I was to trek the Western Breach - beginning January 4th and woke in Moshi to the tragic news of the death of the 3 trekkers.
Tusker modified our route which took us thru the Lemosho gate up to the Lava Tower, Shira 1 and 2, Karanga Valley, Barranco Wall, Barafu, sleeping in the crater (quite an experience) and summitting Uhuru (I made it!) at 6 AM with two nights coming down.
It was dramatic, tough, scenic, tough and something I would recommend. I will post a longer report but, regrettably, Western Breach has reopened (PLEASE check out the firms you travel with - Zara - which has lost climbers and porters has a HORRIBLE reputation in Tanzania but still gets hyped in the US and in publications) and now the only difference is you need to sign a waiver. Western Breach is geologically unstable and the route on went on - see above - has all the drama, trauma and difficulty anyone could want.
We are leaving on Sept 2nd to do this route. Considering it is closed indefinitely Good Earth has an alternate route around the closed area from Shira II we will go to Baranco Camp then to Barafu thru the Karanga Valley. Hope this helps. Any additional hints and help would be appreciated as this is a first for us.
Myself and 4 friends climbed the Lemosho - Western Breach route from 11 December to 16 December 2019 with a summit day on the 15th of December. We had reasonable weather the majority of the time considering the time of year we went. The first 4 days were easy treks up to our Arrow Glacier camp. The 5th day was our summit day and the breach was much different than what photos and descriptions had lead us to believe. Given the season I believe the breach was probably close to peak snowpack which made for some impromptu route finding and fairly steep snow slopes. Given the angle of the chutes that we climbed and traversed I regret having not brought an ice axe and crampons. We were given microspikes by the guides, however full crampons and an ice axe would have made the route a walk in the park. The exposure on this section of the climb was much greater than anticipated and there is no accurate representation of the route we took online. The snowpack was in fantastic condition and was similar to cascade concrete. If self arrest were necessary and we had ice axes it probably would have been very effective should we have needed to try. There is no doubt that the marjority of the breach we climbed was a no-fall zone. Overall though I'm extremely happy that we chose this route over any of the normal routes that summit via the eastern side of the mountain. We were alone from above Lave Tower Camp until descending from the summit. Once summiting we descended to High Camp the same day and then back to the exit gate and hotel the next day.
rnirschel - Jan 22, 2006 7:02 pm - Hasn't voted
Route CommentI was to trek the Western Breach - beginning January 4th and woke in Moshi to the tragic news of the death of the 3 trekkers.
Tusker modified our route which took us thru the Lemosho gate up to the Lava Tower, Shira 1 and 2, Karanga Valley, Barranco Wall, Barafu, sleeping in the crater (quite an experience) and summitting Uhuru (I made it!) at 6 AM with two nights coming down.
It was dramatic, tough, scenic, tough and something I would recommend. I will post a longer report but, regrettably, Western Breach has reopened (PLEASE check out the firms you travel with - Zara - which has lost climbers and porters has a HORRIBLE reputation in Tanzania but still gets hyped in the US and in publications) and now the only difference is you need to sign a waiver. Western Breach is geologically unstable and the route on went on - see above - has all the drama, trauma and difficulty anyone could want.
tronning - Aug 7, 2006 9:31 pm - Hasn't voted
Western BreachWe are leaving on Sept 2nd to do this route. Considering it is closed indefinitely Good Earth has an alternate route around the closed area from Shira II we will go to Baranco Camp then to Barafu thru the Karanga Valley. Hope this helps. Any additional hints and help would be appreciated as this is a first for us.
Thanks!
Troy
ThinAir - Jan 7, 2020 8:48 am - Hasn't voted
Route CommentMyself and 4 friends climbed the Lemosho - Western Breach route from 11 December to 16 December 2019 with a summit day on the 15th of December. We had reasonable weather the majority of the time considering the time of year we went. The first 4 days were easy treks up to our Arrow Glacier camp. The 5th day was our summit day and the breach was much different than what photos and descriptions had lead us to believe. Given the season I believe the breach was probably close to peak snowpack which made for some impromptu route finding and fairly steep snow slopes. Given the angle of the chutes that we climbed and traversed I regret having not brought an ice axe and crampons. We were given microspikes by the guides, however full crampons and an ice axe would have made the route a walk in the park. The exposure on this section of the climb was much greater than anticipated and there is no accurate representation of the route we took online. The snowpack was in fantastic condition and was similar to cascade concrete. If self arrest were necessary and we had ice axes it probably would have been very effective should we have needed to try. There is no doubt that the marjority of the breach we climbed was a no-fall zone. Overall though I'm extremely happy that we chose this route over any of the normal routes that summit via the eastern side of the mountain. We were alone from above Lave Tower Camp until descending from the summit. Once summiting we descended to High Camp the same day and then back to the exit gate and hotel the next day.