Returning to Mt. Kilimanjaro for A New Documentary Film Shoot
I remember the initial email very clearly.
While heading north on I-75, I sat listening to some podcasts as I made my way through Ohio. My destination was Marquette, as the Fresh Coast Film Festival was going on that weekend and I had been invited to attend and introduce Gone Tomorrow. Somewhere near Dayton, the volume of the podcast lowered automatically, and I heard the usual ping of my email chime. I glanced at my phone display to see the subject line of an email and first sentence of the body, which included the words “Job Inquiry,” and “Kilimanjaro.”
At first unfazed due to driving on the highway, I took a moment to open the email and scan it. It didn’t say much more than asking for a quote and noted a quickly approaching filming date of only about 3 weeks away.
Still keeping half of one eye on the road, I must have read this two-sentence email about 30 times. Was this legit? Could I even get things together for such a shoot in this short of a time? Was I even free to take it?
The next 3 weeks were a total blur, but I somehow managed to wrap up several production projects and properly prepare for another trip back to Tanzania to trek and film on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
A still frame from my 2021 shoot on Mt. Kilimanjaro © Mike Wilkinson
It was just about two years prior that I trekked up Kilimanjaro on a shoot for Nadus Films. I wrote about that first trip in a blog you can find here. For this new project, it would be similar in the sense that I would need to document the trek, film interviews and other scenic footage, but what would be different is that I would be the solo filmmaker. I would need to capture all of the video, timelapses, and audio myself. Luckily my first trip set the foundation for what the experience would be like, so dialing in my equipment list was relatively simple. My biggest concern was performing well on summit day, as on my first trip it was where I struggled the most.
I felt that exhaustion and altitude had made summit day incredibly difficult for me in 2019, but it was more so about acclimating and getting rest than it was being a fit hiker; I could do all of these hikes off the couch without issue, so I needed a way to acclimate faster or better this time around.
Some people take diamox to acclimate better and ward of symptoms like headaches and dizziness at altitude, but I only saw that as a last resort. Instead, I turned to my friend Garrett Peabody, who happens to run an outdoor ice climbing venue in the winter, as well as an altitude training gym in Fenton, Michigan. I was able to carve out six days right before my flight to Africa, and I spent about 18-20 hours each day sleeping, working, and exercising in his altitude controlled gym. Simulating the oxygen levels for altitudes between about 8,000 and 14,000 feet, I tracked my progress with a pulse oximeter and saw gains in my oxygen saturation at higher altitudes after about 4 days. But would it hold until I made it back to altitude in Tanzania? Turns out it would, but more on that later.
Here’s a filmmaking-focused video I shot while in the altitude gym, going over my kit, planning for weather, lack of power, etc. while on the mountain.
Properly jet-lagged from the flights in Tanzania, I met with the team and we had about a day and half on the ground before starting up the mountain. Our route would be the Machame (Whiskey) route, different from 2019 where I had summited via the Rongai route. The Machame route turned out to be more difficult, but incredibly spectacular in terms of the scenery. I filmed hiking shots constantly, with varied backgrounds of epic landscapes to lush forests to socked-in fog that limited visibility to about 50 feet. At each camp the clouds would clear through the night, and I’d set up timelapses to roll on some GoPros.
When you hike Kilimanjaro in a group like this, you’ll have a porter that will carry a limited amount of gear for you from camp to camp. It’s a 20kg limit, and that’s filled up by your sleeping bag, extra clothes, summit kit, supplies, etc. Similar to my 2019 shoot, I had to have an additional porter hired just for my spare batteries, tripod, and audio equipment. We would not be having any power available on our trek, so I stocked up on batteries and SD cards, deciding to not bother with taking a laptop or solar charging kit up the mountain. (I was able to record to simultaneous SD cards to ensure every shot was backed up.)
After five days of trekking and filming, we made it to our high camp. I had felt great on all days except for one, when I didn’t drink enough water and started getting headaches around 15,000 feet. I drank water like crazy during the day of our summit evening, took some ibuprofen, and packed some caffeine gummies. This coupled with my week in the Peabody altitude gym helped me get through the summit night and day, and I actually felt pretty good. I had the strength to push in front of the line and get some phenomenal footage.
Uhuru Peak
On Wednesday, November 17th at about 9am local time, I tagged the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro for the second time.
The hikes out were long but with full hearts and an increasing supply of oxygen, spirits were high for me as well as the rest of the group. We spent the next few days resting and checking out some local safaris and hikes near Moshi, and I was able to organize all of the media for the editor on this project.
It was a very satisfying feeling to perform as well as I did on the trek, specifically on summit night since I had struggled so much previously. While I’m privileged to have been asked to be the filmmaker on this trip, I feel confident that I delivered on what was requested. Maybe I’ll get a third chance to trek up Kili at some point in the future on another project?! If so, I’ll know exactly what I need to do to be successful.
Mike Wilkinson filming the team trekking up to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Look for some teasers and trailers to come out in Spring of 2022. BTS photos by Hunter Armstrong.