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 Another American mountaineer dies on Kilimanjaro: more details... | ||||||||||
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| More details from a climber who is clearly concerned about the status of deaths this year: I was on the summit of Kilimanjaro on the Monday night of the 20th February. I witnessed that an American died that night, but on Stella Point. According to my climbing partner he was quite young. We heard other reports later that a second person had died that night- maybe this was the 60 year old American tourist who died near Gilman Point ? If so, two people died that night, not one. On the day following our ascent we also witnessed three stretcher rescues- people being taken off the mountain presumably through altitude sickness. I think this is a very serious matter- nothing is more final than death. Does anyone really know how many people die on Kilimanjaro each year ? We heard that 7-10 porters die of hyperthermia each year. Our porters had holes in their tents that let the rain through. They wore flimsy non-technical clothing. Not all of them had sleeping bags- some had only been given blankets. We found out that our porters were only paid 3 to 5 US dollars per day, yet we paid good money for the trip and our company was also advising a "tip" of 7 US dollars per day. Surely this is wrong ! Where is the money going?- certainly not to the porters! We were also told that on our route (Rongai) there is no possibility of rescue. The rescue teams only operate from the main routes. We were never told this before our trip. There is no helicopter rescue at all from anywhere on the mountain. People set off for Kilimanjaro on charity raising trips, life time challenges etc. It is "sold" as a walkable freestanding mountain. It attracts people from all walks of life. People maybe don't realise how severe the conditions can be, especially as the wind chill hits on the summit ridge. People need to know that Kilimanjaro is a dangerous mountain. Like I said before, I wonder if anyone really knows the total fatalities each year ? How can anyone find out ? Our trip was "successful" as we reached the summit. We count ourselves lucky that we got back safely. Ian
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