Summit day was actually fairly easy. We camped the day before in the crater at 18,800 feet (5750 m). The climb up the cater wall was steep but did not require us to use our hands. The climb from our camp to the summit only took about an hour. The day before this however involved much more scrambling as we moved from Arrow Glacier Camp at 15,900 (4900 m) to the crater via the Western Breach. This involved extensive scrambling requiring both hands for the last 700 or 800 feet of the climb up the breach. The bottom 2/3s of the breach were not quite as steep but steeper than anything else up to that point. This was the only day that our porters did not pass us as the trail was to steep and narrow with too much exposure for passing. Once we were in the crater we spent the rest of the day hiking around exploring the Ash Pit and the glaciers. By the end of the day we were pretty exhausted but it was worth it.
...and also congrats on your successful ascent. But sorry your ascent was partly spoiled by AMS. I have always felt people are forced to go too high too fast on Kili. Looking at your rate of ascent - you climbed 13,000ft in 5 days from above 6000ft. That is an average of around 2,500ft per day = more than double the UIAA recommendation of not raising sleeping height by more than 1000ft per day (albeit above 10,000ft - but you will get the point). No wonder you felt ill - and what a pity! I think there is something to be said for doing some acclimatisation trips before setting out on one of the typical 'Kili' programs.
Best of luck with the next one (but remember the average of 1000ft per day above 10,000ft!).
Cheers, Mark
Hi and thank you! If I had my way the ascent alone would be in excess of a week. Unfortunately because of the costs of the National Park fees many companies who run trips, try to keep them as short as possible. I found that there is a lot of beaucracy and red tape on the mountain which would make it very hard to bend the rules and do a kind of self guided ascent, where a member of the team puts their name down as leader. In addition there are few campsites and I got the feeling that camping anywhere else on the mountain would be highly frowned upon. I would have loved to of done Mt Meru or Mt Kenya before going for Kili but it would have doubled the price of my trip unfortunately! But I definetly agree with you Mark - "Climb high sleep low" for the win! :-)
Well done! We did the Rongai route back in October 2009, though we reached the summit from Barafu instead of Kibo, there's not as much scree to deal with going from Barafu. Sorry about the AMS. I've had some mild altitude sickness on lower peaks and it is not fun at all. Good luck on your future climbs.
Enkidu - Jan 13, 2012 12:53 am - Hasn't voted
CongratsI climbed via the Western Breach in March 2011. Definitely one of the best trips I have ever taken
AdamTurner - Jan 13, 2012 7:42 am - Hasn't voted
Re: CongratsCongrats to you too! How much srambling was there on summit day and how demanding was it?
Enkidu - Jan 13, 2012 4:55 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: CongratsSummit day was actually fairly easy. We camped the day before in the crater at 18,800 feet (5750 m). The climb up the cater wall was steep but did not require us to use our hands. The climb from our camp to the summit only took about an hour. The day before this however involved much more scrambling as we moved from Arrow Glacier Camp at 15,900 (4900 m) to the crater via the Western Breach. This involved extensive scrambling requiring both hands for the last 700 or 800 feet of the climb up the breach. The bottom 2/3s of the breach were not quite as steep but steeper than anything else up to that point. This was the only day that our porters did not pass us as the trail was to steep and narrow with too much exposure for passing. Once we were in the crater we spent the rest of the day hiking around exploring the Ash Pit and the glaciers. By the end of the day we were pretty exhausted but it was worth it.
markhallam - Jan 15, 2012 4:11 am - Voted 10/10
Nice TR...and also congrats on your successful ascent. But sorry your ascent was partly spoiled by AMS. I have always felt people are forced to go too high too fast on Kili. Looking at your rate of ascent - you climbed 13,000ft in 5 days from above 6000ft. That is an average of around 2,500ft per day = more than double the UIAA recommendation of not raising sleeping height by more than 1000ft per day (albeit above 10,000ft - but you will get the point). No wonder you felt ill - and what a pity! I think there is something to be said for doing some acclimatisation trips before setting out on one of the typical 'Kili' programs.
Best of luck with the next one (but remember the average of 1000ft per day above 10,000ft!).
Cheers, Mark
AdamTurner - Jan 17, 2012 8:59 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice TRHi and thank you! If I had my way the ascent alone would be in excess of a week. Unfortunately because of the costs of the National Park fees many companies who run trips, try to keep them as short as possible. I found that there is a lot of beaucracy and red tape on the mountain which would make it very hard to bend the rules and do a kind of self guided ascent, where a member of the team puts their name down as leader. In addition there are few campsites and I got the feeling that camping anywhere else on the mountain would be highly frowned upon. I would have loved to of done Mt Meru or Mt Kenya before going for Kili but it would have doubled the price of my trip unfortunately! But I definetly agree with you Mark - "Climb high sleep low" for the win! :-)
Tools_Incoming - Jan 15, 2012 6:43 pm - Hasn't voted
Congrats!Awesome trip, nice write up, great pictures! Can't wait to do it myself one day.
AdamTurner - Jan 17, 2012 9:00 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Congrats!Thank you and good luck for if and when you go!
belexes - Jan 21, 2012 5:17 pm - Hasn't voted
Congratulations!Well done! We did the Rongai route back in October 2009, though we reached the summit from Barafu instead of Kibo, there's not as much scree to deal with going from Barafu. Sorry about the AMS. I've had some mild altitude sickness on lower peaks and it is not fun at all. Good luck on your future climbs.