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  • virtual-kilimanjaro-r3
  1. FAQs

Virtual Kilimanjaro R3

Known as the Roof of Africa, Kilimanjaro is one of the best-known mountains on earth. It's the world's highest free-standing mountain and the easiest of the fabled Seven Summits and for decades it has captured the imagination of generations of trekkers! Join this virtual trek on the picturesque Rongai route for a challenging but memorable experience to raise funds for Dreams Come True.

Kilimanjaro has three main volcanic peaks, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira - it's a truly superlative mountain, standing in isolation like an island above the surrounding savannah and the hot, dry plains of Tanzania. At 5,895 metres, climbing Kilimanjaro indoors is a fantastic virtual challenge that is entirely feasible for anyone, reagrdless of your fitness level.

We'll pass through five different vegetation zones as we ascend from the Rongai gate to the summit: Lower slopes, montane forest, heath and moorland, alpine desert and summit rock and ice, which makes a virtual ascent of this magical mountain even more special.

Route - Rongai

The Rongai route is the only route from the north side of the mountain, which tends to be drier than the south. It's a relatively quiet route with good opportunities to spot wildlife as we ascend, and which gives incredible views of Mawenzi (second highest peak on Kilimanjaro). Rongai has a gradual ascent in terms of terrain, which allows for excellent acclimatisation compared to other routes. We also include an additional day of acclimatisation so you can enjoy the stunning scenery from Mawenzi camp. 

Outline itinerary

Route

Typical Rongai itinerary

Route

Our Rongai Virtual Trek

Day 1
Rongai Gate (2,100m) to Simba camp (2,830m) Week 1

Rongai Gate (2,100m) to Simba Camp (2,638m), then to Second Cave (3,300m) – height gain of 1,100m, or record 25,788 paces

Day 2
Simba Camp to Kikilewa Cave (3,600m) Week 2

Second Cave (3,300m) to Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) – height gain of 1,000m, or record 23,443 paces

Day 3
Kikilewa Cave to Mawenzi Tarn (4,315m) Week 3 Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) to Mawenzi Ridge for acclimatisation (4,700m), then Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) to Kibo Camp (4,700m) – total height gain of 800m, or record 18,755 paces
Day 4
Mawenzi Tarn to Mawenzi Ridge (4,700m) Week 4 Kibo Camp (4,700m) – Summit (5,895m) – height gain of 1,195m, or record 28,015 paces
Day 5
Mawenzi Tarn to Kibo Camp (4,703m), Tents
Day 6
Kibo Camp to Summit (5,895m) to Horombo Camp   The total height gain during the challenge will be 4,095m

You can check out the detailed week-by-week itinerary in the Essential Information section below.

Safety

Please see below some basic advice for participants on how to safely underatke the challenge. Please also self-assess your readiness for physical activity using the Exercise Readiness questionnaire below from the Register of Exercise Professionals. This will help you to decide if you are ready to take on this challenge safely, but if you are in any doubt at all please consult with your doctor.

Advice for Participants Exercise Readiness Questionnaire

Stairs? Or Steps?

During the challenge you'll need to track your progress. There are two options for undertaking this challenge, depending on whether you have stairs at home:

1. Stairs

This is the most accurate way of recording height gain, but depends on having stairs at home! The first thing to measure is how much height gain we make when we complete one circuit of our stairs, whether we’re indoors or whether we’re outdoors. To do that, you only need a measuring tape! Just get down close and personal with a step. Measure the vertical height of a single stair from its base to its top. Then also record the number of stairs in your staircase (a circuit). One circuit of your stairs means going up AND down. The total height gain required to climb Kilimanjaro is 4,095 metres, so now you can calculate:

  1. the number of stairs you need to climb (total height gain / height of each stair), and
  2. the number of circuits (total height gain / height gain in one circuit)

Example: on my staircase at home, each stair is 19 cm, or 0.19 metres. I have 14 stairs so the total height gain per circuit is 266 cm, or 2.66 metres. To climb Kilimanjaro, I need to climb 4,095 / 0.19 = 21,552 stairs, or complete 4,095 / 2.66 = 1,540 circuits of  my stairs.

2. Steps

in case you don't have stairs at home, you can instead record steps taken (paces). The Rongai route is 72 kilometres long, and the average human step (or pace) is 0.75 metres. So you have to take 96,000 steps in total to climb Kilimanjaro!

You can check out how to record your progress in the Essential Information section below.

Participants

We can support up to 100 participants per event. This can be increased, so please do ask if you’d like to run a bigger event.

Benefits

There are so many incredible benefits of offering this virtual challenge:

  • Keep your fundraisers and staff engaged & motivated
  • Relatively low cost (no accommodation, no transport etc.)
  • Lower risk than a mountain event as objective factors are removed (e.g. weather) and no travelling involved
  • Massively decreased carbon footprint

Essential Information

Virtual Kili - How the Event will run

Expand

Day 1 of the event

At 08:00 the briefing webinar will begin, and it will have two sessions:

  • 08:00 – 08:20: A briefing on what to expect during the challenge. We'll treat this as it if were a real event so we’ll talk about the actual weather forecast, kit required for their day, nutrition & hydration, how to measure and record height gain, how and when to update me with progress, how the Facebook event page will work and cover any questions participants will have (15 – 20 minutes)
  • 08:20 – 09:00: I’ll give an inspirational Everest-themed talk with a short Q&A. You can find out more about these talks here and view some recent feedback here. You can check out a short promo for these webinars by clicking on the image below, or at this link.

At 09:00 the event will begin and will run through to the Friday of Week 4.

During the Event

Participants will be asked to update me every 200 metres of ascent, or 5,000 steps/paces by Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger so we can track progress. I’ll send participants photos/videos from specific altitudes from the mountain to keep them engaged & motivated. I'll schedule a small number of Whatsapp video calls randomly throughout the 4 weeks with a selection of participants to provide support, check progress, encourage and motivate them or answer any questions.

Participants will also be encouraged to update the private Facebook event page with photos & video updates of their own to create a supportive and inspiring community for all.

I’ll be sharing tips and advice on the event page throughout the event.

Particpnats will receive an email each Sunday evening outlining the route and target for the upcoming week.

End of Event

We’ll hold a Zoom debriefing call with participants at close of business on the last day to celebrate our successful ascent, their amazing fundraising and share feedback, stories and goodwill all round.

Published: 13th May, 2020

Author: Ricky Munday

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Virtual Kili - Briefing

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Briefing

When participants register for the event, we’ll email them a briefing document. That document will explain:

  • How the event will run
  • Include information on how to install and use some of the digital tools that we use to facilitate the event, such as Facebook, Zoom & Whatsapp
  • Include links to YouTube videos showing how to measure stairs and record circuits of stairs
  • Include a suggested kit list and a suggested training programme and some tips on nutrition
  • Include route information & a 3D video of the actual route so that your participants can visualise the route they're climbing on Kilimanjaro

We’ll also send them instructions to download our fantastic Vamoos app to help build excitement before the event. Finally, they’ll receive discount codes for outdoor retailers and kit companies, including Montane, Cotsowld Outdoor, Open Air & summitfit.

Your Facilitator will be available for questions via Whatsapp in advance of the event, and the information above will also be available on a private Facebook event page. Your participants will also receive an invitation to join this group on the introductory email.

The day before the event, we’ll send a reminder email, with a link to a Zoom briefing webinar that will take place the following morning.

Published: 13th May, 2020

Author: Ricky Munday

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Virtual Kili - Facilitator

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Lead Facilitator

Ricky Munday is the lead facilitator for the event. He's a qualified Mountain Leader and Everest summiteer and holds an Expedition First Aid qualification. He has safely guided thousands of clients up & down the UK’s highest peaks and also on overseas expeditions to Kilimanjaro & Everest Base Camp.

Published: 13th May, 2020

Author: Ricky Munday

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Virtual Kili - Recording Progress

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Recording Progress

We need to record how many paces/stairs/circuits we’ve completed. Recording steps (paces) taken is easy - you can use a smartwatch, fitness band, pedometer or just your smartphone to track your steps. Your phone can track how many steps you take and how far you walk all by itself, assuming you just carry it with you in your pocket.

If you're climbing stairs, you have a few options to record the number of circuits completed.

  • use a physical tally counter or digital counter to record each circuit
  • use paper and pen at the top or bottom of your stairs to record each circuit
  • carry 5 small items (e.g. pebbles, coins or whatever you have to hand). Pick up one of these items when you start your first circuit. Pick up the second when you complete the second, and so on. On every fifth circuit, when there are no more items to pick up, mark another 5 circuits as complete on a piece of paper and start again with the first item only. Alternatively, you could move these items from one pocket to another until all items are in one pocket, then mark 5 circuits as complete
  • If you have access to a laptop, you can do this by using two Excel spreadsheets. On the first, you simply record ‘1’ in a cell every time you complete a full circuit, then hit return/enter to move the cursor to the next cell down in the same column. In a second spreadsheet, you input a formula into cell here to add up all of the entries in column ‘B’ in the first spreadsheet. Now, every time you complete and record a new circuit in spreadsheet 1, the number of circuits completed in spreadsheet 2 will increase by 1, and the cell below will automatically calculate the number of metres climbed. Other cells will calculate how many metres remain.

Now you’re ready to begin your Kilimanjaro virtual challenge!

Published: 13th May, 2020

Author: Ricky Munday

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Virtual Kili - Detailed Itinerary

Expand

Route

Our Rongai Virtual Trek

Week 1

Rongai Gate (2,100m) to Simba Camp (2,638m), then to Second Cave (3,300m) – height gain of 1,100m, or record 25,788 paces

Week 2

Second Cave (3,300m) to Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) – height gain of 1,000m, or record 23,443 paces

Week 3 Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) to Mawenzi Ridge for acclimatisation (4,700m), then Mawenzi Tarn Camp (4,300m) to Kibo Camp (4,700m) – total height gain of 800m, or record 18,755 paces
Week 4 Kibo Camp (4,700m) – Summit (5,895m) – height gain of 1,195m, or record 28,015 paces
  The total height gain during the challenge will be 4,095m

Published: 13th May, 2020

Author: Ricky Munday

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