BCACL Kilimanjaro Climb

Kilimanjaro, Africa

Snow capped Kilimanjaro, an extinct volcano, is the tallest freestanding mountain in Africa. Only 3 degrees below the equator, the mountain has two peaks - KIBO (19340ft) and MAWENZI (16,890ft). On Kibo there is Gillman's Point (18, 635ft) and Uhuru Peak (705 ft higher). Both are on the rim of a crater and can be climbed by any normally fit person.

In the local Wachagga dialect, the name of the mountain is Kilima-Ngiaro, meaning the "journey which has no ending". Around 500 years ago Wachagga pastoralists settled the fertile slopes. At that time, Kilimanjaro became a focus of the Chagga culture. Successive chiefs and warriors attempted to scale its peak, but they were all defeated by fatigue, cold and the anger of the mountain gods, which modern-day mountaineers call Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). This was their "journey with no ending".

The mountain was formed around 750,000 years ago. Originally it consisted of three main craters - Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira, but the latter two have since erupted and appear today as jagged peaks.

The Greek geographer, Ptolemy, made the first mention of Kilimanjaro some 1800 years ago. Oriental traders knew of a great mountain "west of Zanzibar" several centuries ago. However, it was a German missionary, Johann Rebmann, who, in 1849, wrote the first account of a snow-capped peak close to the equator. Even the highly regarded Royal Geographical Society dismissed the existence of snow in Africa as impossible. But it did exist, and within a few decades Kilimanjaro became the most highly sought-after prize of Europe's foremost climbers and adventurers. The history of its exploration and final "conquest" is a prolonged and dramatic saga of courage and determination. Ultimately, the tenacious German geographer, Hans Meyer and the accomplished Alpinist, Ludwig Purtschdeller, were the first to stand on the highest point of Africa on October 4th, 1889.

Fitness, Altitude and Routes

Since there are no technical obstacles, most healthy people in good condition can make the climb. Our routes on Kilimanjaro do not require any technical skills or training. Anyone who is physically fit has a very good chance of getting to the top at 19,340ft. Just because it is not technical doesn't mean that it's easy. It is very physically demanding - especially as you get above 12,000 ft. You should prepare yourself for the physical challenges you will face on the climb.

picture source: James White, Kilimanjaro July 2004

Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano reaching an elevation of 19,335.6 ft. (5,895 m). Other names for this volcano are: Kilima Dscharo, Oldoinyo Oibor (white mountain in Masai), and Kilima Njaro meaning shining mountain in Swahili. This volcano's highest and youngest cone is named Kibo. Shira to the west and Mawenzi in the east are older cones that make up Kilimanjaro. Kibo has not been active in modern times, but steam and sulfur are still emitted. At the top of Kibo's summit is a 1 1/2 mile (2 1/4 Km) wide crater.

Kilimanjaro is the largest of an E-W belt of about 20 volcanoes near the southern end of the East African Rift Valley. Also prominent in this belt are Ngorongoro caldera - a superb wildlife refuge, Ol Donyo Lengi - a carbonitite volcano, and Meru. Kilimanjaro is a triple volcano with the youngest and central peak of Kibo being 7.5-8.7 miles (12-14 km) from Shira to the west and Mawenza to the east. As all of Kilimanjaro's climbers know the gentle lower slopes steepen to 30 degrees about 13,000 ft.(4 km) elevation.

Shira is topped by a broad plateau, perhaps a filled caldera, and erosion has cut deeply into a remnant rim. In contrast, Mawenzi's summit is a steep rocky peak surrounded by cliffs 1,600 ft.(0.5 km) to 4,900 ft.(1.5 km) high. Erosion has removed the original crater, and a great horseshoe shaped ridge opens to the northeast. Mile-deep gullies with 30-45 degree gradients make many places practically inaccessible. Massive series of radial and concentric dyke swarm make up more than 30-40 percent of the summit area of Mawenzi. Kibo's glacier-clad summit, the highest spot in Africa, is a 1.2 x 1.7 mile (1.9 x 2.7 km) caldera, with an inner crater nearly a mile (1.3 km) wide, and inside that a deep, 1,148 ft. (350 m) wide central pit. Original volcanic forms are preserved at the summit and on many of the flanks, except on the south side where glaciers have cut deeply into the cone. Nearly 250 satellitic cones occur on Kilimanjaro, most following SE and NW trends. Estimates suggest that of a total volume of about 1,150 cu. miles, Mawenzi and Shira each contribute roughly 120 cu. mi. of andesites and basalts, Kibo has the same volume of similar but unexposed rocks, plus an additional 107 cu. miles. Interestingly, more than half of Kilimanjaro's volume is represented by older, basal basalts (672 cu. mi.), so once again- as in Cascade stratovolcanoes - a basaltic shield is the most important, but least conspicuous element of a chemically complex volcano. Kilimanjaro- Africa's largest volcano and among the largest on the Earth is indeed a beautiful and fascinating volcano of the world.

source: http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_kilimanjaro.html