Climb Kilimanjaro with Alpine Ascents
“Of all the great guide services on Kilimanjaro, Alpine Ascents might be the best. Its success rate is close to 96%, and though its treks are longer and pricier, they avoid the jam-packed Marangu Route.” – Outside Magazine. Selected once again by Outside Magazine!
Named one of the Top Adventure Tour Outfitters in the World by Travel + Leisure, who highlighted our Kilimanjaro trip. We are proud to be the only climbing company chosen as a 5 star outfitter.
Acclaimed by climbers, industry professionals, and media alike, Alpine Ascents provides a one-of-a-kind experience on Kilimanjaro. We employ a professional mountain guide from our Seattle-based staff on each trip. Your guide is generally one of our full-time Alpine Ascents mountaineering guides and adds an unmatched level of summit success and risk awareness based on their broad range of climbing experience. Our guides are Kilimanjaro climbing experts first and foremost, but have an extensive mountaineering and wilderness medical background.
Our “real ” success rate is over 95% for the last 25 years.
Every one of our Kilimanjaro expeditions is led by an professional mountaineer; a very unique part of our ability to offer the highest quality, safety conscious expeditions.
See guides at: Alpine Ascents mountain guide.
We Offer Three Routes To Climb Kilimanjaro
Every one of our Kilimanjaro expeditions is led by an Alpine Ascents mountain guide.
The right route for you: why we recommend the 7 Day Machame, 8 Day Lemosho or the 9 Day Lemosho.
Choosing a route is not as complicated as some would have you believe: Alpine Ascents, using a western guide, has an approximately 96% success rate.
Machame 7 Day Route – This has been our bread-and-butter Kilimanjaro climbing route over the last 30 years, traveling through five distinct ecosystems in seven days. This is the classic climb of Kilimanjaro with Alpine Ascents. Most of our offerings are on the Machame and with over a 95% success is an excellent non-technical route for both beginners and those with some prior climbing experience. It should be noted that the “Lemosho” becomes the Machame route on day 3 or 4.
The Lemosho 8 Day Route – Starting on the Western slope of Kilimanjaro and joining the Machame route on day 4. Enjoys an extra day of acclimatization with the additional camp at 13,400 feet. This is an excellent route for those who want an extra day on the mountain compared to the Machame route. Like the Machame we maintain an over 95% success rate on this route.
Lemosho 9 Day Route – Our nine-day Kilimanjaro climbing itinerary is geared toward the very fit trekker/climber with a chance to sleep at the crater floor after summit. This program has an extra camp above 15,000 feet in the middle of the climb to help with acclimatization. The route is similar to the 8 day, adding a night after the summit in the crater floor, giving a half day for climbers to explore the crater, glaciers and the ash pit – simply fantastic! The 9 day also has a later start time on summit day, leaving around 6am by morning light, rather than headlamp.
It was without a doubt the most enjoyable expedition I have been a part of. From the beginning to end, the level of competency, attention to detail, knowledge base, and guideship was top notch. Not only was the western guide a pillar of knowledge, the Tanzanian crew were clearly a cut above the other outfits crews.
My partner and I were incredibly satisfied with every aspect of the expedition. From the guide, to the Tanzanian crew, to the accommodations and meals, the entire expedition was incredibly enjoyable and exceeded our expectations. On a scale of 1-10, everything was a 10! I would go anywhere in the world with you.
Most outfitters employ local African staff with relatively limited climbing and medical skills, and many are simply safari or trekking companies, as their name implies. In addition to providing a professional, US-based guide, we offer the utmost in quality of services that include chef-prepared meals, dining tents, and real toilet tents. This creates a unique blend of high-end luxury tour company and professional mountain guiding.
Alpine Ascents’ Success on Kilimanjaro:
We have been guiding Kilimanjaro for over 20 years with over 95% true summit success, touting one of the highest success and safety records in the industry. In recent years we have led over 1,000 people to the summit! (Some outfitters do not count all climbers in their statistics.)
Ascending Kilimanjaro with a mountain climbing organization will greatly improve your chances of success, and we provide one of our Seattle-based guides to lead every scheduled expedition. Every trip is organized with the utmost care and quality: from our lead Western guide, to chef-prepared meals, to dining and toilet tents. We look to take care of all elements with great attention to detail.
Every one of our Kilimanjaro expeditions is led by an Alpine Ascents mountain guide. Along with our lead guide, we employ highly experienced local guides and generally have a 2:1 climber-to-guide ratio. On summit night we typically add other local senior staff, bringing the climber to guide ratio to better than 2:1. Most of these experienced local guides have between 100-500 summits each and have worked with us for many years. Some have been guiding for between 20-35 years on Kilimanjaro. The importance of this level of experience can not be emphasized enough.
Absolutely enjoyed it! Everything — from general coordination and accommodations to small details like the flowers on the table in our dining tent — was amazing. All of the guides were wonderful. I feel I learned a lot from all of the guides – Swahili, backpacking and climbing skills, nutrition/hydration, dealing with altitude, and general information about the mountain, Tanzania, the culture, etc. By the end, the entire crew felt like a big family. Everything was top of the line and I was amazed at the five-course meals we had all day long. AAI does so much so well that it would be difficult to list all of the strengths! Clearly everything is well-organized and executed. Our group was the envy of the mountain!
My expectations were not just met, they were exceeded – in fact, they were exceeded time and time again! The level of organization for the entire trip was outstanding, from being met at the airport through the summit and return!