Up the Mountain and Down the Trail

October 29, 2026 admin

Grandfather from Rochester plans to celebrate his 75th birthday climbing Mount Kilimanjaro this January

By Mike Costanza

Avid mountain climber Reinhard Gsellmeier climbed to the top of 1,270-foot Dorr Mountain in June. Dorr is in Acadia National Park, which is near Bar Harbor, Maine.

While others in his age group relax in their living rooms, Reinhard Gsellmeier looks forward to assaulting Mount Kilimanjaro this January.

“I think it would be a nice peak to climb,” the 74-year-old married grandfather said, referring to the 19,341-foot peak in Africa.

Gsellmeier first climbed a mountain at the age of 50 when he ascended to the top of Mount Marcy, which at 5,344 feet tall is the highest mountain in the Adirondacks and New York state. He still remembers how it felt to stand alone on its summit.

“It brought me to tears,” he said. “The view was such, you know, so spectacular.”

That was just the first of his many experiences as a mountain climber and outdoorsman.

Gsellmeier went on to climb the rest of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks, all of which are more than 4,000 feet tall and to successfully ascend the remainder of the 112 mountains in the northeast that are at least that height.

He also summitted all of the Catskill Mountains that measure over 3,500 feet and at the age of 60 climbed Mount Rainier. He felt elated upon reaching its summit and relieved that he hadn’t been sickened by the thin air.

“Ranier is at 14,400 feet and anytime you get above 10,000 feet you never know whether you’re going to come down with a dose of altitude sickness,” he said.

Gsellmeier climbed the 4,960-foot Mount Haystack, the third highest mountain in New York state in January 2016. Its rugged terrain presents one of the most demanding challenges of the Adirondacks’ 46 High Peaks, he said.

Gsellmeier also enjoys backpacking and hiking and has traveled all 2,192 miles of the Appalachian Trail, the Northville-Placid Trail that courses 138 miles through the heart of the Adirondack Park and many other local and distant trails.

“I love the challenge that comes with climbing a peak or doing a long-distance trail,” he said.

He’s willing to take those challenges on any time of year. Longtime friend and fellow outdoorsman Bill Schweinfurth remembers being on the trail with Gsellmeier in frigid weather.

“I think the most extreme temperatures I’ve been sharing a tent with Reinhard is minus 29 degrees,” the 66-year-old Fairport resident said. “We were base camping up in the Adirondacks doing some peaks, as well as doing some, I’ll call them more technical climbs.”

Those “technical climbs” involved using ice axes and strap-on spikes called crampons to ascend the icy mountainsides. In addition to doing other High Peaks and mountains in the Catskills with Gsellmeier, Schweinfurth joined him on a hike around Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks. As they walked the more than 50-mile trail, he noticed his new foot inserts were causing severe pain in his knees. Gsellmeier came to his aid.

“He took another 12 pounds off of my pack and carried them the rest of the way so I could lighten my load for the remainder of the hike,” Schweinfurth said. “He’s that kind of guy.”

Bill Schweinfurth (left) and his longtime friend Reinhard Gsellmeier headed out onto the Northville-Placid Trail in October 2020. The trail goes approximately 136 miles through some of the most remote and scenic parts of New York state’s Adirondack Park.

In addition to sharing a love of the outdoors the two friends are members of the Rochester Winter Mountaineering Society and the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club (GVC). Gsellmeier joined the GVC around 2002, is a past chair of the chapter and is an Adirondack Mountain Club-certified Level 3 Outing Leader, the highest level possible for a volunteer.

“I really enjoy taking folks out on either a hike or a backpacking trip, folks that maybe have not, you know, done much in the way of hiking or backpacking,” he said.

Gsellmeier, who retired from the Monroe County Department of Environmental Services as an associate engineer, has a strict regimen for staying in shape that includes daily stretches and exercises with light weights. Five days a week he climbs a hill near his Conesus home wearing a 30-pound pack and spends 20 minutes pedaling a stationary bicycle. He plans to step up his exercise routine before heading up Kilimanjaro. Though bearers will carry his food, sleeping bag, tent and other heavy equipment and he won’t need an oxygen tank on the mountain, Gsellmeier will have to spend days preparing his body for its thin air.

“You progressively go to higher elevations and sleep at progressively higher elevations,” he said.” “It gives your body a chance to acclimate to the thinner atmosphere.”

If all goes as planned, Gsellmeier will reach Kilimanjaro’s summit at the age of 75.

Those hoping to learn more about Gsellmeier’s experiences in the outdoors can peruse his book “Hiking the Appalachian Trail and the Northville-Placid Trail,” which is available on Amazon. For more information on the GVC, go to: https://adk-gvc.org.