Day six. The climb to Barafu Camp. The final camp before summit night. The point at which the mountain stops being beautiful and starts being serious.

I want to be careful about how I frame this because I am not a therapist and the mountain is not a cure. What I can tell you is that Kilimanjaro did something for my mental health that twenty years of managing depression with medication and therapy had not managed to do. And there is science behind why that might be true.

Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb. It does not require mountaineering experience. It does not require exceptional fitness. It requires the ability to walk uphill for six to eight hours per day across eight consecutive days.

Can your child climb Kilimanjaro? The answer is more nuanced than yes or no, here is the complete, honest guide to age, readiness, and preparation.

There is no upper age limit on Kilimanjaro. And in several important respects, older climbers have a significant advantage over younger ones.