Summiting Mount Kilimajaro a bucket list win for 73-year-old Southern Alberta man

Olds resident Joe Gustafson has crossed one goal off his bucket list – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. 

Gustafson, 73, and sons Paul and Colin, both in their 40s, made that climb last fall. 

“The idea came from the fact that we were going to go on a holiday to South Africa and I’ve always had this mountain kind of in the back of my mind,” he said during an interview with the Albertan. 

“I’ve no idea why. Some of my other children had climbed the mountain, and I guess that’s where the spark came from.” 

They stayed in a city nearby to become acclimatized, then made the trek to the base of the mountain with several porters and guides. 

In a concession to Joe’s age, they took the northern route, which is easier, but that way, it takes longer to get to the top. 

They hiked up most of the route for six days then did the ascent to the top on the seventh day. 

"That was the hardest day of course, because your last ascent is about 6,000 feet to the top,” Gustafson said. 

“So you start out at 11 o’clock at night and you hope to be there at the rim of the crater by sunrise at 6 o’clock, which we did do. So we watched the sun come up at the top of Kilimanjaro. 

“And then we continued our hike. It’s another kilometre to the actual peak. It’s called Uhuru peak. It’s at 19,341 feet. So you stay there long enough to take a few pictures and down you go. 

“So it’s not really anticlimactic, but you think ‘oh my goodness,’ you know, ‘here we are’ and you spend 15 minutes, because it’s cold and the wind is blowing and you’re at 19,000 feet.” 

The trek down was a lot quicker. It took them about two days. 

“I think the hike down was actually harder in so many ways, because it had rained, so the trail was slippery,” Gustafson said. 

“And we then came down the front side. We went up the back side and came down the front side. 

“The trails are quite a bit steeper. And so like I say, the trails were slippery and so you’re constantly kind of tense because you don’t want to fall. And so it was certainly a challenge, there’s no doubt about it. 

“But overall, the hike was fun and amazing. And to do it with two of my kids of course was something that I’ll never forget. And I think they had a good time too, trying to take care of their old dad, so I think it was OK,” he added with a laugh. 

The climb takes hikers through five different zones. 

“You start out in the jungle with monkeys around you and then you get up into scrub brush and that kind of stuff and then you end up in the sub-arctic zone near the top and then the summit zone, which has absolutely nothing for growth. 

“But (in) the alpine zone just below that, there’s still plants growing and the odd cactus and that kind of stuff,” he said. 

“Surprisingly at that height, the buffalo still come up, because there are salt licks up there. So they climb the mountain to get to the salt, then go back down into the lusher areas. So peculiar things that you see that you don’t expect, right?” 

Gustafson’s party didn’t actually see any buffalo up there though. 

“We saw one skeleton, but that was it. He didn't make it obviously, wherever he was planning on going.” 

An attraction for Gustafson was that the climb is not a technical one. No ropes and special gear are needed to make the ascent. 

“It’s just trails that go up the mountain," he said.  

"Some of them are steep and some of them are rocky and whatnot, but they’re not technical, so you don’t need any special training and stuff.  

“And you have to be in somewhat decent shape, but not superior shape. It’s a challenge because of the altitude, not because of the height.” 

Gustafson said the hike itself is only 49 kilometres from the bottom to the peak, but during that trek, climbers go from 2,000 feet to 19,500 feet.  

“When you get to the top, you know you’re in elevation. I mean, you’re breathing hard and you’re moving very, very, very slow(ly) because you just don’t have the energy, right? You’re just absolutely zapped because of lack of oxygen,” he said. 

No oxygen was needed, although a porter brought up a bottle, just in case. 

He admitted in some ways it was a pretty luxurious trip. 

In addition to the Gustafsons, the party included two guides, a chef, and about eight porters who carried up most the equipment as well as all the food and water. They also set up tents, including a dining tent.  

Gustafson said although he goes to the gym fairly regularly, the physical demands of the hike weren’t really an issue; it was acclimatizing to the height. 

“(Every (day) from 3 o’clock until dark, we’d hear the helicopters running, taking people off the mountain that couldn’t make it,” he said.  

Gustafson was asked if the Kilimanjaro climb has inspired him to climb other mountains – Everest, for example.  

No, he said. Everest is far too high and like many other mountains, it’s a technical climb, requiring lots of gear, including ropes.  

"I have no desire to do a technical mountain,” he said.  

“I'm scared of heights, OK?. I mean, I get nervous getting on a ladder. 

"Having my feet firmly on the ground and looking down a trail on a mountain is fine, because if you fall, you’re not going to fall down, right? You’re going to maybe slip a few yards. 

“But no, I would never do something like that where I have to look over cliffs and stuff. 

“There was nothing terrifying on this trip. The most terrifying thing was the monkeys looking down on you thinking they’re going to get your food or something.”  

Gustafson has undertaken other interesting trips.  

For example, as a scout leader, he took scouts caving, with the help of a friend from the Edson area.  

But he found caving “quite claustrophobic.” 

“I would grudgingly go along – to a certain point, and then I would just sit and wait for them to come back," he said with a laugh.