Mount Kenya Technical Climbing Batian and Nelion
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The MacKinders route is the most popular route on Nelion. This rock route is of class 5, with a maximum difficulty rating of 5.6. The party can move together in parts of the simpler stretches, but often 17 or more pitches are belayed. Although some of the rappels take more direct paths down the cleaner rock, the drop proceeds in the same manner.
This path is enjoyable and is on mostly nice rock in the sun. Rock shoes are suitable. At the bottom of the path, approach boots can be left. This approach is thought to be simpler than the North Face Standard approach on Batian, despite being longer. Furthermore, it is more enjoyable due to better rock and a brighter location.
Included/Exclude
- Park Fees
- Pick and Drop Services
- Game drives
- A guide
- Accommodations
- Taxes and levies by the government
- Safari Accessories
- Visas
- Regional flights
- Extra excursions activities not included in the itinerary
- Driver tips
- Expenses not included in the itinerary
Tour Amenities
Tour Plan
Nairobi- Mt Kenya Bandas (2,900m)
The North Face itinerary is suited for the summer to autumn climbing season (June - Sept.), when the climbing conditions are ideal and the North Face of the mountain is largely snow-free.
After breakfast, a driver will pick you up from your hotel in Nairobi and take you through the coffee and tea-growing region of Nanazi via the town of Embu to Chogoria, where you will have lunch. After lunch, we continue driving up to the border of the bamboo forest, where we begin our 10-kilometer hike up to the Mt. Kenya Bandas for supper and the night. The trip through the dense bamboo forest is very strenuous.
Leave the campsite for the lake after breakfast. Elise began her ascent of the mountain at a leisurely pace. While it takes a little longer to get to Lake Ellis, the beauty along the way includes vistas of Mugi, Ithanguni, and the Giants Billiards Table, while the foreground landscape and vegetation are particularly lovely if we follow the river upstream from the roadhead for approximately 3 km. At the campground, 3600 meters, for lunch and dinner.
After breakfast, depart the camp and travel around three hours up a mountainside along a ridge before rejoining the tourist route on the standard Chogoria path at a height of about 4,100 meters. breathtaking views of the Gorges Valley and of Ithanguni and the Northern Moorland in the distance. Before continuing for another hour or so to the Minto's Hut location at 4200 meters, where we will spend the night, lunch is provided at a little stream crossing. Even though it only takes 10 minutes to walk to the Temple, the afternoon is spent resting at camp. Its name comes from the stance that tourists frequently take when staring over the edge during meals and nighttime at the campsite.
Get up early for a hearty breakfast before attempting Point Lenana, 4985 meters above sea level, via Simba Col. When the sun rises and you take a shot of Mount Kenya Summit from Point Lenana in excellent weather, you can see Mount Kilimanjaro. After reaching the peak, descend the northwest side to Shipton's Camp, past Harris Tarn, where you will have a full breakfast, lunch, and supper before retiring for the night.
the North Face Standard Route for ascending Batian. You may climb the first few pitches by headlamp if you start in the pitch black in the early morning, generally between 4 and 5 am. The route begins with a large couloir that you climb for about seven pitches, never exceeding 5.7 in difficulty. We reach the Amphitheater, a tiny basin of simple rock halfway up the path, after a short amount of straightforward scrambling. Ideally, we get here about 7:30 and take a quick break. Firmin's Tower, the route's key feature, is located above this. There are around three challenging pitches that are all rather short but in the V grade. A few more pitches and the west ridge are reached above this point by way of softer terrain.
We go up easier but still exposed rock from this point to Shipton's Notch, a noticeable gash on the summit ridge. The next pitch, followed by some simple fifth-class rock, climbs to the top of Batian's airy peak. After supper, you'll return along the same road to Shipton's Camp, which will take you overnight approximately 10 hours.
After the morning meal, go to the Old Moses camp by way of Mackiders Valley and Likii North Valley from Shiptons camp. After reaching the camp for your hot lunch, continue descending to Sirimon Gate where you will board your transportation via Nanyuki town to Nairobi, where you will arrive late in the day and be dropped off at your hotel. The descent is gentle and it gives you plenty of time to take in the fascinating scenery, which includes the moorlands.