Western Breach Route - the latest

Thursday September 28 2006
Following a meeting of 12th August 2006 between various interested parties, it appears that the authorities have abandoned their plans to reopen the route (which was originally scheduled for July) and are instead now mulling over two alternatives regarding the Western Breach Route. (For those who haven’t heard, the authorities closed the route earlier this year following a rockfall in January that killed three American climbers.)

The two alternatives are as follows:

1) Open the proposed new route, suggested by John Rees-Evans of team Kilimanjaro et al soon after the tragedy. However, this route, which is described in the book, is to be opened at certain times of year only due to the presence of dry ice and the danger that could cause to inexperienced trekkers.

2) Close the route altogether.

The two options both have their supporters and opponents. However, many in the mountaineering community are unhappy that, even if the first course is adopted and the route is reopened, the fact that it will be closed at certain times of year goes against the very spirit of mountaineering in which the onus on personal safety lies with the climber and the climber only, and that the authorities role should be restricted to merely pointing out the nature of the hazards present on the mountain.

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