Length of climb – I have heard of people climbing it in 4 days. Why does it take you so many days to climb Kilimanjaro?

The key to climbing such a big mountain is acclimatisation. In order to achieve this a slow careful ascent is recommended. Each person acclimatizes at a different rate depending on their physiology, health at the time, and other factors. As a result there is no exact standard, but it is wise to prepare conservatively to ensure that all the climbers in the group reach their goal. It may be possible to climb the mountain taking less days, but an extra day makes a huge difference to success rates and comfort. In many ways our excellent success rate of over 95% is partly due to the careful ascents involving climbs of 7 or more days on the mountain.