Old age is a joy. How to conquer Kilimanjaro at 80?

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world, its peak is 5,895 meters above sea level. Every year about 30,000 people attempt to climb the mountain, but not all reach the peak. Fred Distelhorst, Angela Vorobyova and Werner Berger are certainly an exception to the rule. They are in their 80s, but they have managed to conquer the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is a challenging goal, especially when you consider the extreme height of the mountain. The overall success rate is about 50% for all visitors. The main reason climbers fail is acute mountain sickness, which can occur if the body does not adapt quickly enough to the increasing altitude.

Fred Distelhorst, 88: “I was surprised, but climbing Kilimanjaro was not difficult.”

The head guide of Peak Planet (the agency that organizes climbs on the mountain) admitted that they didn’t immediately decide to take Fred as part of the climbing group.

From a Facebook comment,“When we saw Fred we were a bit apprehensive. Kilimanjaro is a big challenge. Many people along the way doubted if he could make it to the end. Other clients and guides also talked about it, some with excitement, others with doubt.”

The 88-year-old pensioner used to work as a dentist. Fred himself commented on his climb, “I think I’m in pretty good shape, even though I’m a small senior citizen.”

The video can be seen on Peak Planet’s YouTube channel.

Distelhorst climbed the mountain with his 22-year-old granddaughter Ellen Edgerton. As Ellen shared on her Instagram, she and her grandfather originally had a purpose for climbing the mountain – to help an orphanage in Kenya. Ellen volunteered in Tanzania, traveling to Kenya to help local hospitals and an orphanage. It was after her trip to Kenya that she wrote a letter to her grandfather offering to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Distelhorst’s granddaughter created a GoFundMe page to spread awareness of the issues in Kenya and ask for support to build homes for children. Thus began the story of 88-year-old Fred Distelhorst’s climb of Kilimanjaro, which took six days.
“One night I thought, ‘I can’t believe we’re actually going through this, but let’s do everything we can to climb,'” says Fred’s granddaughter Ellen.

Distelhorst and Ellen were accompanied by nine climbers and four guides. The guides checked Distelhorst’s health twice a day – measuring pulse and oxygen saturation, as well as temperature and blood pressure.

Alcoholic beverages are not allowed to be taken on the mountain, so when Distelhorst reached the top, he pulled out an empty can of Coors beer and took a commemorative photo. One of the guides later recalled the joy he felt as he accompanied the oldest man in the world to climb Kilimanjaro:
“When he arrived at the summit, the news spread all over the mountain. All the guides and chaperones were proud that Dr. Fred had climbed here at the age of 88. It was an honor and a pleasure to climb the mountain with him.”

Angela Vorobyova, 90: “Traveling is the best thing in life”

Angela Viktorovna Vorobyova is a 90-year-old pensioner from Ulan-Ude. At the age of 86, the woman conquered Kilimanjaro together with her daughter. In her youth she was often ill, so she started to move a lot and do exercises. As a result, Angela Viktorovna was able to improve her health, and an active lifestyle became a habit.

As Angela confessed, she always dreamed of traveling. However, she managed to realize her dream after her retirement. The pensioner has already visited such countries as South Africa, Tunisia, Korea, Botswana, Chile, Mongolia and China. The pensioner also plans to conquer the Andes.

The woman saves a lot, tries not to buy anything expensive in order to save up for travel. She travels every two years with her daughter. For two years Angela Viktorovna has been saving her pension in order to collect enough money for the trip. The pensioner is convinced that traveling is the best thing in life.

Werner Berger, 80: “I love traveling and inspiring other people to live freely.”

Werner Berger is 80 years old, but in July 2017 he was able to conquer Kilimanjaro for the 7th time. Many people wondered Wenger why he wanted to do it. As it turned out, Werner wanted to celebrate his birthday on top of the mountain.

“I wanted to celebrate my birthday on top of Kilimanjaro on July 16 and most importantly, I wanted to inspire people of all ages to live with great purpose and passion.”

Werner has climbed more than one peak in his lifetime. He is a Guinness Book of World Records record holder. Werner Berger is the oldest person on earth to have climbed the seven highest mountains on each of the world’s seven continents, including Everest, Elbrus, and Aconcagua.

Fred Distelhorst, Angela Vorobyova and Werner Berger proved by their example that age is not the main thing when you have a favorite occupation, a goal and a desire to achieve it.