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Mount Kenya

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 Inhambane 24 Apr 2016
Hello

I am looking into going up Mount Kenya and interested in hearing your experiences. Recommended guides and routes. Bad tour companies to avoid.

But my main questions are;
1. The majority of the trip is walking but the last section can be climbed has anyone done it? Did you need climbing shoes or can it be done in approach shoes?
2. What grade was it and how much more difficult did the altitude make it? I am comfortable leading 5+ outside seconding 6a
3. Can you hire all equipment needed?
4. What will conditions be like in the middle of May?

Thanks in advance !
 Martin Hore 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

I'm sure someone will be along with recent experience shortly - mine was 40 years ago - but the mountain won't have changed that much apart from a good deal of glacier recession.

What do you mean by Mt Kenya? The highest points, Batian and Nelion, are technical climbs by any route. I'm not sure whether any "tour companies" guide these routes. If they do, then you may find your climbing ability (5+, 6a) is on the low side. There is nothing harder than this on the standard routes, but there are many pitches to climb and the relevant experience would be that gained on long mountain routes in Britain, or in the Alps, which I'm guessing you may not have since you've use sport climbing grades to indicate your ability.

Most people who climb "Mt Kenya" actually climb Point Lenana, the third summit, which is a walk, albeit a long one, at high altitude for the summit day. Back in the early 70's the top section was largely on snow but without any technical difficulty - rock climbing experience certainly not required. I understand much of the snow may now have gone, but then it was definitely terrain for mountain boots and an ice-axe - akin to winter hill-walking in Britain.

If you are intending to use a tour company then I expect they will provide you with the detailed information you need. Back in the 70's there weren't any tour companies of course. We carried all our own kit and made our own way.

Have a good trip - It's a fine mountain, and an interesting country.

Martin
OP Inhambane 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Martin Hore:

Thanks Martin

Sounds like it was quiet the adventure back then.

My understanding was (but I could be wrong) that you walk up most of it and then if you want to reach the highest summit climb the final section. I have done a small number of 300m+ multi pitch but only sport and in warm climates.
 Martin Hore 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:


> My understanding was (but I could be wrong) that you walk up most of it and then if you want to reach the highest summit climb the final section. I have done a small number of 300m+ multi pitch but only sport and in warm climates.

That's true, in that you walk up most of it, but the final section to reach the highest summit is a full day's alpine style climb. We went to do it as a self-sufficient team but were defeated by the weather and had to settle for Lenana instead (which I climbed on three separate occasions that year). If you find a company that offers a guided ascent of Batian then they should be able to advise you on the suitability of your experience.

Martin
 Jasonic 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

I climbed Bation & Nelion about 20 years ago!
A really nice trip is to walk around it and Pt Lenana which our porter did in Wellies!

The main peaks are technical climbing- I did the whole thing in plastic alpine boots!

http://www.cosleyhouston.com/kenya.htm
 Postmanpat 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

> Thanks Martin

> Sounds like it was quiet the adventure back then.

> My understanding was (but I could be wrong) that you walk up most of it and then if you want to reach the highest summit climb the final section. I have done a small number of 300m+ multi pitch but only sport and in warm climates.

The "final section" is 400 metres and 23 pitches at 5,000 metres and with variable weather conditions and would probably take 12 hours (round trip) Most of it, from memory (1989), is only v diff but there are some pitches of VS and it's easy to get lost. It sounds like technically you could do it all but it's a proper Alpine climb so you'd probably want to get at least plenty of experience moving fast on V diff ground with packs in the UK, or some basic Alpine rock experience.
There are two "climbing" peaks: Batian and Nelion. The difference in height is a few metres but if you want to do the former (the higher one) there is some (easy) snow climbing involved.

It's a great trip!
 THE.WALRUS 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

I climbed to Nelion by Mackinders Route a few years ago.

The route is mostly of severe grade with the odd pitch of hard severe. There aren't any bolts, so you need to be comfortable trad leading at this grade, rapidly and with a rucksack and cold weather gear. I found that rock shoes were best - but it's personal preference and other people wore approach shoes. Note that if you want to cross the gate of the mists to Batian from Nelion, you may well need crampons. Take a sleeping bag, too. It's not uncommon to get benighted if you're going for both peaks, it's a big day out any you may well run out of daylight on the way down.

The main thing is acclimatisation - make sure you follow a long approach route which gives at least 5 or 6 nights at altitude before going for one of the summits. Or, better still, climb Mt Meru of Kilimanjaro first.

As far as I know, there are a couple of local, British Army trained guides out there who will be able to take you to the top - the best thing would be to make contact with them through one of the local trekking tour operators - they'll be able to put a bespoke package together.

oggi 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

Martin and others are quite correct with their assessment of the various peaks of Mt Kenya. The last time I was there was 2013 and the last 300M to Pt Lenana was 1m of fresh snow on top of hard old snow. This was in July.
Don't underestimate the climb as it is a long way and if you have not climbed at altitude it may come as a shock. However people do differ enormously.
It is a great mountain and a great country so have fun.
Doug
 John2 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

In mid May you may well be better off climbing one of the ice routes such as the Ice Window route. I climbed this in August some 20 years ago, and it was in good condition. We descended the normal rock route to the summit of Nelion that others are discussing, and it was heavily iced up - it would have made a superb mixed route, but at a significantly higher grade than when it is clear of snow and ice.
 JayPee630 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

TBH it sounds to me like you're a bit confused with the info you have.

Are you planning to walk the trekking peak of Mt Kenya, or climb one of the alpine summits of Mt Kenya?
OP Inhambane 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

Thanks folks some good advice.

Sounds like it's a little bit above my experience level than I was imagining. I don't have any experience in huge alpine multi pitches and it might not be the best place to learn. Very good to know.

I will inquire with the operators whilst there but it looks like I will be sticking with the walking only route.
 El_Dave_H 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

You can try contacting Sam Leary's guiding service for advice, I know she's guided a trip that involved reaching both summits, and that was with a team where one member had never been on a rope previously. If i remember her talk correctly there were something like 25 abseils on the descent, so it's a fairly serious route.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=775077932533751

Not affiliated, btw.
 JayPee630 24 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

it might be that there's a bit of confusion due to the fact that IIRC the trekking peak has a few very easy simple scrambling moves just to get to the actual summit. (I mean mod grade and maybe one move a few metres above the ground.) And it's often recounted that people will have to 'climb' to get to this.
 Solaris 25 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

> Sounds like it's a little bit above my experience level than I was imagining. I don't have any experience in huge alpine multi pitches and it might not be the best place to learn. Very good to know.

Wise decision, I'd say. It's a wonderful climb - I'm thinking of the voie normale on Nelion - but it would be a much more enjoyable and safer proposition if you have some experience of alpine scale route finding, climbing moderately technical ground in big boots whilst carrying bivi gear, and at altitude. Regarding its grading, you'll get a more realistic impression of whether you're up to it by comparing alpine grades rather than rock grades. It's probably about Difficile in alpine terms, but as a more or less pure rock route rather than mixed.

It's a great route to have on your hitlist, so definitely worth keeping in mind as a goal to aim for after a couple of seasons in the alps.
 OwenM 25 Apr 2016
In reply to John2:

> In mid May you may well be better off climbing one of the ice routes such as the Ice Window route. I climbed this in August some 20 years ago, and it was in good condition.

Does the window still form? I did it in 1981 and even then it was 50/50 whether it actually formed.
 OwenM 25 Apr 2016
In reply to El_Dave_H:

> . If i remember her talk correctly there were something like 25 abseils on the descent, so it's a fairly serious route.

>
Really on a 400m route? I seem to remember it was about 5 abseils and some down climbing.

 Babika 25 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

Its a brilliant route but after alternate leading for lots of pitches (with a big sack on my back) we somehow went off route and ended up on a pitch of about HVS which totally stuffed me, at the altitude. We slept on the summit, failed to cross the Gates of the Mist the next day (too hard/not got the right ice gear/footwear) and did a load of abseils down the next day. I wore rock boots and left my walking boots at the glacier at the bottom. Another friend wore big boots for the whole thing.

Mount Kenya is an amazing route, but Pt Lenana is emphatically not Mount Kenya!!
 John2 25 Apr 2016
In reply to OwenM:

The window hadn't formed - we climbed to the top of the groove line, then made a short abseil onto the headwall.
 Postmanpat 25 Apr 2016
In reply to OwenM:

> Really on a 400m route? I seem to remember it was about 5 abseils and some down climbing.

That's about my memory but apparently it has now been bolted and consists 14 abseils and some down climbing

http://www.summitpost.org/nelion-descent/160054

Maybe we should convene a BMC area meeting about removing the bolts

 jon59 25 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:
I replied to a similar question a while back Ive added a link I hope it helps.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=458674&v=1#x6414974
 Solaris 25 Apr 2016
In reply to Postmanpat:

We descended it in 1998, just after the bolts had been put in, and my recollection, before reading your post was that we did 13 abs.

We were pretty grateful for the bolts - even though it felt like cheating to get off the route so easily - but we did get to shake hands with the member of climbing royalty who had just come back from equipping the piste. Yes, remember that classic Cleare shot of someone in a flat cap laybacking up Cenotaphy Corner? - Rusty Baillie, also of Bivvy fame, equipped it assisted by a group of his students.
 John2 26 Apr 2016
In reply to Solaris:

Did you know that Rusty Baillie once held, and probably still holds, the record for getting from the summit of Kilimanjaro to the summit of Mt Kenya? A jaguar was used as transport between the two.
 Solaris 26 Apr 2016
In reply to John2:

No, I didn't, and I'm glad to know. Thanks for passing that on.
 John2 26 Apr 2016
In reply to Solaris:

Here you go - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=28N6F2wBSM8C&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&a...

summit to summit in 21hours and 40 minutes.
 Solaris 26 Apr 2016
In reply to John2:

Cheers - you read my mind for the question I should have asked!

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, this feat has never been repeated." Well, there's a challenge!
 John2 26 Apr 2016
In reply to Solaris:

My own encounter with a legend of Mt Kenya came in Pembrokeshire when I met Ian Howell, who soloed the mountain 14 times to build the hut on Nelion. I said, 'I've slept in your hut' and he replied, 'You owe me a beer then'.
 Babika 26 Apr 2016
In reply to John2:

Hut?
I felt it was a bit like sleeping underneath a double bed with 6 mates. It was so bloody uncomfortable I struggled out and slept on the rock outside which was considerably nicer. My 5 mates breathed a sigh of relief that there was a teeny bit more space inside.
1
 Solaris 26 Apr 2016
In reply to Babika:

Yes, more like a cold frame than a hut. But with four it wasn't too bad, and Howell stills deserves his beers.
shunty 27 Apr 2016
In reply to Inhambane:

Like some others here I did Batian and Nelion in very early 80's as a 2 man lightweight trip and we just walked up thru the forest and camped below the mountain proper (below the north face) with a small tent. Now you have to pay at the gate to go thru and its expensive from what I heard recently from someone that went last year. We did the Firmin Hicks North Face IV+ in January (summer time in Kenya), so in May it may be cold. The trip thru the forest was more exciting than the climbing as its teaming with elephants and buffalo, or at least it was then and certainly added to the adventure factor. Lennana is just a walk. As others have said anything else you need to be climbing VS competently with gar placements and the altitude gain should not be taken lightly as you are up there quick. I heard the Ice is naff and ill formed these days. The classic Diamond Coulouir is gone at the bottom and even if part formed at the top is a hard mixed climb. If your walking up to Lennana you don't need a guide, but then I never had so its only my view as part of the trip in climbing is the mind game of sorting stuff and situations out yourself and making your own decisions and learning more about yourself. There is a lecture about Mt Kenya at AC in London sometime soon by a couple of the guys that did the early ascents. Check that out for more info.

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