Mount Kenya Climb Underway!

Mid-Trip Dis­patch: Mount Kenya
Guide: Mark Ryman
Expe­di­tion Mem­bers: David Svendsen

It might be turn­ing into fall in Seat­tle, but at Moun­tain Mad­ness we’re fol­low­ing the warm weath­er south. We’re hap­py to announce that we’ve just received a mid-trip dis­patch from our team climb­ing Mount Kenya.

After spend­ing the night in Nairo­bi, Mark and David drove to Mount Kenya Nation­al Park, where they began the trek to from the gate (2,700 meters) to Old Moses Camp (3,200 meters) along the Sir­i­mon Route. They cov­ered the 9 kilo­me­ters in about three hours, despite get­ting caught in some ​“ear­li­er-than-expect­ed Octo­ber rain,” and report­ed­ly enjoyed the lush forests and moor­land. ​“Things are going great,” said Mark, ​“and we’re hop­ing for some dry climb­ing days soon.”

When we heard from Mark on Octo­ber 7^th, he was call­ing from Old Moses Camp, where the team had just had the first clear views of the north side of Mount Kenya. They were plan­ning to make the six-hour ascent to Shipton’s Camp (4,200 meters) ear­ly in the day, hop­ing to beat the rain up Mackinder’s Val­ley and get a good look at the route.

“Hope all’s well,” Mark says. ​“Big hel­lo to every­body back home.”