Hey John,
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your summit! Thanks for your compliments and for linking to an excellent report, good to see an honest report about climbing Kili. It is definately not easy and like on any high altitude mountain you should always take care.
I have read it all as it was easy to read and enjoyed the photographs as well. Here are some comments:
- First of all I think you paint a realistic picture of climbing Kili: in short, it's tough, you will feel bad at times, but it is definately worth it. I totally agree.
- you climbed with the wrong company

It's your choice but we organize the exact same trip for about half the price... see the
Kilimanjaro trips prices. I know they try to justify the $1000 or more extra profit by supplying Gamow bags etc, but have they actually ever used them? They should not as any pulmonary /cerebral oedema victim should be taken down the mountain immediately instead, which due to the emergency roads and resque services is relatively easy to do and will help anyone much more and better than using the Gamow bag.
- The use of oxygen actually shocked me, and I think it was dangerous. I understand you felt bad and that a short shot made you feel better, as it is just a short term drug. Problem is that your body gets a much harder blow after stopping with oxygen which can get you into real trouble. Like taking any drug it will wear off when you don't want it to, even compare it to a snort of cocaine to rush up the hill and then running out of 'energy' when you need it the most.
In your case you did not seem bad enough to descend, but in other cases, if someone actually needs oxygen, they should descend immediately, even one camp down (max few hours) would be enough and be the prefered option here. The effect was very likely just psychological as you did not seems to use oxygen for hours, but still I strongly advise against this.
I noticed you are going for all 7! Again, check some prices on this site first, like
Aconcagua,
Elbrus and
Everest!
Also I noticed that you used some of my pictures on your site, please see
the disclaimer about this. Normally all non-commercial sites can use my pix in certain ways, but only after getting permission. The photography is part of my livelyhood and what keeps this site free and up and running. Commercial organisations have to pay for the right to use them. You can use them on your site, but then should add the required copyright notice.
Thanks again, looking forward to your next adventures and posts!
Cheers,
Harry
