I invite you to test your knowledge of Kilimanjaro trivia by participating in the quiz below. (Hint: all of the answers can be obtained by reading Kilimanjaro Diaries: Or, How I Spent a Week Dreaming of Toilets, Drinking Crappy Water, and Making Bad Jokes While Having the Time of My Life). 

To participate:

• Leave a brief comment below (you can say anything in the comment, just not the answers)
• Click on “Contact” above and submit your answers (i.e. 1-a, 2-b etc.)
• Share this post on Facebook or Twitter using #kilimanjaroquiz as hashtag.

**** Giveaway closed ****** The winner(s) will be selected after October 25, 2014, based on the highest percentage of correct answers and the bonus question, as well as social media sharing. The prize(s) will be a signed copy of Kilimanjaro Diaries together with a do-not-climb-Kili-without-it essential item from my packing list.

Kilimanjaro Quiz

1. Dr. Hans Meyer was the first to successfully summit Mount Kilimanjaro in the year 1889. Of what nationality was Meyer?

a) Austrian

b) Swiss

c) Norwegian

d) German

 

2. How many attempts did Meyer undertake to successfully reach the summit?

a) 3

b) 4

c) 5

d) 6

 

3. After which beverage is one of the Kilimanjaro ascent routes named?

a) Schweppes Bitter Lemon

b) Mojito

c) Coca-Cola

d) Red Bull

 

4. Most people climbing Mount Kilimanjaro take 5-6 days to get to the top. What is the record for the fastest ascent?

a) 18 hours 16 minutes

b) 13 hours 11 minutes

c) 9 hours 45 minutes

d) 5 hours 23 minutes

 

5. There are seven official routes on Kilimanjaro. Which of these are only used for the descent?

a) Umbwe

b) Lemosho

c) Mweka

d) Marangu

e) a and c

f) c and d

 

6. Who were the first climbers to free-climb the Western Breach wall in a direct ascent?

a) Richard Reusch

b) Ludwig Purtscheller

c) Carl Peters and Fritz Klute

d) Reinhold Messner

 

7. On Barranco Wall, there is a particularly dicey passage up the rock face. What is the name of it?

a) Death Face

b) Hugging Rock

c) Sjambok Fall

d) Ukanda Kifo

 

8. At what altitude did the ice cap on Kibo begin in the days of Hans Meyer?

a) 4,600 m

b) 4,900 m

c) 5,100 m

d) 5,500 m

 

9.  Which of these occupations was Richard Reusch, after whom Reusch Crater is named, NOT engaged in?

a) Cossack officer

b) Doctor

c) British spy

d) Pastor

e) Butterfly collector

 

10. Which of these words will you NOT find on the sign on the summit of Kilimanjaro?

a) Uhuru

b) Africa

c) Kilimanjaro

d) World

 

11. Which of these other names were once used for Mount Kilimanjaro?

a) Victoria’s Peak

b) Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze

c) Brandberg Mountain

d) a and b

e) all of the above

 

12. A Shewee is a device for…

a) altitude calibration

b) blood oxygen measurement

c) urination

d) water purification

 

13. Johannes Rebmann was the first European to…

a) Ski down the slopes of Kilimanjaro

b) Conquer Kilimanjaro’s other peak, Mawenzi

c) Survey the size of the ice fields on Kilimanjaro

d) Set eyes on Kilimanjaro

 

14. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

a) The youngest person to ever summit Kilimanjaro was 7 years old

b) The summit of neighboring Mount Meru is called Socialist Peak

c) Barranco Wall was closed down for parts of the 1990s due to a major rock slide

d) It is possible to summit Kilimanjaro without the use of supplementary oxygen

 

15. Mount Kilimanjaro is located in modern-day Tanzania, which previously was…

a) Tasmania

b) Transylvania

c) Union of Zanzibar and East Africa

d) Tanganyika

 

Bonus question: You’ve climbed Kilimanjaro and decide to write an article or book about your experience. Come up with a catchy title and subtitle for your work.

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