From the fastest Kilimanjaro climb, to the oldest, with a spot of cricket in-between, here’s a rundown of a few of the records that have been set on our magical and mysterious mountain. This might serve as inspiration to set your own record:
Fastest Kilimanjaro climbs
In 2010 Spanish mountain runner Killian Jornet, at just 22 years of age, got to Uhuru Peak in 5 hours 23 minutes and 50 seconds. To put this into perspective, most of our treks take approximately five or six days to reach the summit.
The current fastest combined ascent and descent time record is held by the Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff, who completed a run up the Umbwe Route and descent via Mweka in just 6 hours, 56 minutes and 24 seconds in August 2014, beating Jornet’s combined time of 7 hours 14 minutes.
The record for fastest “unaided” ascent (meaning that the climber carried all his own equipment, food, water etc) is retained by Tanzanian local Simon Mtuy, who climbed from Umbwe Gate to the summit and back in 9 hours 19 minutes back in 2006.
On 27 July 2015 Anne-Marie Flammersfeld, a 37-year-old German currently living in St. Moritz , Switzerland, set a new record for the fastest ascent and descent by a woman on Kilimanjaro, climbing to the summit via the Umbwe Route in a time of 8h32min. She then turned round and made it back to Mweka gate for a total time on the mountain of 12h58min
Oldest Climbers
The oldest man to summit Kilimanjaro was an American by the name of Robert Wheeler, who summited in October 2014 at a shade under 86. It took him 5 days.
Until last month, the oldest woman to summit Kilimanjaro was Canadian Esther Kafer, who completed the climb with her husband in 2012. She was 84 and her husband was 85. However, Anne Lorimor from Arizona is waiting to be confirmed as the new record holder both for women and men, having recently completed the climb just days before her 86th Birthday.
Youngest Climber
In 2008, Keats Boyd from LA became the youngest person to stand on top of Kilimanjaro at the tender age of seven – that’s right, seven! This feat is made all the more impressive by the fact that you are supposed to be at least 10 years old to attempt climbing Kili. So Keats was breaking both records and all sorts of rules at the same time.
And a spot of cricket . . .
In September 2014, a group of international cricketers set the record for the highest ever cricket match, playing a ten over game at a height of 5,730m (18,799 ft) in a flat crater just below the summit. The teams included former South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and ex-England spinner Ashley Giles. Watch a short video of this impressive and bizarre feat here
Kilimanjaro attracts many ambitious athletes and other mountain climbers, seeking to break the latest records. Therefore, it is quite possible that these records are not up to date by the time you read this.