N Face of Batian (Mt Kenya) attempt
IV 5.8-5.9, 16-20 pitches
July 5-9, 2009
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Onto Seychelles

After a week on safari, we were excited to get some exercise on the next part of our trip, Mount Kenya. In July/August, the North aspect of the mountain provides good rock climbing conditions (while the South is covered with ice and snow, and the situation reverses in December/January). Our plan was to attempt the N Face of Batian (SP), in a single day. (Without a few days of acclimatization, 2 days would have been more realistic to do the full climb).

Getting there

We approached via Sirimon gate, spending the first day hiking to Old Moses Camp. On the second day, we hiked to Shipton's Camp, which is at 14,000' - the going was a bit slower than usual due to the altitude. We were very glad to have our own tent, as the huts were packed (the first night in Shipton's Camp there were 20 people with no beds to sleep on!), dirty, etc. We had a cook and a porter, who carried the food we had, which was 30kg of weight by itself! We had told Mark (our cook) that we wouldn't mind eating light foods like pasta and oatmeal, but instead we were treated to omelets and sausages with pancakes in the morning, chicken almost every day as well as beef pasta and other delicious foods (such as avocado). Normally we would never carry such heavy foods, but since someone else was doing the carrying we weren't about to complain. Melissa had no ACL in her right knee from an accident earlier in the year and had surgery planned a week after returning to the US, so we didn't want her to risk further injury. Hence the porter helped carry our ropes as well as some of the food, and she could go with a lighter day pack of just personal gear.

I expected we'd run into some other climbers at some point of our stay, but there were none - in fact people hadn't heard of anyone climbing the mountain this season, apart from a guided ascent that noone was sure happened. We were a bit uncertain of the conditions, but it wasn't a big deal as we were about to find out first hand! Our plan was very surprising to the hut keeper and other folks who thought we were insane for going up there. On the third day, we hiked up to the start of the climb so we would know where to go in the dark the next morning. While there, we climbed the first two pitches to get a feel for it, and at the end also left the ropes & gear at the base so we wouldn't have to carry it the next day. One of the anchors for rappelling the first two pitches was missing, and we were a bit concerned about how many slings we'd have to leave behind the next day - there are over 16 rappels to do and their quality was dubious at best. The rest of the anchors didn't turn out to be that bad though (I would still carry more cord and webbing up there if I return, we only had enough for 4-5 anchors).

Climbing

The next morning, we awoke early and after a solid breakfast thanks to our amazing cook (Mark), we were on our way around 5am. The approach took us about an hour and 15 mins, and we didn't even need headlamps on the scree slope due to the full moon. The clear night meant it was quite cold though: water froze outside of our tent, who knows how cold it was but the prospect of jamming hands in cold rock wasn't as exciting as it may seem.

The first two pitches (5.7, 5.6) went by quite fast, then there is a some scrambling up a loose gully to get to the start of pitch 3. The following several pitches are mostly 3rd/4th class with occasional 5th class moves and a 20 meter 5.6 corner that is the highlight - we did some simul-climbing to save time here. In the middle of the corner there was a large (TV sized) block that looked sort of wedged but not too well, so I opted to climb the harder face on the right to bypass it. I warned Melissa about it as she was simul climbing at that point, and soon after that I was at the belay where a bunch more precarious blocks were waiting for a trigger (one of them mini-fridge sized). Overall there were a lot of fresh rock scars and blocks all over the place, which made us very nervous. Sure enough, when she got to the belay I gave the biggest block a nudge and it went all the way down, splitting in pieces with every hit. From there, a 4th class slab leads to a piton belay under a headwall. The headwall looks intimidating from below, but there is an easy crack on climber's right. I ran the rope out and got us slightly off route, but found a solid belay. The next pitch was the best of the lower pitches, solid rock with some beautiful cracks to chose from that range from very difficult to quite easy. I chose a vertical handcrack inside a flared chimney which was easy to protect and went for it. At the top I felt like I had just ran a 10k, breathing so heavily from the altitude, but loving the challenge. I'm sure in Yosemite it would have been a 5.7-5.8 crack that would be no worries, but given we were as far from Yosemite as possible, it was... just different. Melissa joined me and once she arrived, we both laughed about the breathing challenges we were having. From this belay, a pitch of easier climbing and 3rd class scrambling leads to the upper Amphitheatre where people normally bivy when doing the climb in two days. We didn't have this luxury - our plan was to spend 1 day and see how far we go, knowing full well our chances of hitting the summit were very slim.

A pitch after that is the Firmin Tower, 2 pitches of 5.8 chimney with a move of 5.9. There were many old fixed ropes hanging inside this chimney - do people batman up this thing!? The description I had printed also talked about precarious rappels off of loose blocks to get down these towers, which wasn't appealing considering the quality of the anchors this far (loose blocks, sun bleached webbing, etc). We elected to go down at this point as it was already past noon - it had taken us 4+ hours to get here from the start, while we had determined 2-3 hours would be ideal to have enough time to get to the top of the ridge and have enough time to do the rappels (damn 12 hour days!) So we relaxed, ate the yummy fried chicken our cook had given us for lunch and started going down. During the rappels, it wasn't a question whether we would knock loose rocks down - it was a matter of how many. I'll skip the details as the rappel wasn't pleasant and I'd like to forget it, but the TV-sized block I mentioned inside the 5.6 corner ended up 50% cutting one of our ropes when I touched it while on rappel (should have been more careful considering the ropes were below). Oh well, they were old ropes and I was going to leave them in Africa anyway. We were back in our camp just after 4pm, in time for tea and popcorn and some lounging around before dinner. From the comfort of the meadow, it was nice to hear the rockfall high up on the mountain. Perhaps it's gotten worse with the warming trends?

The next morning (day 5), we hiked out quite satisfied with our exploration - it was a fun adventure! We spent that night in Nairobi before embarking on the next leg of our journey, The Seychelles Islands! Our original plan was to spend 2 days in Nairobi to clean up and see a few things there, but our original Seychelles flight was cancelled - and since the flights are only 3 times a week, we were lucky to be able to get on the one the following morning (and good thing we checked email as soon as we arrived!)

  Packing in our room the night before Park gate  
  Packing in our room the night before Park gate

  Clouds loom at the park gate  
  Clouds loom at the park gate

   
 

   
 

   
 

  Funky plants Hiking through a cloud  
  Funky plants Hiking through a cloud

  Hat time! It was much colder than it looks in the photo :)  
  Hat time! It was much colder than it looks in the photo :)

  Hugging my new friend Hillside full of funky plants  
  Hugging my new friend Hillside full of funky plants

  Freezing, despite hiking at a good pace!  
  Freezing, despite hiking at a good pace!

  Kenyan marmots are still fat... We even get the sun for a little bit! Our first glimpse of Mt Kenya  
  Kenyan marmots are still fat... We even get the sun for a little bit! Our first glimpse of Mt Kenya

  Huge plants!  
  Huge plants!

  Approaching Mt Kenya on the 2nd day (Old Moses to Shipton's) Point Lenana, a smaller sub-peak which people hike to the top of (and call it Mt Kenya)  
  Approaching Mt Kenya on the 2nd day (Old Moses to Shipton's) Point Lenana, a smaller sub-peak which people hike to the top of (and call it Mt Kenya)

  Mt Kenya (Batian, Nelion, Thompson and Point Lenana on the very left) Batian (right) and Nelion (left), the 2 highest points of Mt Kenya Psyched to be here  
  Mt Kenya (Batian, Nelion, Thompson and Point Lenana on the very left) Batian (right) and Nelion (left), the 2 highest points of Mt Kenya Psyched to be here

   
 

  Base camp (but no other climbers) The hut Chilling out with tea and popcorn after setting up our tent  
  Base camp (but no other climbers) The hut Chilling out with tea and popcorn after setting up our tent

  The North Face of Mt Kenya in the morning: our route is in the middle A close up of our route (N face of Batian) Camp  
  The North Face of Mt Kenya in the morning: our route is in the middle A close up of our route (N face of Batian) Camp

   
 

  6am, 7 layers Sunrise on our approach to the climb  
  6am, 7 layers Sunrise on our approach to the climb

  The start of the climb is now in the sun, we are almost there Almost there  
  The start of the climb is now in the sun, we are almost there Almost there

  Our cached gear at the base of the first pitch (from the previous day), with memorial plaque on the right Looking up at the first pitch (5.7)  
  Our cached gear at the base of the first pitch (from the previous day), with memorial plaque on the right Looking up at the first pitch (5.7)

  Our gear with blue circle marking the start of the route :) Me bundled up and ready to start climbing Starting up the first pitch  
  Our gear with blue circle marking the start of the route :) Me bundled up and ready to start climbing Starting up the first pitch

  About to start a nice corner after some scrambling  
  About to start a nice corner after some scrambling

  Despite being in the sun, there is snow next to our route Beautiful granite headwall  
  Despite being in the sun, there is snow next to our route Beautiful granite headwall

  2-pin belay About to do some 5.5 moves with gloves and way-too-big a pack on  
  2-pin belay About to do some 5.5 moves with gloves and way-too-big a pack on

  Bomber horn: but we were slightly off-route here... Where to go? (on the right.. sure looked beautiful straight up though)  
  Bomber horn: but we were slightly off-route here... Where to go? (on the right.. sure looked beautiful straight up though)

  About to go up a beautiful splitter which could have easily been avoided on the right, but was great fun... felt 5.8-5.9 and left me hyperventilating  
  About to go up a beautiful splitter which could have easily been avoided on the right, but was great fun... felt 5.8-5.9 and left me hyperventilating

  Shipton's Camp and the hut seen far below (4x zoom) Reading the beta  
  Shipton's Camp and the hut seen far below (4x zoom) Reading the beta

  Bundled up 3 layers of pants and 7 layers of jackets The crux, Firmin Tower (5.9 chimney) Close up of the Firmin Tower chimney (if you zoom in, you can see tonnes of old fixed rope)  
  Bundled up 3 layers of pants and 7 layers of jackets The crux, Firmin Tower (5.9 chimney) Close up of the Firmin Tower chimney (if you zoom in, you can see tonnes of old fixed rope)

  View of the Amphitheatre  
  View of the Amphitheatre

  The clouds are rolling in Happy to be down the loose rappel of hell Hiking back down to our camp  
  The clouds are rolling in Happy to be down the loose rappel of hell Hiking back down to our camp

  Close up of Shipton's Camp Comfortably looking at Mt Kenya from our camp These neat plants close up in the sub-zero temperatures during the night, and open up when it warms up  
  Close up of Shipton's Camp Comfortably looking at Mt Kenya from our camp These neat plants close up in the sub-zero temperatures during the night, and open up when it warms up

  Hiking out  
  Hiking out

  Last view of Mt Kenya on our hike out  
  Last view of Mt Kenya on our hike out

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