Words + Photos By: Sean James
It is dawn and we are crouching on Batian, the main summit of Mt Kenya. It is the second highest mountain in Africa. There is no wind but it is still cold. The sun has just risen over the plains and green farmland that is far below. The clouds are starting to build, swirling and pouring over the ancient ridges that were created many years ago when this area was dominated by volcanoes. It is possible to see clearly in the distance the isolated peak of Uhuru or Mt Kilimanjaro; the only mountain higher on the whole continent. It is over 500km away in another country and also a volcano.
Six days ago, I had stood on the summit of Kilimanjaro having led a group up the Machame route. Today, standing on the summit of Mt Kenya, I thought of the people who would be standing on the summit of Kilimanjaro at this moment. Separating the two mountains is 15 hours of bone jarring bus rides across lands that are home to many different tribes.
Most visitors to Mt Kenya opt for a traverse of the mountain and are happy reaching Point Lenana, which although not the true summit, is a superb trek. About 16,000 visitors each year attempt this route while the true summit, 5,199m Batian, is only visited by approximately 50 people. The most common route to Batian is via an easier rock climbing ascent of Nelion, 5,189m. A traverse across the Gates of Mist, which is always covered in snow and ice, is then necessary. Batian and Nelion are only about 140m apart, but the traverse can easily take two hours each way and can require leaving ropes in place and using crampons and ice axes.
I was here in Kenya on the dream job, working for a UK company Adventure Peaks. I had one experienced client who knew exactly which route he wanted to climb – The Diamond Buttress. This route is seldom, if at all, climbed due to the objective dangers. Large pieces of rock falling off constantly and all the ice having melted. Andy had become a friend and we had been on two other trips to The Yukon and The Caucasus so we knew each other well.
On the day we were due to leave base camp, we rose early. Gideon our cook grumbled a bit and dished out the African porridge. We had acclimatised over the past week and we planned to climb this route in two days. The guidebook description for the first pitch reads “decent holds, spacey gear, airy positions.” An understatement. With heavy packs, any holds seemed far from decent. Once on the route, the whole buttress towers and rears above you. It is difficult to pick the correct line. Of course, we were the only people on it. The second pitch raised eyebrows even further. Given the steady grade of V by Iain Allan, guidebook writer, it is about 40m long. To save weight, we had decided to take only the bare essentials of protection. We were also carrying sleeping bag, water, food, ice climbing equipment. By about 30m, I had placed most of our protection already. Being an ex-sport climber I love fixed gear. An old peg in a crack showed we were heading in the correct direction. I clipped it using my last runner and moved up. The peg wobbled a bit. I had 3m to go to what looked like a belay. I shuffled across a bit more. The peg wobbled again and fell out. The weight of my rucksack suddenly seemed to increase. I spotted a Birds Head that I had missed before. My aid climbing experience is minimal and it looked like it had been glued in place. But it was another piece of fixed gear. I clipped the biner of my final cam onto the wire loop. Better than nothing? Probably not!
The key to all mountain routes and especially The Diamond is to keep going. Don’t stop to think. Keep saying to yourself, “it can’t be that hard.”
The climbing on the route actually got easier during the afternoon even though they were grade VI. The pitches were steeper and had bigger holds which were obvious to follow. Guidebook writers tend to exaggerate things slightly so we were a little fearful of whether “The Pendulum” pitch would live up to its hype. Coming from the UK, a pendulum conjured up images of huge granite walls. I could see myself running backwards and forward in a huge arc for 30m, hundreds of metres above the ground, trying to catch a small hold with my fingertips. I could exaggerate slightly and tell you it was exactly like that, but in reality it was two metres of faded yellow curtain cord knotted on a rather dismal looking in-situ peg. It was probably possible to climb across the blank wall but as the guide book says “Pendulum,” I felt no guilt in pulling on the yellow cord and reaching out to my right. I had completed my first pendulum and was definitely looking forward to the “Tension Traverse” later on.
The middle section of the route is the most exposed on the climb, most technically difficult, most strenuous and most difficult to follow from the guidebook. Steep cracks, overhangs, iced fissures, snowy covered ledges, dubious protection and a final pitch of 40m which I managed to protect with one piece of gear placed at 10m all added to the experience. Further up, the angle becomes less inclined and the panorama opens up. No longer are you enclosed by forbidding rock walls. At 7pm as the light disappeared, we stopped to bivi on a small ledge. We strung a rope across, clipped ourselves and our gear to avoid rolling off in the night and fell asleep in our harnesses. We had left the hut at 5.30 a.m. In the morning after a false start and extremely cold hands, we found an easy traverse. The final third of the route can be described as an easy alpine style ridge. The valleys open up below and we were treated to views of Nelion and Point John. At this stage, it’s tempting to drop back down to the left side of the mountain as the face is littered with abseil tat, slings and signs of previous battles. We decided to be brave and head straight up the knife edge ridge. Three or four more pitches later and we were on the summit.
From the top of Batian, four to five abseils will gain you entry into the infamous Gates of Mist. A small col between the two summits. To climb back up to Nelion and find the standard descent route, it is necessary to climb the snow and ice field. We had carried our crampons for the past two days and were now glad of them.
The Howell Hut, at the summit of Nelion is superbly constructed and could sleep six at a push. There are even foam mattresses. Rumour has it that Howell soloed Nelion 13 times with the materials needed to construct the hut. We bypassed the hut and headed straight down. Four abseils on the worst looking tat you have ever seen and we found modern ring bolts. A sign that we were indeed where we should be. The rest of the descent took us all day and in the dying sunlight we crossed the glacial lakes back towards the Mackinder Hut. It was a perfect trip; we had had the mountain to ourselves for two days. Tomorrow, we would have a rest day and then climb some more. After all we still had six days left.
Mt Kenya last erupted 3.5 million years ago and the whole volcanic massif is more than 70km in diameter. The National Park was created in 1949 and is now also designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are 12 small glaciers in the range but these are vanishing fast.
The first recorded ascent of Mt Kenya, Batian, was made by Halford John Mackinder, Cesar Ollier and Josef Brocherel on 13th September 1899. The local tribes living on or near the slopes of Mt Kenya also have their own names for the mountain; “mountain of whiteness”, “white mountain” or “speckled mountain.” The massif has numerous other peaks and climbing routes as well as great trekking. All accessible from the well-equipped huts. The main peaks are:
Batian (5,199m – 17,058ft)
Nelion (5,188m – 17,022ft)
Pt. Lenana (4,985 m – 16,355ft)
Corydon Peak (4,960 m – 16,273ft)
Pt. Pigott (4,957m – 16,266ft)
Pt. Thompson (4,955m – 15,466ft)
Pt. Dutton (4,885m – 16,027ft)
Pt. John (4,883m – 16,016ft)
Pt. Melhuish (4,880m – 16,010ft)
Pt. John Minor (4,875m – 15,990ft)
Krapf Rognon (4,800m – 15,740ft)
Pt. Peter (4,757m – 15,607ft)
Pt. Slade (4,750m – 15,580ft)
Terere (4,714m – 15,462ft)
Sendeyo (4,704m – 15,433ft)
Midget Peak (4,700m – 15,420ft)
The Hat (4,639m – 15,220ft)
The Diamond Buttress was climbed as part of an attempt on the second highest Seven Summits on each continent. Next issue, Mt Logan in North America.
