Jesi Jetnarayan and Will Davis, high school students in Franklin County, successfully summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on August 1, 2026, reaching Uhuru Peak, the mountain’s highest point at 19,341 feet (5,895 meters), after a six-day ascent via the Machame route.
Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa and the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, meaning it is not part of any mountain range. Climbers pass through five distinct ecological zones on the way to the summit, from lush rainforest to arctic conditions. While the trek does not require technical climbing equipment, it remains a serious physical and mental challenge, as summit success rates vary by route and acclimatization schedule, ranging from as low as 40 percent to as high as 90 percent, with roughly 65 percent of climbers reaching the top overall.
“I’m very grateful to have traveled to Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, with my dad, my brother, and my friends Will and Conner,” said Jesi Jetnarayan. “I love to compete, but I had to quickly learn that altitude is a silent force that outweighs competitive drive, so I had to learn to stay slow and steady because this wasn’t a race. Reaching the summit was a feeling of pure exhilaration.”
“For me, it was hard at first not to look at the mountain as a big race,” said Will Davis. “But as I got higher, I found myself enjoying every step that got me closer to the summit. Looking back now, the climb feels like a perfect lesson for life: true value comes from enjoying every moment along the way.”
Jesi and Will trained for several months leading up to the climb, combining cardio and strength workouts with shorter training hikes. Both knew the journey ahead would demand persistence and endurance, and that mental preparation would matter just as much as physical conditioning.
The Swahili phrase “pole, pole,” meaning “slow, slow,” became the guiding rhythm of the climb. Trekking alongside their team, including their fathers, Jesi and Will learned that summiting Kilimanjaro isn’t a competition to reach the top first, but a lesson in patience: each slow, deliberate step brings you closer to the destination.
Jesi and Will are 12th-grade students at Shalom Christian Academy in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pa., where they excel academically and compete in a variety of sports. They plan to begin their final school year with dual enrollment courses as they prepare for college.
