Oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (male)
Who
Fred Distelhorst
What
88:180 year(s):day(s)
Where
Tanzania ()
When

The oldest man to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres; 19,340 feet) in Tanzania is Fred Distelhorst (USA, b. 21 January 1929), who reached the summit via the Rongai Route at 9.33 a.m. local time on 20 July 2017 aged 88 years 180 days. He made the climb as part of a group (including his granddaughter Ellen Edgerton) and four local guides; Fred made use of supplementary oxygen for the final stage of the ascent. The entire expedition took six days, four days of which for the ascent and two for the descent.


As Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro on the Tanzania/Kenya border is classed as one of the "Seven Summits" - a group comprising the highest mountains on each continent.

Following his successful climb, the retired orthodontist of Vail, Colorado, USA, told his local newspaper: “It wasn’t such a big deal. I was surprised it wasn't harder."

The oldest person overall to climb Mount Kilimanjaro is Anne Lorimor (USA, b. 11 June 1930), who reached Uhuru Peak at 3.14 p.m. local time on 18 July 2019 aged 89 years 37 days.