Mount Kilimanjaro Overview
Elevation (feet):
19563
Elevation (meters):
5963
Range:
East Africa Mountains
SubRange:
Northeast Tanzania
Country:
Tanzania
Continent:
Africa
Latitude:
-3.06667
Longitude:
37.35
Difficulty:
Walk up
Best months for climbing:
December, January, February, March, June, July, August
Volcanic status:
Extinct
Year first climbed:
1889
Convenient Center:
Marangu via Moshi, Tanzania
Nearest major airport:
Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), Tanzania
Description
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, located in Northeast Tanzania, near the Kenya border. Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano, and is one of the most massive in the world. It towers 15,000 feet above the surrounding arid plains, and 2.5 square miles of its surface are over 18,500 feet. Beneath its ice dome, snow extends down long gullies that have been eroded in the mountain sides. Kilimanjaro's summit crater, known as Kibo, measures an incredible 1.5 miles across. The highest point on Kibo's steep rim is Uhuru, the highest peak in Africa. Nestled in the center of Kibo is a smaller crater, 600-feet deep in sulfurous ashes. Mawenzi (16,893 ft), Kilimanjaro's smaller second cone, is seven miles east of Kibo, separated by a long saddle. Mawenzi is an older cone, jagged from erosion, with sheer faces on all sides. Despite its lower elevation, Mawenzi is the more difficult climb, and no approach is possible without rock climbing and/or snow and ice climbing skills. Mawenzi is the third highest peak in Africa. Mount Kenya (17,057 ft.) is second. The approach and climb provides spectacular diversity, from scrub-lands thick with African wildlife to lush forests to flowering alpine tundra. All this finally gives way to snow and rock above 15,000 feet. Kilimanjaro's summit crater, known as Kibo, measures an incredible 1.5 miles across. The highest point on Kibo's steep rim is Uhuru, the highest peak in Africa. Nestled in the center of Kibo is a smaller crater, 600-feet deep in sulfurous ashes. Mawenzi (16,893 ft), Kilimanjaro's smaller second cone, is seven miles east of Kibo, separated by a long saddle. Mawenzi is an older cone, jagged from erosion, with sheer faces on all sides. Despite its lower elevation, Mawenzi is the more difficult climb, and no approach is possible without rock climbing and/or snow and ice climbing skills. Mawenzi is the third highest peak in Africa. Mount Kenya (17,057 ft.) is second. The approach and climb provides spectacular diversity, from scrub-lands thick with African wildlife to lush forests to flowering alpine tundra. All this finally gives way to snow and rock above 15,000 feet.
Volcanic status While it is inactive, Kilimanjaro has fumaroles that emit gas in the crater on the main summit of Kibo. Scientists concluded in 2003 that molten magma is just 400 metres (1,300 ft) below the summit crater. Although new activity is not expected, there are fears the volcano may collapse[citation needed], causing a major eruption similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the western breach. Although there is no recorded history of eruptions, local legend speaks of activity around 170 years ago.
Current conditions
Whrrent conditionsile the volcano appears to be dormant on the inside, events on top of the mountain draw global attention. The top of the mountain has seen a retreat of the most recent covering of glaciers, with the most recent ice cap volume dropping by more than 80%[1]. In 2002, a study led by Ohio State University ice core paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson [2] predicted that ice on top of Africa's tallest peak would be gone between 2015 and 2020 [3] [4]. In 2007, a team of Austrian scientists from University of Innsbruck predicted that the plateau ice cap will be gone by 2040, but some ice on the slope will remain longer due to local weather conditions [5]. A comparison of ice core records suggests conditions today are returning to those of 11,000 years ago. Recent study by Philip Mote of the University of Washington in the United States and Georg Kaser of the University of Innsbruck in Austria indicate that the shrinking of Kilimanjaro's ice cap is not due to global warming but instead driven by solar radiation. [6] As of January 2006, the Western Breach route has been closed by the Tanzanian government following a rockslide which killed four people at Arrow Glacier Camp. The rockslide is believed to have been caused by frost action in an area which is no longer permanently frozen.
After the Western Breach route was closed in January 2006, many expeditions that had intended to use this route have instead used the Lemosho/Barafu route. As the Western Breach route, this route starts to the west and goes up the Shira Ridge towards Lava Tower. Instead of going up to Arrow Glacier camp and the breach, however, this route goes around the southern edge of Kili towards Barafu Camp. From Barafu Camp, around 15,200 ft (4,630 m) altitude, a nighttime summit is usually attempted.
