The first known reference to Kilimanjaro was by Ptolemy of Alexandria.
In 1849 German missionaries reported seeing a huge, snow-capped mountain,
which they said was called the Mountain of the Caravans by Arab slave
traders from the island of Zanzibar who used the mountain as a landmark
while crossing the interior. The Royal Geographical Society initially
refused to believe that snow could exist on the Equator, but expeditions
sent in 1861 confirmed its existence. The mountain was first
successfully climbed by Europeans in 1887 by Hans Meyer, guided by the
local Chagga guide John Lauwo.
Kilimanjaro is composed of three volcanic cones:
Kibo
The highest point being Uhuru or Kaiser Spitze - (19,340 feet)
Mawenzi
Looks like Mt. Doom of Mordor - also known as Hans Meyer Peak -
(16,893 feet)
Shira - the oldest of the three is actually not particularly
noticeable as a volcanic cone because it collapsed and was filled in
by Kibo's lava flows, creating the stunning Shira Plateau.
Kibo seen from the Shira Plateau
Mawenzi seen from Kibo
The word Kilimanjaro is derived from Kilima Njaro in Swahili, meaning
shining mountain. Uhuru is the Swahili word for freedom (from
slavery; or
independence, from colonialism) and is also well known to Star Trek
fans. The Kaiser Spitze was named for Wilhelm I (1797-1888, our birthday-boy's
grandfather).
Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira are Chagga words; the Chagga being indigenous
agrarian Bantu people who serve as guides: Kili's Sherpas. The
Masai are the red-cloaked nomadic spearmen whose
young men traditionally killed lions as a rite of passage.
The Swahili language comes from a dialect spoken in Zanzibar (long a part
of Oman) and was
spread as the Zanzibaris roamed inland seeking ivory and slaves. Swahili
was originally written in Arabic script, and many of the words are
borrowed directly from Arabic, but the Latin alphabet is now used.
"Hakuna Matata"
is probably Swahili's most famous phrase.
Kibo lies 213 statute miles south of the Equator at 03° 05' S latitude,
37° 23' E longitude. Kilimanjaro is the world's highest non-technical
climb, as well as the tallest mountain on the continent of Africa (and
therefore one of the
Seven Summits).
Its base is 40 miles around. Kilimanjaro's volcanoes are dormant but not
extinct: threatening rumbles are often heard and gases vent from
fumaroles in Kibo's ash pit.
To climb Kilimanjaro, you start over a half-mile above sea level, from the
hot African equatorial savannah atop the Rift Valley escarpment, and climb 3 miles straight up into the
freezing cold of the glaciers around Uhuru peak. On average, ten people
die on the mountain every year. Heart attacks are the leading killer but
other problems can arise: severe storms - like all major peaks, Kili
makes its own weather and proper equipment is necessary; altitude
sickness is everyone's companion above 8,000 feet, although
Acetazolamide (Diamox®)
is helpful in accelerating acclimatization.
Edema - either
pulmonary or
cerebral - is a deadly possibility. The accepted orthodoxy about edema
is that you must immediately descend if you show any symptoms, but the
fact of the matter is that above 16,000 feet getting down quickly
enough simply may not be an option ... a response including Decadron®
(the steroid Dexamethasone), O2 and a hyperbaric tent must
be attempted.
(In January 2006, 3 American climbers and 1 Tanzanian porter were killed
in their tents by a rock slide as they slept at the Arrow Glacier just
below the Western Breach. Several others were seriously injured. This
sort of thing is rare however.)
Excellent physical fitness is obviously required for a successful climb.
The worst physical hardships result from the inability to breathe, more
than muscular fatigue, so intense aerobic training must be combined with
anaerobic strength conditioning. Training at high altitude (>9,000')
just prior to attempting Kili is a good idea (your first
camp will be nearly 9,000' and that soon seems quite low as you proceed
upward). Coming down, your quads and calf muscles take quite a beating.
Generally in the dry seasons the weather is clear through the night until
after the sun is up and then things cloud up. Precipitation after 11AM
is quite common ... rain at lower altitudes and snow higher. You soon
learn to carry extra layers in your day pack and to change quickly.
The whole trek involves a linear distance of about 50 - 60 miles. As you climb, you go
through five distinct climate zones:
The Lemosho Route (pioneered by Scott Fischer of Into Thin Air
fame) over the Shira Plateau and up the cliffs of the Western Breach
begins at a trailhead that is already in the montane forest, so you
drive from dry, blistering heat with very little vegetation up into a
lush, wet jungle. The road conditions were so bad the day we arrived on
the mountain that our Land Rover couldn't make it to the trailhead so we
added several miles to the hike through sopping mud interlaced with tree
roots.
Here's the Western Breach. You can see the topo lines above ... it's
steep. The base is 16,000 feet and the top is 18,500 feet; half a mile
high. On the Lemosho Route, climbing The Western Breach is the hardest
day: you start out tired and cold and you end up somewhere you've never
been before in your life.
The day we climbed the weather was bad and by late afternoon was snowing quite hard.
I was the first of my party to the top, feeling the strongest I had felt in days and thinking
I had finally acclimatized. But within an hour I was suffering the symptoms of cerebral edema:
I couldn't stand, was racked with nausea and had a blinding headache. I knew I should go down but in the dark, in a blizzard, and sick, I also knew a
catastrophic fall was a certainty. The trip leader gave me a Decadron and by early morning I was
feeling well enough to try for the summit.
The next day, we set out in the dark with frozen feet & fingers, climbed through the sunrise to the summit and vindication ...
Ed Viesturs is fond of saying that the point isn't to reach the top: it is to get back safely. Two of our party collapsed at the top
and it took all the porters and over six hours to trundle them down the 4,000 vertical feet to our next camp on the descent. A man in the party ahead of ours
had convulsions, could not be revived and died in the clinic in the town of Moshi at the base. (A quick glance into this fine facility confirms the
wisdom of packing your own sterile syringes.)
I am very proud to have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and lots of people do (although there's a brisk business in fake certificates). But anyone
planning to do so themselves should know that it was the most physically taxing thing I have done in my life and even the well-prepared
put themselves into harm's way.
