A responsible climbing company should provide you with a competent medically trained guide. Tusker Trail does just that.

Kilimanjaro is an austere environment where accidents and death do occur. While no one can guarantee your safety, a well-trained guide can save your life in the event of a high altitude or emergency.

Each year 5-15 climbers die on Mount Kilimanjaro, and many more suffer high altitude emergencies. A lot of these problems could be avoided if all guides underwent high-altitude medical training and carried oxygen and a portable hyperbaric bag. Sadly, this is not the case. There are no minimum safety requirements for companies climbing Kilimanjaro, so very few guides undergo definitive safety training.

Since his first climb in 1977, Eddie Frank has been innovating ways to climb Kilimanjaro safely. Tusker's summit success rate is 98%. That's because Tusker guides are the most highly trained on Kilimanjaro. Eddie has succeeded in building his 18 guides into the finest medically trained team on the mountain.

 

 

Eddie has designed an intensive 8-day course that trains and certifies the Tusker guides in mountain medicine, emergencies and high altitude rescue. Only Tusker guides are permitted to take the course, and each of them must pass this course annually as a precondition for their ongoing employment. Each guide is certified as a HAFR (High Altitude First Responder). This is the only medical certification course specifically designed for guides on Kilimanjaro.

 

We use more guides per group than any other company on Kilimanjaro. The number of guides range from 2-6 depending on your group size. We use this many guides in case you need an evacuation. All Tusker evacuations are commanded by a medically trained guide. Most other companies use untrained porters.

 

Twice a day, your Kilimanjaro guides will monitor your lungs, your heart and your oxygen saturation rate. They accomplish this by using a stethoscope and a pulse-OXIMETER. Combined with their intensive mountain medical training, and the professional use of OXYGEN, and PORTABLE HYPERBARIC BAG, Tusker guides allow you to climb Kilimanjaro with peace of mind.

Each guide also carries a mobile phone for regular contact with our base in Moshi, as well as a handheld radio for contact with other Tusker groups on the mountain.