The object of the expedition is to climb and summit Kilimanjaro barefoot “The objective of the expedition is to climb and summit Kilimanjaro barefoot in entirety. This naturally poses a whole new array of additional challenges that one would have to overcome during a conventional summit”, according to Sean Disney, Managing Director of Adventure Dynamics International, twice Everest and twice 7 Summits summiter.

The Beneficiary

Our official beneficiary, The Children’s Hospital Trust, is the only stand alone, specialist hospital in South Africa, dedicated entirely to children. Managing over 250 000 patient visits each year. The Children’s Hospital Trust fundraisers for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and paediatric health care in the Western Cape.

Their belief is that every minute a child spends in hospital, is a minute less of their childhood.

The Mountain

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world At an altitude of 5895m, Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world, the highest mountain in Africa and the 4th highest of the 7 Summits. Mount Kilimanjaro was 1st summited in 1889 by Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller, an incredible 27 years after its 1st summit attempt in 1862. The structure of the mountain is composed of 3 volcanoes: Kibo (19,340 feet), Mawenzi (16,896 feet), and Shira (13,000 feet). Kilimanjaro supports 5 major eco-zones: rain forest, heath, moorland, alpine desert and glaciers which in turn, each pose different problems and challenges to those pursuing the quest of climbing this spectacular African landmark. The altitude of the upper eco-zones combined with the latitude of the mountain means that it is summer-like every day and a freezing arctic climate every night.

Apart from the physicality and testing elements on the mountain, altitude sickness is by far the biggest contributor to climbers not reaching the summit. The usual 6 day summit of Kilimanjaro is incredibly fast for a mountain this high and thus giving climbers very little time for acclimatisation. To put things into perspective, it takes approximately 14 days to climb Mt Aconcagua which is only 1000m higher than Kilimanjaro.

The Rules of Going Barefoot

A strict set of rules have been established and must be adhered to at all times during the climb in order to achieve and claim a barefoot summit.

In order for one to declare a barefoot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro a climber must:

• Walk and climb every meter of the mountain from a Mt Kilimanjaro Park gate to Uhuru Peak barefoot and during set climbing times.
• Establish set climbing times during each day and not place a shoe of any kind on any foot during the set climbing times.
• Establish a start and end mark at the beginning and end of each day and climb between these marks each day. The end mark of each day will automatically become the start mark of the following day.
• At all times walk with no artificial or natural substance or assistance between his/her feet and the ground. The skin to ground rule.

Therefore, between set climbing times, a climber may be shod or choose to do what they may. A climber may also warm his/her feet during set climbing times by various means except by putting shoes on. However if a climber requires means of warming his/her feet which results in the bottom of his/her feet being covered then he/she may not continue climbing until the covering has been removed.