Trip Reports

Kilimanjaro - Western Breach (private trip)

Written by Leader Harry McAulay, February 2019

My thanks must firstly go to Willem for persuading his two friends, Remko and Gilles, to join him on yet another of his great adventures. We met at the airport in Amsterdam and were soon heading towards Kilimanjaro.

On arrival at our destination, I was so pleased that Remko had heeded the advice from JG to bring along boots etc in his hand luggage. Despite him boarding in Amsterdam and having priority status for his bags, only one of his two bags arrived. Once in the Keys Hotel we were able to share some gear and focus on the first phase of the trip; the ascent Mt. Meru. I always feel that the ascent of Mt. Meru, is in some ways, more difficult than that of Kilimanjaro, coming as it does only 4 days after leaving Europe where most of us reside at sea level. Our group stormed up the mountain and we were fortunate to find that at each of our hut stops, we were not inundated by other groups. We got to the summit of Mt. Meru from the Saddle hut in just over 4 hours and that was with stops; this was a very fit and strong group. Breaking slightly from our Itinerary, we stayed two nights at Saddle Hut to reap the benefits of a bit more altitude acclimatisation. The next day we headed back down to a reluctant bus and a well earned rest at the Keys Hotel.

The following day we were off to start the faffing about, that always proceeds entry into the National Park at Machami gate prior to driving to Umbewe Gate . Faffing, was a new term for my team, but they soon got to understand the full implications of it. We had a glorious walk up to Forest Cave and on the next day up to Baranco Camp, once again the group stormed along showing no signs of fatigue. As they were not keen to stay at the crowded Baranco Camp we headed off to Arrow Camp with the intention of staying there for two nights, for further acclimatisation.

As was to be expected Arrow Camp had only us and one other group staying there. In the late afternoon, thunder and snow once again swept over our camp and we looked at our different options. A decision was made, which saw us leaving camp at 0430hrs the next morning, destined for the Western Breach and the Summit.

Climbing the Western Breach is like no other route open to non climbers on the Mountain; as it says in the information from JG :- “you will be scrambling on steep, loose terrain, prone to rockfall, in the dark, in the cold, at high altitude and the rocks may be icy in places, or covered in snow.” It is no place for the uncommitted, this is the toughest day that we had before us and the group tackled it with resolution. Thomas our local guide did a splendid job in locating the new path, the old one having been swept away by rockfall. Eventually we crest the ridge and enter the crater and into another world. The route then crosses the flat crater bottom, following the inside of the crater and would eventually take you to Stella Point. However, the summit and its reward lies above, up a steep slope, covered at this time in the year in soft snow, “ the sting in the tail.”

Once up the slope there was the prize. The photo session was very memorable, as Willem and Remko had to go through the ritual photograph poses that they had gone through at the North and South Pole, at least this time it was not -20 degrees C. Swimming trunks had to be donned, enough said at this stage, you had to be there to appreciate it. I have never witnessed such a magnificent photo session on a summit, as I did that day on Kili.

The way down is gruelling, it is a long and hard slog, however, by the time we got to Millennium camp we all experienced the restorative affects of the greater oxygen content in the atmosphere. Food and a good nights sleep would see us further restored and fit for the final descent to Mweka Gate and our return to Keys Hotel in Moshi.

This was a great trip and it was a pleasure to get to know WiIIem, Remko and Gilles, I will not forget the photos, or the numerous different professions that you documented and so much more, I am sure further great adventures await all three of you.

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