Situated just a few hours north of Nairobi is Africa’s second-highest summit. Unlike Kilimanjaro, twin-peaked Mount Kenya is a climber’s mountain, with no easy way to the top of either Batian or Neilion. It also lies right on the equator, giving paradoxical conditions, with both winter and summer conditions being found on opposing sides of the mountain depending on the season.
Sadly climate change has put paid to many of the winter climbs on the mountains, though I understand that both the Ice Window Route and Diamond Couloir have been climbed in recent years, but they’re not reliably ‘in’ like they were in the ’80s and ’90s.
That said, there are still myriad fantastic alpine rock climbs to do — many of which do not get regularly climbed, so will feel on the adventurous end of the spectrum. I’ve always thought that the Walker Spur-esque Diamond Buttress looked particularly brilliant.
Approaches, Huts and Camps
Mount Kenya is right in the centre of the National Park and there are approach routes from every direction. I have approached by both the Sirimon Route from the North, and the Chogoria Route from the East. The Chogoria Route is particularly beautiful. Both take around four days to get to the Austrian Hut, from where you start the technical climbing.
Acclimatisation on Mount Kenya is not to be underestimated; by day 2 you will be at over 4,000m. Although the distances involved are not huge, I would not recommend trying to rush the walk-in. On both trips I exited via the Naro Moro Route. This is the quickest and steepest way out of the park, involving a fairly hideous feature known as the ‘Vertical Bog’. You can walk-in this way, but you gain height quickly, and it’s nowhere near as beautiful as the Chogoria or Sirimon Routes.
In my view, it would only be a good option if you were already acclimatised — say if you live in the Alps, or have just trekked up Kilimanjaro.
On the popular treks (Chogoria, Sirimon, and Naro Moro) most of the camps have pit toilets and covered tables for cooking. There are also several huts. The only one of these I’ve personally stayed in is the Austrian Hut. The huts are closer to Scottish bothies, than the huts found in the Alps. Don’t expect a three-course dinner, bar or wifi! At the time of writing the Austrian Hut costs 2000 Kenyan Shillings per person per night. The other huts will have similar rates. None of the huts or camps are particularly clean and I would try your level best not to get ill. My tops tips for this are being super diligent with hand hygiene and making sure your purify/boil all drinking water.
Point Lenana
At 4,985m high, Point Lenana is the often called the highest trekking peak on Mount Kenya, though I think it requires a little more respect than that. My most recent ascent was under snow, and felt much closer to mountaineering.
If it is snow free, It is a short straightforward out and back ascent from the Austrian Hut (4,800m) and a little bit more involved if you traverse the mountain from Harris Tarn. If you are just intending on summiting Point Lenana, I would recommend taking a lightweight axe and some strap-on crampons, just in case the thing is plastered in snow.
Mount Kenya Climbing Tours
South Face of Neilion
Accessed from the Austrian Hut and typically climbed between December and March, this is the easiest way up one of the technical summits of Mount Kenya.
On paper the route isn’t very long, but it wiggles around all over the place, more akin to a British trad route than an Alpine ridge. It’s basically a turbo version of Grooved Arête on the East Face of Tryfan with a trickier pitch or two (VSish) thrown in for good measure. As the route-finding is less than obvious I would recommend a thorough recce the day before. If it were in the Alps the route would be graded Difficile. The route can be climbed with a single 60m rope, half a set of nuts, a set of cams, 8 quickdraws and some slings.
South Face of Neilion
On the top of Neilion is the Howell Hut, a tiny little tin shelter, just big enough to sit up in, where three or four of you can spend the night. Personally I’d try to get up and down in one day.
Despite complex and loose terrain, the descent from Neilion is remarkably straightforward thanks to an abseil piste that was bolted down the mountain a few years ago.
There is an excellent description for this descent here. If you follow it you shouldn’t go wrong. The whole descent can be completed on a single 60m rope. The terrain you are descending is typically slabby. I wouldn’t recommend tying two ropes together and doing longer abseils, as this will end in jammed ropes and tangles.
Accessed from the Austrian Hut and typically climbed between December and March, this is the easiest way up one of the technical summits of Mount Kenya.
On paper the route isn’t very long, but it wiggles around all over the place, more akin to a British trad route than an Alpine ridge.
It’s basically a turbo version of Grooved Arête on the East Face of Tryfan with a trickier pitch or two (VSish) thrown in for good measure.
As the route-finding is less than obvious I would recommend a thorough recce the day before. If it were in the Alps the route would be graded Difficile. The route can be climbed with a single 60m rope, half a set of nuts, a set of cams, 8 quickdraws and some slings.
Batian via the Gates of Mist
Batian (5199m) is just 11 metres higher than Nelion. To get to its summit you need to descend into the Gates of Mist – the col that splits the two peaks – from there several pitches of easy ridge climbing lead to the summit.
Before my trip I was unable to find much reliable info on the Gates of Mist, and was fairly daunted by the prospect. Several folks suggested fixing a rope to aid an ascent if needed. I thought this was totally unnecessary. We found that with a single 60m rope we could abseil from bolts into the Gates of Mist.
From there I led a pitch across the Gate (easy walking) to a good belay. 4 or 5 pitches of easy ridge climbing (fixed belays) lead to the summit. On the way back we reversed our steps, and used crampons and axe to climb back to the summit of Neilion.
We did this section in late afternoon, and found easy soft snow (Scottish II) with rock protection available. I imagine first thing in the morning everything would be well frozen and feel much more consequential.
North Face Standard Route
I’ve not climbed this but it is the easiest way to the top of Batian in the summer season (August to October). Its crux is a grade or so harder (Hard VS) than the South Face of Neilon. The quickest descent is to cross the Gates of Mist and abseil down the S Face of Neilion.
Point John
Point John is the most prominent and impressive of the outlying peaks. It is a good option for acclimatisation or for those with spare time/energy.
The standard route is about V Diff and can easily be done in a 1-day round trip from either the Austrian Hut or Mackinders Hut. Midget Peak also looks like a good rock climbing objective.
Temperatures and seasons
There are two seasons for climbing Mount Kenya: June – October for routes on the North side, and December – February for routes on the South.
The weather during the rest of the year is typically not stable enough for the technical climbs, but ascents of Point Lenana are possible.
Temperatures are pretty similar to the Alps in summer, but it’s worth taking an extra layer due to the cumulative fatigue caused by being constantly at high altitude.
Mount Kenya Climbing Tours
Footwear: we wore trainers on the first couple of days of the trek, and B2 boots on Point Lenana, Batian and Neilion. We also carried rock shoes, but didn’t wear them. Overnight temperatures went down to about -5 Celsius, so a good down sleeping bag is essential, especially when camping.
Rock Climbing in Kenya
Kenya has a fine history of traditional rock climbing, dating back to the 1950s, and whilst there are no crags of the calibre of Arapilies, El Cap or Céüse, there is plenty of cool rock to climb. Before this trip, as far as I knew rock climbing in Kenya consisted of Frog, Lukenya and Hell’s Gate; old school venues, with loose rock, put up by gnarly ex-pats in the 1970s and ’80s.