Kilimanjaro records: Fastest ascent of Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro records: Fastest ascent of KilimanjaroKilimanjaro organization that organizes most of these
In 2001 Bruno Brunod of Italy managed to reachrecord attempts, achieved the time of 13 hours 16
Uhuru Peak from Marangu Gate in just 5 hours 38minutes and 37 seconds in reaching Uhuru Peak via
minutes and 40 seconds. This remains the fastestthe Marangu Route.
verified ascent of Kilimanjaro. There are a couple ofYoungest person to climb Kilimanjaro
unverified claims, however, with Sean Burch ofOn 21 January 2008 Keats Boyd from Los Angeles
Virginia claiming to have made it to the top on 7 Junesuccessfully hauled his seven-year-old body to the
2005 in 5 hours 28 minutes, and Christian Stangl ofvery summit of Africa's Highest Mountain - and in
Austria claiming to have achieved the summit in 5doing so, has become the youngest person ever to
hours 36 minutes in October 2004.Incidentally, Brunoreach the top of Kilimanjaro. You can read more
then ran back down the same way, reachingabout Keats’ climb in our news section.
Marangu Gate just 2 hours 56 minutes and 12An impressive feat, not least because in breaking the
seconds after summiting. Adding these up, his totalrecord Keats must also have broken all sorts of rules,
time on the mountain was just over 8 hours 30including the one that says you have to be at least
minutes. Impressive, but it’s not the record…ten to climb Kili! The youngest person to climb
Fastest ascent and descent of KilimanjaroKilimanjaro who was above the minimum age was
This belongs to Simon Mtuy (Tanzania), who runs theJordan Romero of Big Bear Lake, California, who, as
Summit Expeditions and Nomadic Experience trekkingreported in our Kilimanjaro News section, achieved
agency in Moshi. On December 26, 2004, Simonthe summit on the 23rd July 2006 at the tender age
acheived the incredible time of 8 hours 27 minutes.of ten years and 11 days old.
Apparently, it took Simon 6 hours exactly to reachOldest person to climb Kilimanjaro
the summit via the Umbwe Route, and after sevenCuriously, according to the Guinness Book of World
minutes to catch his breath, just two hours 20Records American Carl Haupt holds the record for
minutes to complete the descent to Mweka Gate.the oldest man to summit Kilimanjaro, being 79 when
In fact, it’s likely that Simon will be the holder forhe reached the top in 2004. This must have come as
a while. His ultrarunning background combined withsomething of a surprise to Frenchman Valtée
the fact that he climbs the mountain regularly meanDaniel, who has long been regarded as the oldest
that even if his rivals do beat his time, their reign isman ever to reach Africa’s highest point –
likely to be shortlived.Nor is that the end ofand considering he was 87 when he made it to the
Simon’s record-breaking exploits, for on the 22top, we can see no reason why he’s not still the
February 2006 Simon climbed from Umbwe Gate torecord holder. One can assume only that Monsieur
the summit and back again in a time of 9 hours andDaniel’s expedition could not be verified
19 minutes and, in doing so, achieved the fastestaccording to the regulations governing Guinness
ever unaided ascent and descent (by unaided, theyrecords – though it seems a bit rough on the old
mean that Simon carried his own food, water andfella to have his record snatched away by such a
clothing). This despite suffering from a nasty bout ofwhippersnapper. However, as you may have noticed
diarrhoea, as well as a three-minute break at the topin the introduction to the book, Valtée’s
to video himself, plus two further breaks toachievement hasn’t been entirely forgotten and
vomit!wp750cb3fd_0f.jpg Fastest ascent ofmost people, including us, continue to consider
Kilimanjaro (female)Valtée the main man. So come back when
Rebecca Rees-Evans (UK), part of the Teamyou’re older, Carl, and try again.