True Summit Adventures founder Oliver Browne first climbed Kilimanjaro in 2019, and it’s fair to say the experience had a profound impact on the former professional polo player from Hampshire.

Browne had never climbed before, with his preparation limited to a warm-up climb on Snowdon. Later that year, he climbed Mont Blanc. Within another year, he had left his job at a family office to pursue his dream of becoming a high-altitude mountaineer, moving to Ecuador in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ecuador led to Nepal and an attempt on Everest. When he returned, there was no way he could go back to his old life in the family office world. However, it was a contact from that world who gave him the ‘push’ he needed to launch True Summit Adventures in 2021.

Browne elaborates: “When I came back from Nepal, I went to see an old contact about a new role in financial services. During the meeting, he said, ‘I’ve been watching your climbing. Will you take me?’ So that weekend we ended up in Scotland. On the way back, we started talking about my career and I began to tell him what I wanted to do. He said, ‘Stop. Whatever you’re working on, drop it and focus on this. You’re a climber.'”

Fast forward five years and True Summit Adventures is now one of the world’s leading luxury adventure travel companies. The company offers adventures across six categories: hiking and climbing, skiing, safari, ocean, pure adventures (think Mongolia or Socotra) and ‘Beyond Expected’, a collection of category-defying experiences.

But it’s on Kilimanjaro, where it all started, that True Summit Adventures has been making its presence felt recently.

Browne elaborates: “We now have our own team and office in Arusha. I’m just about the only luxury travel company that is also an operator. 99.9% of foreign companies selling Kilimanjaro use a contractor to deliver the climb. Well, I am the operator. We run our own trips, of course, but we also white-label them for other luxury travel companies.”

The super-luxury trips are turning heads.

Browne goes on, “When we started the Kilimanjaro operations, we got some insane accounts from the crème de la crème of safari companies. We had to deliver their standard of operations on Kilimanjaro. After the first trip, it was clear we had a new level of product. All the guys who worked on that trip knew they had been part of something groundbreaking. Its just grown from there and got better and better.”

So What Has Changed?

Luxury climbing on Kilimanjaro is nothing new. Spacious tents, proper beds, private bathrooms and good food have been available on the mountain for years. What True Summit Adventures has done is take the existing luxury offering and refine it further, drawing on the standards of some of Africa’s finest safari operators.

Their signature experience, Kilimanjaro Incomparable begins at Legendary Lodge, one of Tanzania’s finest properties, set among coffee plantations on the outskirts of Arusha. Guests spend two nights here before the climb, with time for a private briefing, equipment checks and a walking safari in Arusha National Park. After the mountain, they return to Legendary Lodge with a helicopter descent from the high camp. “It’s incredible,” says Browne. “We have been back at Legendary Lodge by 09:45 am after summit. Its unheard of.”

On the mountain, guests sleep in spacious, standing-height tents with proper camp beds, high-quality expedition sleeping bags and comfortable bedding. Private shower and toilet facilities are provided, alongside a dedicated dining tent where freshly prepared meals are served by the expedition’s own chef and front-of-house team. It is not simply about the quality of the equipment, but the attention to detail and consistency of service throughout the climb.

The summit attempt begins from Kosovo Camp at approximately 4,900 metres, rather than the busier Barafu Camp used by most climbers on the Machame Route. True Summit Adventures operates a private camp here, providing a quieter environment in which to rest and prepare for the final ascent.

Behind the operation is a team of experienced Tanzanian mountain professionals, all working under True Summit Adventures’ direct management. Head guide John Bosco has completed more than 200 Kilimanjaro ascents, while expedition doctor Emmanuel Tesha, who has accompanied more than 25 climbs, provides dedicated medical support. Chef Hadson oversees the mountain kitchen, Mohammed manages front-of-house service, and Mathew coordinates logistics. Guides Michael Mushi and Kennedy are among the other key members of the team.

The company’s approach extends beyond the experience of its guests. True Summit Adventures is keen to create opportunities within the local mountain community, particularly by championing female guides and porters in an industry traditionally dominated by men. It also supports Neema Village in Arusha, an organisation providing care and assistance to vulnerable mothers, babies and children.

Taken together, these details reflect a company that is not simply selling luxury climbs but operating them itself, with direct responsibility for the people, equipment and services that make each trip possible.

The result is a Kilimanjaro experience that feels genuinely luxurious but famously exploratory. The effects for guests can be life-changing.

“That was always my hope for our trips,” says Browne. “I could never have imagined what Kilimanjaro would give me. It’s amazing how these things start…”

For more information about True Summit Adventures’ luxury Kilimanjaro climbs see their website.