When Art Ulene closes his eyes, he can picture the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with clarity — standing above the clouds, watching the sun rise beneath him. It’s a sight he plans to see on his 90th birthday.
Three days a week, Ulene climbs stairs — his goal is 50 flights, 55 when he’s pushing himself. Then he lifts weights. He is 89, and training to climb Kilimanjaro, aiming to spend his 90th birthday, July 13, somewhere above 19,000 feet on the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
“Stereotypes portray aging as an inevitable period of decline; I am living proof that that’s not true,” Ulene said. “Live up to your potential instead of your age.”
It will take him 13 days of arduous hiking in thin mountain air to get to the top of Kilimanjaro.
Ulene, who lives in Los Angeles, called himself a “wimp” in his younger years. He didn’t attempt a serious climb until he was 74 — but has been hooked since.
He summited Kilimanjaro for the first time in 2011 and reached the top again in 2013. He attempted another climb in 2022, but turned back at 17,000 feet when he wasn’t feeling well.
He has also climbed four mountains in South America and trekked the Mount Everest Base Camp trail with his wife, Priscilla, to whom he has been married for 65 years — and who herself summited Kilimanjaro twice. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
“We didn’t make it all the way because we had a limited amount of time, and at our age, you just don’t rush things,” Ulene said of their Everest experience.
July’s climb was originally planned for October, but Ulene’s right hip collapsed, and he had it replaced in September. His new hip is “performing beautifully,” he said, and the trek will now coincide with his milestone birthday. If he reaches the summit, Ulene will become the oldest person ever to do it.
The current Guinness World Record holder for the oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro is Fred Distelhorst, who made it to the top in 2017 at age 87.
Ulene will fly to Tanzania on June 27 and will start climbing on July 1. He’s planning to follow a route he hasn’t taken before — longer than his previous attempts but less steep.
The hike typically takes people between five to nine days. About 40,000 people attempt Kilimanjaro per year, and between 45 and 65 percent of peoplemake it to the summit.
Ulene is hiking with the company World Wide Trekking, and the route and pacing will take into account his age and physical condition. Ulene will be accompanied by a guide and a team of porters, who will haul his belongings.
“If I have any problems, if I am not well, I’ll go down. There’s no shame in that,” he said. “Our goal is not to get me to the top, but to get me as far as I can go in good health.”
Ulene, a retired gynecologist, spent 21 years as the medical correspondent for NBC’s “Today” show, telling stories of Americans who had transformed their health through lifestyle changes.
“There’s nothing like a story to motivate people to change,” Ulene said.
He believes trying new things, practicing gratitude and striving to be positive are vital for longevity.
“Optimism is a critical ingredient for health,” he said. “There’s so much out there to appreciate. I am grateful for every single day I am alive, because it’s an opportunity to grow.”
In addition to hiking, Ulene is an avid skier — a hobby he discovered in his late 30s when his wife dragged him to the slopes after he objected. Before long, it became his favorite pastime, and he already has a season pass for next year at a ski resort in Utah. He also challenges himself to walk between four and eight miles most days.
“I do what I call ‘appreciation walks,’ where I walk through my neighborhood, and I stop and smell the flowers,” he said.
He also rewards himself along the way. He has two favorite gelato shops — one a mile from home, another four miles out.
“If I walk to the nearby gelato store, I get to eat a small cup. If I walk to the one four miles away, I get a large cup with two flavors,” said Ulene, who confessed that he doesn’t particularly enjoy exercise, but he likes the way he feels afterward. “I like what it lets me do.”
CareScout, a company that helps older adults navigate care and aging support, is sponsoring Ulene’s Kilimanjaro climb, as part of an effort to promote healthy aging. Ulene wrote a letter a few months ago to his insurance provider Genworth, CareScout’s parent company, pitching the idea.
Ulene said he hopes to inspire others — not necessarily to climb Kilimanjaro, but to confront whatever challenges feel mountainous to them.
“I’m not trying to encourage other older people to climb Kilimanjaro. I’m trying to convince them to climb ‘mount metaphor,’” Ulene said. “We all have mountains in our lives, hurdles.”
He said he believes, in some ways, his physical health is better than it was 30 years ago — and that most people underestimate their own capabilities. People tend to focus on lifespan, he said, but a more meaningful measure of longevity is healthspan: how much of your life you spend in good health.
“Start small, start smart,” he advised. “Most people defeat themselves in the beginning because it’s an all-or-nothing thing.”
“Don’t discount your ability to do something just because you haven’t done it, or just because you are of a certain age,” he added.
Whether he makes the summit on July 13, Ulene said, is beside the point.
“The whole trite saying, it’s about the journey and not the destination, is quite true,” he said. “The journey is magnificent.”
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