Safety

Safety is our highest priority on all our Kilimanjaro climbs at Private Kilimanjaro. Detailed risk assessments are completed and kept updated in line with best international health and safety practices. Our policies, practices and risk assessments are reviewed annually with our insurers to ensure that we do everything possible to minimise risk for your Kilimanjaro climb.

The most serious risk climbing Kilimanjaro is Altitude Mountain Sickness and for more information on this see AMS. The best way to manage AMS is to immediately talk about possible symptoms to your guide at their onset, monitor them carefully and if they become more severe to rapidly descend to a safe altitude.

It is critical that you monitor your own wellbeing and communicate this effectively to ensure your safety on the mountain. Our guides are expert in identifying AMS but if you do not communicate properly you increase the risk of a critical altitude-related condition developing. YOU MUST READ OUR INFORMATION ON AMS AND ENSURE YOU KNOW THE SYMPTOMS SO THAT YOU CAN ADVISE YOUR GUIDE once the early warning symptoms start to manifest. 

Some operators try to blind people with science talking about Gamow Bags as an additional safety measure. Gamow bags are a giant inflatable cocoon and are good for mountains from which immediate rapid descent is not practicable. On Kilimanjaro you can descend 300m aided by two guides/porters, in less time than it takes to set up a Gamow bag and this loss in height will be a sufficient air pressure increase to improve a critical condition.