Group embarks on climbing Mt Kilimanjaro for 36 hours

Thursday, January 15, 2015    No comments

A group of 19 Mount Kilimanjaro ‪#‎trekkers‬ under the ‪#‎leadership‬ of the World’s Record holder – ‪#‎WimHof‬ ‘Iceman’ has today started to climb the mountain with the aim of reaching ‪#‎UhuruPeak‬ (5,895 metres) in 36 hours while wearing shoes and shorts only.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian over the weekend in Moshi, Hof who has 25 ‪#‎GuinnessRecords‬ explained that they will ‪#‎climbMountKilimanjaro‬ using the famous route under the guidance of a Moshi based tourism company - ZARA Tanzania Adventures.
“Early last year I guided a group of 25 ‪#‎MountKilimanjaro‬ trekkers who managed to make it to the highest ‪#‎summits‬ of the mountain which are ‪#‎Gilman‬’s point (5,681 metres) and Uhuru Peak (5,895 metres) within 48 hours… they were also wearing shoes and shorts only,” he explained.
He said the key challenge is to maintain control of the body under extreme conditions as the ‪#‎freezingtemperature‬ at the summit can range between 18-26 centigrade and reach the summit at nearly six thousand metres in only 36 hours (instead of the usual days 6).
“The climbing speed we are using does not give the body time to ‪#‎acclimatise‬,” he explained.
Hof noted that on the first day they will climb 3,800 metres and the following day they will scale the mountain up to 4,700 metres and on the last day climb all the way to the top of the ‪#‎mountain‬.
He added that the crew will have to maintain control of mind and body while dealing with the major risks of ‪#‎hypothermia‬ and ‪#‎AcuteMountainSickness‬ (AMS).

Hof has won 25 World records including climbing the ‪#‎World‬’s ‪#‎highestmountain‬, ‪#‎MtEverest‬ in an empty chest, run a ‪#‎marathon‬ beyond the Poler Cycle and swimming under the Ice (after making holes) among many others.
“However, these capabilities are not unique to me and in fact, I have achieved similar encouraging results with many patients with auto-‪#‎immunediseases‬ of joints such as ‪#‎Arthritis‬ and ‪#‎Rheumatism‬ as well as nerves and muscles such as ALS and Myasthenia Gravis,” he said.
One of the climbers, Leon Leijten from ‪#‎Holland‬ explained that the ‪#‎project‬’s goal is to show that anyone can accomplish such an extraordinary ‪#‎worldrecord‬.
He added that given the global interest for this challenge, an ‪#‎internationaldocumentary‬ will be produced so that everyone is able to follow closely the crew’s journey on #MountKilimanjaro.
Hof has been working with documentary producers from the ‪#‎BBC‬, ‪#‎DiscoveryChannel‬ and the ‪#‎NationalGeographic‬ for quite some time.
“The latest ‪#‎documentary‬ on his extraordinary performances in #Iceland will be a great success. And the entire journey will be filmed for a full-length feature documentary on how to stay In Control on Kilimanjaro,” Leijten pointed out.
For her part, ZARA Tanzania Adventures Managing Director, Zainab Ansell said: “We are very happy to host such a unique group. Apart from Mount Kilimanjaro we are also marketing other tourist destinations available in the country.


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