Dr. Ulene's Summit at 90

Minutes after celebrating his 90th birthday on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, retired gynaecologist Dr. Art Ulene asked Guinness World Records whether he was the oldest person ever to stand at 5,895 metres. The Tanzania National Park Service had already honoured him, and his mountain crew surprised him with a cake. Ulene told Business Insider he climbed not for a prize, but “it would be nice to have it — at least until someone beats it.”

The ascent on 13 July took 15 days. Because of his age, the team carried a folding chair so he could rest. They called him “Babu”, Swahili for grandfather. It was not his first attempt: at 85, he had turned back at about 5,180 metres after feeling unwell. This was his third Kilimanjaro climb in 15 years, and his last, he says.

Ulene, once a medical reporter for NBC's TODAY show, began exercising seriously only at 50 and smoked until he was 33. He now goes to the gym three or four times a week and prepared for the climb by walking 50 flights of stairs in his hiking boots. His guiding philosophy is that later life should be a period of growth, not retreat.

What His Kilimanjaro Journey Tells Us About Aging

A Late Bloomer's Transformation

Ulene's story upends the common narrative that it is too late to build fitness after middle age. He started late, yet in his ninth decade he maintained the leg strength and endurance needed for an extreme altitude trek. His approach was deliberate: regular resistance training, stair climbing in boots, a plant-based diet with an eye on fats, and deliberately protecting sleep — he says he never slept better than in his tent on the mountain. The climb itself was supported, but the physical foundation was years in the making.

Rediscovering the Value of Older Age

Beyond personal habits, Ulene takes aim at the cultural message that older people are in decline. He calls the intelligence, experience and wisdom of tens of millions of older adults “the greatest resource above the earth.” He argues that industry and the economy often overlook the advantages mature workers bring, and that internalising the cliché of old-age decline becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. His alternative motto — “live according to your potential, not your age” — is rooted in the same mindset that put him back on Kilimanjaro after a failed attempt at 85.

Three Habits to Embrace for a Longer, Fuller Life

  • Build strength with a specific, measurable goal. Ulene built the leg endurance for Kilimanjaro by repeatedly climbing 50 storeys of stairs in his walking boots. Having a concrete target — not just “move more” — kept him training three to four times a week.
  • Guard sleep and eat with intention. He credits his plant-based eating and attention to healthy fats, together with making rest a priority, for sustaining his energy. On the mountain, sleep in the tent was a non-negotiable recovery tool.
  • Stay connected across generations. Ulene actively mixes with younger people: his summit support team became a second family, and he plans to return to Tanzania with his teenage grandchildren. He rejects the idea of withdrawing into a chair, insisting that the later years are for growth, social connection and new challenges — whether or not they involve a 5,895-metre mountain.