So with 9 months to go before I start in banking FT, I have this desire to do something epic during my senior year. One of the MD's in my group over the summer talked about how he and his son summitted Mt. Kili a few years in a row, and the idea just stuck with me.
Right now I'm considering making the climb late May/early June after I graduate. I'm looking for any information people can provide on preparation, cost, the overall experience, etc etc.
Any insight is greatly appreciated. Also, if you have any other ideas for senior year bucket list items let me know.
Run a marathon first. Itll cost you 90 bucks and prepare you for the mountain shit
My roomate is training for a marathon. Fuck. That. Shit.
have some balls and think up your own adv;s
So I shouldn't consider climbing Mt. Kili because someone I know did it already? Yeah, that's intelligent reasoning.
your the one who cant stop thinking about it.. if I was about to start working a lot of hours..last thing i want to do is walk up a mountain... i would be looking for some real adv.. some fun
do the gallon challenge
Save Kili for when you're old. There's nothing epic about it - you just walk up. Would be way cheaper and more formative to learn to climb in the Cascades or even the Andes. Our winter is summer in LATAM, perfect for an Andes trek.
Does EPIC mean "difficult to accomplish" or "fun and noteworthy even though some guides tout 97% success rates"?
Seems like fun. Personally, though I'd rather hang out in Rio or Mumbai or Jakarta or Manila or some other exotic large city.
Do consider the Mont Blanc climb. It is also a "named" summit, it's more challenging technically (so will require some training) and presumably cheaper than flying to Africa and paying the various fees (I think just entering the Kenyan reserve is $500 per person). If you haven't been yet, the area around it is absolutely stunning.
Good call. I'm planning on doing Mont Blanc next summer before I start work and I considered Kilimanjaro (and Mt. Kenya); they all end up having a pretty similar cost but I feel the value assessment (views, challenge, emotional reward) is pretty heavily stacked in favor of Mont Blanc.
Kili is not epic. It's an interesting volcano, but it owes its reputation to Hemingway. It doesn't cost anything to get to its foothills, not sure about going up. One's time is much better spent spending the 4-5 days or whatever it is on a safari. For that matter, one doesnt' get great views -- clouds routinely obscure it for weeks at a time - views are actually better from the airplane than the ground.
There are many more interesting places in Africa - the Sahara (particularly Mali or Tunisia), Ethiopia, etc. Want something epic? Go to Libya right now. In a few more months, it will be back to just another slightly off the beaten path destination.
OP, how much time do you actually have for a trip?
@NYC - I hadn't thought about a safari, but I'll definitely look into it
@Jimage - I can manage a 2 - 2.5 week trip, willing to spend 3-4k.
Appreciate the responses guys. any other ideas?
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