Rating: 
Summary: Exciting and informative
Review: If you're wondering whether you'd really want to climb Kili, and wondering how you'd go about it if you did, this is the book to read. This book gave a clear account of what the climb involved in terms of physical demands, trail and camp conditions and the mysteries of the Tanzanian park system. I was impressed by the ingenious air travel itenerary that enabled the authors to acclimate in Switzerland before the climb. Moon tables, specific gear recommendations and a ripping good travel tale round out the package. If you can read only one book before you go (who makes these rules?)-- this is the one to read.
Rating:
Summary: very informative
Review: In a world with a lot of over-hyped outdoor adventure dreck, this book lets the reader walk up this mountain in the shoes of a more "everyman" sort of couple. It's proof that you don't need to be wrapped in lycra, and equipped with Everest-style junk out of the latest catalogs to get this done. These authors are regular people, who offer the sort of advice that real people really need to know before attempting this trip. Of particular interest is the stuff about personal training, and how a couple of busy people living in the USA actually got it done. Trailside tips are also excellent -- and of the variety that many "adventure" authors might leave out because they might consider them laughably pedestrian and obvious. Carmichael and Stoddard realize that the rest of us really NEED to know this stuff ahead of time.
Rating:
Summary: truly worth the reading... a superb book
Review: Insightful, well written and educational at multiple levels.Having climbed Mt. Kilomanjaro in 1974 I was not only appreciative of the authors observations, but wished I had been the beneficiary of their wisdom prior to my own climb. Now that my wife (and several of the children) have heard me relate my tales AND read this book, they also wish to make the trip. BE CAREFUL: this book can be hazardous to your pocketbook... after reading it you, too, will want to experience the wonder, exhilaration and accomplishments so apparent in the words of Carmichael and Stoddard.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide
Review: It is frequently said of Mt. Kilimanjaro that it's not a "technical" climb; the implication being that it's not so difficult. But people have died trying and only half who make the attempt make the summit. Nonetheless, the process is not complicated; arduous, but not complicated. All you need to start is some idea of what to expect and what to do. This book gives these things to you in a simple format, easily read, with instructions that are straightforward. Kilimanjaro is far away for most of us, in a country we know virtually nothing about, on a continent that is always seen by the Westerner as dark and mysterious. Altitude sickness and its more serious friends, edema, must be confronted (20,000 feet is no joke) and the weather is variable to say the least ... starting in a rain forest and ending on a frozen snowfield four miles up. Diseases must be prepared for, as must travel and physical conditioning and numerous other details. Carmichael does a good job of laying all this out and setting you on your way. The rest is up to you. He does say that his exersize routine involved getting his heart rate to 150 beats per minute for two hours every day; this I find extreme even for me but it gives you a sense of what lies in store for you on the roof of Africa. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Just one big ego trip wrapped up as a guidebook.
Review: Lack of practical info, badly edited, quite a few errors. . . just a big ego trip for the author. Very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare and challenge yourself
Review: Mount Kilimanjaro is not a "tourist trap" as an anonymous reviewer has mistakenly written. My wife, 2daughters, and I read Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro by Carmichael and Stoddard, and we all made it to the Top of Africa. It was grand! We particularly appreciated the advice about using poles on the ascent, and particularly on the descent; it was treacherous going in the muddy parts of the rain forest., and poles were essential. Also, I noticed that Dr. Carmichael is a Professor of Anatomy (and Orthopedic Surgery) at the Mayo Clinic, so I am convinced that he knows more about anatomy than the reviewer cloaked in anonymity. I am a surgeon myself, and the anatomical references are correct. The advice in this book worked for us, which speaks volumes. I understand that a new edition will be out soon, which is good news for those of you who are considering climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
I wanted to add, that while the ascend is tough and challinging in regards to muscular and cardiovascular fitness, the descent poses a different challenge and is hard to prepare for. I found it very helpful to use a sideways descnet technique, especially in the loose gravel on top, similar to slalom ski run downhill. The strain on the upper legs and knee joints is impressive.
Bernd-Uwe Sevin, M.D.
Rating:
Summary: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Review: Mount Kilimanjaro is not a "tourist trap" as an anonymous reviewer has mistakenly written. My wife, 2daughters, and I read Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro by Carmichael and Stoddard, and we all made it to the Top of Africa. It was grand! We particularly appreciated the advice about using poles on the ascent, and particularly on the descent; it was treacherous going in the muddy parts of the rain forest., and poles were essential. Also, I noticed that Dr. Carmichael is a Professor of Anatomy (and Orthopedic Surgery) at the Mayo Clinic, so I am convinced that he knows more about anatomy than the reviewer cloaked in anonymity. I am a surgeon myself, and the anatomical references are correct. The advice in this book worked for us, which speaks volumes. I understand that a new edition will be out soon, which is good news for those of you who are considering climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
I wanted to add, that while the ascend is tough and challinging in regards to muscular and cardiovascular fitness, the descent poses a different challenge and is hard to prepare for. I found it very helpful to use a sideways descnet technique, especially in the loose gravel on top, similar to slalom ski run downhill. The strain on the upper legs and knee joints is impressive.
Bernd-Uwe Sevin, M.D.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare and challenge yourself
Review: Mount Kilimanjaro is not a "tourist trap" as an anonymous reviewer has mistakenly written. My wife, 2daughters, and I read Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro by Carmichael and Stoddard, and we all made it to the Top of Africa. It was grand! We particularly appreciated the advice about using poles on the ascent, and particularly on the descent; it was treacherous going in the muddy parts of the rain forest., and poles were essential. Also, I noticed that Dr. Carmichael is a Professor of Anatomy (and Orthopedic Surgery) at the Mayo Clinic, so I am convinced that he knows more about anatomy than the reviewer cloaked in anonymity. I am a surgeon myself, and the anatomical references are correct. The advice in this book worked for us, which speaks volumes. I understand that a new edition will be out soon, which is good news for those of you who are considering climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
I wanted to add, that while the ascend is tough and challinging in regards to muscular and cardiovascular fitness, the descent poses a different challenge and is hard to prepare for. I found it very helpful to use a sideways descnet technique, especially in the loose gravel on top, similar to slalom ski run downhill. The strain on the upper legs and knee joints is impressive.
Bernd-Uwe Sevin, M.D.
Rating: 
Summary: Monument to Mediocrity
Review: Perhaps an even greater achievement than climbing some tourist trap is reaching the final page of this tedious, self-absorbed, mind-numbing journal. A fine example of children's literature, this is unfortunately intended for adults. The grammar and use of language is haphazard at best, almost as if the authors were grabbing words out of a hat rather than taking advantage of the well known, universal rules of the English language. Yokels might appreciate the prose being tailored to them, but educated individuals will have difficulty stooping to the level of this stumbling narrative.
And unfortunately, I must agree with the previous reviewer who pointed out the anatomy inaccuracies.
This book, however, is not without its strengths. One can appreciate the great value the authors place on their climbing 'achievement,' much like the satisfaction felt upon surviving Disney's Space Mountain.
Rating: 
Summary: This book needs to be edited professionally
Review: These authors climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and they want to tell you about it. Although their husband-and-wife hearts are in roughly the right place, in their haste to print they have bypassed the editing stage. A professional editor would have checked their facts and deleted the more embarrassingly personal bits. It's easy to list samples of their factual errors: Kilimanjaro was never in Kenya, Queen Victoria did not give it to Kaiser Wilhelm, who was not her cousin, nor is Mount Rosa the highest mountain in the Alps. Less forgivable is the self-absorption: if Susan Stoddard's training really culminated in "the exceedingly boring goal of two hours' continuous stair-climbing", she must be unaware of the complete irrelevance of those muscle groups to the rough terrain and steep descent on this mountain. Their trip to Zermatt was misguided. This Swiss ski resort is too low, too expensive and too far away to be a sensible way of pre-acclimatising for Kilimanjaro. Finally, once you have told your readers that you took five cameras, you cannot defend such muddy, amateur black-and-white photos. While there are some good things in this book (for example its moon tables), what it really underlines is the need for somebody to write a well-researched, sensible and, above all, well-photographed book along similar lines.
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