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Look who made it to the top of Kilimanjaro this week!
The reopened Western Breach Route - an account of a climb
February 4th 2008.
A report
has just been sent to me by a reader of their trek up the Western Breach Route.
This
account, by Lisa Cichocki, is of particular interest because Lisa is one of the first
people to ascend by that route since it reopened late last year.
Lisa, who climbed
with her friend Jerry Husz, (you can see both of their photos in the Hall of Fame),
initially had trouble finding a company willing to take her by this Western Breach
Route - a route which was originally shut following the deaths of three climbers
in a rockfall in January 2006. This unusual reluctance to take a booking by the agents
was in some cases due to the fact they hadn't heard it had reopened, and in some
cases because they thought it still too dangerous (a concern that has been expressed
elsewhere on these News pages).
In the end, out of the three agencies who were willing
to arrange a climb on the Western Breach Route, they settled for Ahsante Tours, a
Moshi-based company (whom it must be said, Lisa praises to the hilt in her email
- so congratulations go to Bruno the guide, as well as Cuthbert and the gang at Ahsante).
As far as extra safety precautions, little seems to have changed since the route
was shut, although Lisa and Jerry were encouraged to hire a safety helmet (US$20)
- even though, as Lisa explains, she never actually used it, even on the day/night
when she was supposed to!
Due to the lack of facilities at Crater Camp, the party
was also equipped with a portable toilet carried by a porter. Furthermore - and this
would appear to be another change that was introduced following the 2006 tragedy),
Lisa, Jerry and all the guides/porters etc were made to sign a form that basically
exempted the agency from any responsibility in the event of an accident on the Western
Breach Route. We haven't heard of this particular sort of form before (though similar
forms are usual on the mountain) and are wondering if it will soon be de rigeuer
for all trekking parties on the Western Breach Route to have to sign such a form.
Suffice to say, Lisa and Jerry both made it to the top, within about half an hour
of each other, and both, to judge by Lisa's emails, enjoyed the whole experience
tremendously.
I'd be interested to hear of any other accounts of climbing the reopened
Western Breach Route, particularly regarding any special safety measures that your
agency employed.
The new elephant shrew discovery >>
In the end, out of the three agencies who were willing to arrange a climb on the Western Breach Route, they settled for Ahsante Tours, a Moshi-
Due to the lack of facilities at Crater Camp, the party was also equipped with a portable toilet carried by a porter. Furthermore -
Suffice to say, Lisa and Jerry both made it to the top, within about half an hour of each other, and both, to judge by Lisa's emails, enjoyed the whole experience tremendously.
I'd be interested to hear of any other accounts of climbing the reopened Western Breach Route, particularly regarding any special safety measures that your agency employed.