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.
There is no upper age limit on Kilimanjaro. And in several important respects, older climbers have a
significant advantage over younger ones.
Apr 153 min read
Expert guides, honest stories, practical advice, and the philosophy behind why we climb the way we do. From the trails to the summit — and the communities in between.