A businessman who is well-versed in real estate, Michael Welty is a senior executive with Aspen Development Partners, a real estate development firm operating out of Sea Bright, New Jersey. He also serves as an associate with Gloria Nilson & Co. Real Estate of Red Bank, New Jersey. For recreation, Michael Welty pursues mountain climbing and has even reached the apex of such iconic peaks as Mount Kilimanjaro.

The highest mountain on the African continent, Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano, resides in a Tanzanian national park. It rises to nearly 6,000 meters or over 19,300 feet. Interestingly, it’s not only the most imposing of Africa’s mountains, it is the highest freestanding mountain on Earth in that it is not part of a chain. Instead, Kilimanjaro dominates the plain that surrounds it, making it a bold and impressive sight upon approach.

Kilimanjaro is a major tourist destination, attracting climbers from across the globe who wish to summit the iconic mountain. Roughly 35,000 people come to Tanzania to test themselves on the great peak. According to data from Kilimanjaro National Park, about 45 percent of the climbers who try the mountain end up reaching the summit. That number goes up depending on the route climbers take, with the easiest 8-day route having the highest success rate at 85 percent, and the hardest 5-day route having the lowest at 27 percent.