, the Welsh company they'd paid — around £84,000 between them, by one report — emailed that none of the money had gone on the trip. They crowdfunded hotels and a new operator on the spot. The company later went into liquidation.
Do this instead
- Get the name of the operator in Tanzania who'll actually run your climb, and confirm your dates with them directly before you fly.
- Pay by credit card where you can. In the UK, check whether the trip has ATOL or ABTA protection.
Sources: Advnture ↗ · TravelGossip ↗
9Ends climbsTravel · January 2026
All our outdoor gear was in those suitcases
A group arriving for their climb found three people's suitcases hadn't made the flight, with all their outdoor gear inside. A climber in 2004 lost a checked bag too, but had packed boots and basic mountain kit in hand luggage, and still made it to about 5,200 m.
The boots on your feet are the only boots guaranteed to arrive.
Do this instead
- Fly in your boots, or carry them on. They're the one thing you can't rent and break in overnight.
- Hand luggage: boots, warm jacket, medication, glasses or contact lenses, and a headlamp.
- Arrive a day or two early, so a late bag has time to catch up with you.
Sources: 100 Peaks ↗ · A climber's 2004 trip report ↗
10Ends climbsWeather · 2004
They laughed at the ice axes
Two doctors planned six days on the mountain, sleeping in huts. When they were offered crampons and ice axes to hire, they both laughed at the idea. The title of the article they later wrote for the Medical Journal of Australia: “Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in a blizzard”.
That title is doing a lot of work.
Do this instead
- The top is a glaciated summit near 6,000 m. Snow, ice and blizzards can happen in any month.
- Ask your operator what the summit was like last week, and take their gear advice seriously, microspikes included.
- Pack for well below freezing, with wind, on summit night, whatever the brochure photos show.
Source: Medical Journal of Australia ↗
11Good storyCold · Kit · Summit night
Two litres of ice, carried to the summit
A travel writer's water froze within hours of leaving high camp, so she carried two litre-sized blocks of ice all the way to the top. A Scottish hospice team found the same thing: water bottles, camera batteries and phones all froze on summit night.
A great hydration plan, if only you could drink it.
Do this instead
- Insulated bottles, filled with hot water at camp and carried upside down: water freezes from the top.
- Leave the hydration bladder in your bag on summit night. The tube freezes first.
- Keep your phone and a spare battery in an inside pocket, against your body, and take the summit photo fast.
Sources: SmarterTravel ↗ · NHS Forth Valley staff news ↗
12Good storySun · Lemosho, day six
The lip that ruined day six
On day six of the Lemosho route, one climber woke up with her bottom lip sunburnt, blistered and swollen, despite factor 30 lip balm. In early 2026 the singer Kwon Eun-bi said she got second-degree burns on her nose and upper lip summiting Kilimanjaro.
Freezing and sunburnt, sometimes in the same hour.
Do this instead
- The sun near the equator at 5,000 m is far stronger than at home. Use SPF 50 and an SPF lip balm, and reapply.
- A buff or balaclava protects your lips and nose from sun and wind.
- Wear proper dark sunglasses: snow glare can burn your eyes too.
Sources: Passport & Pixels ↗ · Sports Kyunghyang ↗
13Good storyMedicine · Before and during the climb
The pill that makes Coke taste wrong
Diamox (acetazolamide) is widely taken to help acclimatisation. One climber who tried it at home before the trip found that Coca-Cola no longer tasted right. On a 2012 trek, its other side effect, needing to pee all the time, meant the group gave up on modesty and squatting beside the trail became routine. Others report pins and needles in their fingers and toes.
Fizzy drinks taste strange, and you'll get to know every rock on the mountain.
Do this instead
- Ask a travel doctor whether Diamox suits you, and try a dose at home first, as these climbers did.
- Tingling fingers and a lot of peeing are normal side effects, not altitude sickness.
- It helps you acclimatise. It doesn't replace the extra day.
Sources: A climber's 2003 trip report ↗ · Walkhighlands trip report ↗
14Good storyCamp life · Every night, around 2am
Kilimanjaro Pull-ups
2am, a tent well below freezing, and a bladder that won't wait. One climber described lying there arguing with herself about leaving a warm sleeping bag for the long-drop toilet, and suggested “Kilimanjaro Pull-ups” as a product someone should make.
The hardest decision on the mountain happens at 2am, horizontally.
Do this instead
- Bring a wide-mouth pee bottle for the tent, and make sure it looks nothing like your water bottle.
- Ask whether your operator brings a private toilet tent. The public long-drops get grim.
- Go just before bed, even if you don't think you need to.
Source: Ottsworld ↗
15Good storyWildlife · Shira Plateau
The ravens want your lunch
Kilimanjaro's white-necked ravens are big, bold and clever. Mountaineering writer Alan Arnette found them “quite cheeky” as they came to inspect his group's lunch on the Shira Plateau.
The only thing on the mountain better acclimatised than your guide.
Do this instead
- Keep snacks zipped inside your tent or daypack, not in the porch or an open side pocket.
- Don't feed them. They've learned enough already.
Source: Alan Arnette ↗
I Climbed Kilimanjaro