UK Mountains Walking, Mountaineering and Equipment Reviews
Kilimanjaro
The Expedition
Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro

Being a pretty big mountain, standing at 5,895m one cannot simply turn up to Kilimanjaro and expect to succeed. My plan started at the beginning of 2017 with the booking. I chose Jagged Globe as I had read good reports about them and was impressed with their list of successes and expeditions they had undertaken and also had planned for the future. These were no ordinary Travel Agents! Having already booked a cycling trip to the Alps early June, my initial training centred around cycling, which was no bad thing as it would improve my cardiovascular fitness as a minimum and give me a bit of altitude training.

Once that was out of the way I started to concentrate on getting 'walking fit'. In my view, the only way to do this is by walking! Several day trips to the Brecons and Black Mountains saw me climbing numerous peaks, mostly by the hardest way.

Heading up Kinder Scout

Early in the year I took a trip up to Derbyshire, booking in to Edale Youth Hostel. This had a double bonus, my Uncle had passed away last November and the family had paid for a bench in his memory to be placed at the Youth Hostel and I was keen to see it. I could also get some serious walking done on both Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor Ridge. The weather was pretty snowy which made for some interesting walking and cold conditions, although Kinder Scout was surprisingly lacking in wind. Mam Tor ridge made up for it though, with a ripping wind almost knocking me over.

Pre-Expedition Weekend

The Tour Operator I am using is Jagged Globe

As the countdown progressed, more weekend trip needed to happen. Jagged Globe had organised a 'Get to know you' weekend mid-July which for me, was a 'must do'. The weekend was excellent with a introductory talk on the Saturday morning from Ed Chard, head of Operations, who gave us good information about the kind of equipment we would need, what to take and equally, what not to take. Their shop was open for business with a generous 15% discount. I decided on a blow-up pillow and two Nalgene bottles. We had been convinced that the bladder style was a poor choice; it can freeze up and the drinking spout can easily become soiled when the rucsac is removed and laid on the ground.

On the Kinder Plateau

On the Saturday afternoon, we took a walk around Burbage, nothing extreme, just an opportunity to stretch the legs and talk. Saturday night we were treated to a Nepalese dinner cooked by two very nice chefs from Kathmandu - they didn't come over specially!

Sunday saw us out in the Peaks, taking a walk from the Snake Pass up onto Kinder Scout via a quiet and little used path, then along the ridge for a while before descending and making our way back. It was interesting to see the group dynamic and also how slow we were forced to walk, being in a group - also good training; Kilimanjaro is conquered 'pole-ay', 'pole-ay' (slowly).

Training
North Wales Weekend

Peak District Weekend

Bredon Hill, Malvern Hills and a section of the Severn Way

UK Mountains

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