Hi,I am a Danish climber visiting Nairobi in October. I would love to go trad-climbing in the week-ends or give the North Face Standard route on Mount Kenya a try. Especially in (and maybe even around) the week-ends on the 19-20'th and 26-27'th of October.

Best Regards, Carsten Engedal

-- Carsten Engedal (carsten.engedal@tiscali.dk), September 26, 2002

Answers

Dear Carsten,

In October you'd probably be better off switching to the south side of the mountain as the sun is starting to shine that side. The NFSR get's a bit iced up, especially the crux pitch at the Firmin Tower although there are some (old and possibly dodgy) ropes hanging there to help you up. That said, October is meant to be the season for hitting the big ice routes on the south side of the mountain, although these haven't been in condition for years now. Set aside a little bit of acclimatisation time and take a walk around the mountain and check it out. You can do it in a day.

As for cragging, there is lot's of stuff around Nairobi. Check out the MCK on a Tuesday night for more details.

Cheers, Charles.

-- Charles Rethman (charles@fsau.or.ke), October 09, 2002.