Do people die when climbing Kilimanjaro?

Yes! Some people die when attempting to summit the Kilimanjaro! Climbing Kilimanjaro is probably one of the most dangerous things you will ever do. Every year, approximately 1,000 people are evacuated from the mountain, and approximately 10 deaths are reported. The actual number of deaths is believed to be two to three times higher. The main cause of death is altitude sickness.

The Kilimanjaro is the among of the seven summit in the world. Almost every major mountain holds a certain risk of death associated with climbing it, and in Mount Kilimanjaro is no different. According to recent statistics, the mountain is the area of approximately ten climber deaths every year.

This estimate is rounded up since the current data only shows the documented number of climbers who were pronounced dead on site. Since Kilimanjaro is a massive mountain, there is no way to tell if locals may have died in the area without anyone knowing. Each year, one can expect six to seven climbers to die on the mountain.

Why people die on Kilimanjaro?

People die on Kilimanjaro because of the following reasons :- High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), Heart attacks and Rock falls.

High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) results from fluid buildup in the lungs and HACE is the result of the swelling of brain tissue from fluid leakage. Altitude mountain sickness combine High Altitude Cerebral edema and high altitude pulmonary Edema. All of these conditions are serious issue which must be treated faster as possible.

High altitude can cause climbers to get blood pressure which It affect the cardiovascular system by decreasing oxygen in the blood while increasing the demand on the heart. The people who have heart diseases or attack they are not allowed to climbing Kilimanjaro because it could be dangerous and increase risk of death.

Acute Mountain Sickness is caused by the failure of the body to adapt quickly weather condition enough to the reduced oxygen at increased altitudes. This disease is common for climbers to get during their trip. The symptoms of altitude sickness are headache, shortness of breath may continue on the trip as long as their symptoms do not recognize well. The local or experienced guides should have ability to determine all symptoms of mountain diseases.

In mountain Kilimanjaro there are a lot of dangerous which may cause death of climbers including rock falls which are several fold happen on Kilimanjaro. There are some routes which this situation is mostly happen like Western Breach is an area that has bad rock fall accidents. However the western breach gate on Kilimanjaro was closed for this reason. Tour operators are not including this route to their route list because it dangerous for peoples life.

Unlikely other mountain on Kilimanjaro Mountain every year there are deaths. Even if there are death on Mount Kilimanjaro but because the Kilimanjaro National Park authorities do not release statistics in case of this it is impossible to know how many injuries occur every year and whether the mountain is getting more or less dangerous per year.

The reason the authorities hide the real truth on the death is because the country does not want to scare tourists away from climbing Kilimanjaro. So instead of being able to analyze the true risk, we are forced to take educated guesses. This article will help to reduce death on Kilimanjaro.

Some measures to take to prevent are:-

Climbing slowly up the mountain it will help you to decrease your chances of suffering to altitude sickness. Your body will generate energy when your climbing slowly and it will gives your body more time to rest and relax to the higher altitudes.

Try book on best tour company with experienced guides who they will soon understand the symptoms of mountain diseases like acute mountain sickness (AMS) and other mountain diseases when anyone get.

Doing hikes up mountain practical which will help your body to get ability of climbing mount Kilimanjaro .Going on practice hikes up high altitude mountains will also help your body for example you can climb short mount before decide to climb the highest mountain like Kilimanjaro for example mount Meru in Arusha Tanzania.

But also over exerting yourself can increase the possibility of HAPE. So climb at a moderate, steady pace, and take slow breaths.

Inform your guides if you’re feeling any symptoms as they’ll know how to give you the first aid and what actions to take next and if your guide tells you that you need to descend you need to listen them.

How can I reduce death risk on Kilimanjaro?

Eat energetic and clean water
Drink clean and safe water and eat high energetic foods to keep your body hydrated and energized. Eat fast digested food like foods with carbohydrate. Climbers are advised to drink between three to four liters of water per day. The food should be eaten at three times including morning, afternoon and night.

Choose the best route
The first thing as a climber you should choose the route which does not have many challenges like the route which involve the use of rope. This route it could be very difficult especially for beginners. On Kilimanjaro there are main seven routes which lead to the summit at the top of Kilimanjaro Mountain. You should decide to start either northern side or Southern side of the mountain. After making the decision to climb Kilimanjaro, you will need to choose your route. You advised to choose route with slope or route which is shorter than others in order to save time to summit Uhuru peak and some are longer for those who need the extra time to do exercise. The route with high elevation could be difficult to climber and it will be risk for climbers to get mountain sickness.

Don’t forget to pack all important equipments
You will need to be prepared for both conditions. You required preparing multiple articles of clothes and the plenty of water and food which will be provided by the company up to last destination.

Choose the best gears
If your trip will take more than one week, you should to have a proper camping gear, survival gear, climbing gears and the first aid kit as well as personal gears. The national park authorities recommend all of your equipment weigh no more than 30 pounds, in order to give porters ability to carry those climbing gears and equipment without tired up to summit to the top.

Without some of these essentials, it is impossible to climb Kilimanjaro safely. So, be sure to look up lists and guides of what to pack before climbing on the first highest mountain in Africa. And make sure that once you start, you don’t want to turn back.