Is the 108/30 really “Everest For Everyman”?

When I was planning my ascent of Kilimanjaro years back (Jeeze…twenty years ago?) I was pleased by a phrase in the marketing. That Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, was “Everest for Everyman” — a serious challenge within the reach of “the average person” in a way Mt. Everest is not. Everest requires time, energy, resources and levels of fitness and monomania frankly beyond most people on the planet. Kili? Six months of prep, and the average couch potato COULD do the deed, have a genuinely transformative and never-to-be-forgotten experience.

If you can climb three thousand feet in three hours, you are FIT enough to climb Kili. The question is one about altitude sickness. No one knows how they will react to it until it appears. So they recommend the slower 5–6 or even 7–8 day routes over the 3–4 day routes only experienced climbers are encouraged to take.

What does this break down to? Well, about 5–6 hours of climbing for 5–6 days. What does that come to in caloric expenditure? Call it 600 calories/hour, times 5 hours = 3000 calories/day, times six days for 18,000 calories.

Whoa. That’s about 5 pounds of fat. Not bad!

What is the “burn” on the 108/30 challenge? Welll

Lets assume that you’re taking about an hour per day. That is “only” about 1500 calories per day. But remember…comparing hour for hour it is TWO AND A HALF TIMES as many calories per hour!