Articles

The White Mountain of Africa

$Kilimanjaro\'s Uhuru Peak seen at sunset from high above Shira 2 camp, on the southern Shira Plateau$

Written by Dave Pickford, February 2010

All photographs copyright David Pickford / www.davidpickford.com

Outside I look up and see the clouds over the summit have gone and stars alone light the lava rocks like a dim photograph�. Above there is a great black hole the shape of the mountain cut out of the studded nightsky and in the centre a vertical line of twinkling lights of those trekkers even more foolish than ourselves who have beat us out of camp.
- Rick Ridegway, from �The Shadow Of Kilimanjaro�

Africa�s highest summit has captured the imagination of explorers and climbers for over a century. The flat-topped white dome of Kilimanjaro, rising to 5,893 metres from the open plains of north-eastern Tanzania, is the world�s tallest free-standing mountain and one of the most striking landmarks of the entire continent. It is a dormant stratovolcano, with a huge summit crater surrounded by the triple peaks of Mawenzi, Shira and the highest, Kibo. It last erupted seriously 360,000 years ago � about a third of its short lifetime ago.

Since its first ascent in the late nineteenth century, it was the subject of intense attention for European adventurers in Africa until the mid-twentieth century, when it experienced a quiet period during the post-colonial era. Summiteers returned throughout the late 1960�s and 70�s, and today - as part of the sought-after �Seven Summits� quest to ascend the highest peaks on all the world�s continents - its status in world mountaineering�s hall of fame is sealed.

But Africa�s highest mountain is as replete with mystery as it is steeped in history. There can be few peaks with such an enchanting name, and the intricate syllables of �Kilimanjaro� gain a sudden, exotic power as they roll off the tongue. The origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a combination of the Swahili word Kilima, meaning �mountain� and the KiChagga word Njaro, which denotes �whiteness�, thus translating roughly as White Mountain. This poetic fusion of local languages reflects the peak�s most impressive and beautiful feature: the multiple hanging glaciers that spill from the crater rim and extend down the volcano�s upper flanks.

The first sight of the snows of Kilimanjaro�s summit is undoubtedly one of the world�s most awesome high-altitude visions. Perhaps even more awe-inspiring, and troubling, is the fact that in twenty years or so they may no longer be there. Kilimanjaro�s dramatically receding white lines are arguably the most powerful piece of visible evidence of climate change we have. The rate of glacial retreat on Kilimanjaro has been estimated at 82% since 1912, and 33% since 1989.

Despite � or partly because of � this fact, there seems to be no more appropriate time to climb Kilimanjaro than now. There are certainly more people on the mountain today than there have ever been, but its sheer vastness easily absorbs our presence. Just stride a few steps away from the bustle of even the busiest campsite and you�ll find yourself in a place of eerie silence, perhaps in the midst of a glade of surreal Dendrosenecios trees, looming like Doric columns amid the swirling cloud. On the summit ridge, if you stride away from the crowds around the Tanzanian government sign and look out across the crater rim, you can still feel the almost impossible elemental force of the tectonic event that blew the Rift Valley apart a million years ago. Here, in the quiet and cold of Kibo, the geological marvel of Africa's highest peak becomes suddenly apparent. You are standing atop an immense hill of rock and lava just a few nanoseconds old in geological time, decorated by a landscape more extraordinary than the wildest inventions of science fiction, dramatically dividing the Serengeti Plain from the Indian Ocean.

Even though the central characteristic of this remarkable mountain - its signature white summit - may be gone in less than a generation, it remains one of the world�s most alluring natural wonders. The ascent itself is made particularly memorable by the climber�s sudden arrival � usually in the magic hour of dawn - in a vast, lunar, glacial environment at over 18,000 feet, after the long trek through sub-tropical, sub-alpine, and high-alpine biomes. For this reason most of all, there is no better time than now to pay homage to the fading glory of Africa�s greatest peak, Kilima-Njaro, the White Mountain of Africa.

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