June 19 – July 7, 2027 · alongside the real Trip 1 team

Their camps. Your steps.
Same nights.

Twice a year, this challenge goes live: while Mike and the team climb the real Kilimanjaro, you walk the same nineteen days at home. Each morning, a dispatch from the mountain — Mike's photo, Mike's voice — lands right here. On summit night, thousands of feet walk together in the dark. And in the final week, you watch the wells your walking funded come back to life in Malawi.

Try it — this is what a live day feels like

Today on the mountain

Two markers, one mountain: the team's real position, and yours. Use the day buttons to see how the whole expedition unfolds. (Demo — during a real live edition, the day advances itself and the dispatch is that morning's real message from Mike.)

Demo day:
The team — Mike's real position, updated daily You — your logged steps

Behind the team? There is always grace. Walk it when you can — catch-up steps count in full, the mountain isn't going anywhere, and nobody on this rope team keeps score. The only rule is: walk with us, at your pace.
How a live edition works

Nineteen days, together

1

Join before wheels-up

Sign up free, get your fundraising page, and meet the rest of the home team. On departure day, everyone starts walking — about 5,000 steps a day keeps pace with the mountain.

2

A dispatch every morning

Mike's photo and voice from that day's camp, sent from the mountain. Safari days are easy days. Summit night, you'll want your boots on: the biggest walk of the challenge, the same night the team pushes for Uhuru at midnight — many of us walk it praying for them.

3

The Malawi finale

After the summit, the team flies to Malawi — and the money the home team raised goes to work that same week. You'll see the well your steps helped repair, with the village that will drink from it. That's the finish line.

Summit-week match: during the live edition's summit week, every gift is doubled. One concentrated moment, maximum wells.
Between live editions

The mountain never closes

Live editions run alongside Mike's real climbs, a couple of times a year. The rest of the year, Summit From Home is open self-paced — climb any month, at any speed — and Walk Their Walk gathers everyone for a single 6K each spring. Miss a live edition? You haven't missed anything that can't be walked later. There is always grace.

For Mike — a decision, not part of the participant page

How should the red TEAM dot move?

Three options, cheapest first. Whichever you pick, the page never breaks — on any silent day, the itinerary and the pre-written camp stories carry the experience.

  • Option 1 — The itinerary (free, zero gadgets). The schedule already says where the team sleeps each night; your daily message confirms it. The dot moves camp to camp, once a day. Works with zero cell service. This is the baseline either way.
  • Option 2 — Your phone (free). Kilimanjaro has decent cell coverage on much of the Lemosho route — often even near the summit. When you have signal, a WhatsApp location share nudges the dot in closer to real time. A bonus, never a dependency.
  • Option 3 — A Garmin inReach Mini (~$300 + ~$15–40/mo, trip months only). A palm-sized satellite tracker: position pings and short texts from anywhere on earth, no cell service needed — the dot moves all day, live. The honest reason to carry one isn't the website: it's also an SOS beacon, which an expedition leader on a 19,341-foot mountain should arguably have anyway. (Worth asking Zara Tours if they already carry one.)
Brandon's recommendation: Option 1 as the backbone, your phone when there's signal, and the inReach if you want the live breadcrumb — bought as safety equipment that happens to also move a dot.

The team leaves Houston June 19.
So do you.

Walk nineteen days alongside the real climb — their camps, your streets, one purpose. Free to join; every dollar your friends give repairs wells in Malawi.

Walk with the team — free
DEMO PREVIEW — live-edition concept for Mike · dispatches are samples in his voice · dates from the real 2027 Trip 1 itinerary