The Ascent to Stella Point
A final "this is it" moment arrived at 11:30 pm. After some tea and
light refreshments, we dressed up exactly as planned several months ago. Five
layers on top, 3 on the bottom. Rain proof outer shells. Balaclavas to cover our
faces. Thick ski gloves over thin inner gloves. Chemical heat pads on our hands, toes and
back. Woolen cap and headlamp on our heads. Camera wrapped deep inside a fleece
jacket stowed away in our packs to keep the batteries warm on top. Extra
batteries worn close to the chest. Spare disposable camera at hand, just in
case. One of our continuing anxieties was that our cameras will not work at
the top due to the cold.
Full moon with Kibo visible and looking impossibly far away. We were prepared
for that.
Other groups resemble trains with guides as engines and hikers as coaches.
Only difference was each hiker had a burning headlamp. We decided to conserve
batteries by
using Malini's headlamp only. Venkatesh kept his off and followed Malini. Maiko
led the way and Simon brought up the rear. The moonlight was good enough for us
to see our way.
Within the first half-hour we negotiated a steep vertical slippery wall of
rock as Maiko carefully guided us by telling us where to plant our next foot. It
was fine as long as we had the climbing momentum. If you stopped, you tended to
lose balance. We could see a few people already sitting down for a premature
rest.
We passed a long train of people after letting Maiko know that we wished to walk
faster. Apart from the labored breathing of the hikers, the only other sound
that could be heard all night was the bellowing of the porters as they
communicated with each other from all directions.
The hours went by one by one. It got colder. The water in our camelback tubes
froze. We were expecting that. We had water in wide bottles that we hoped will not freeze. By the time we reached the top, it was a slushy mixture of
ice and water. We took about 4 breaks the entire night and stopped for about 10
minutes each time. Anything beyond that meant getting your fingers and toes and
the rest of the body frozen. Walking up the steep slope in several layers of
clothing kept us warm.
The route was a series of short switchbacks going back and forth endlessly,
minute after minute, hour after hour. We realized that there was no way we could
have found our own way without a guide. There were several locations where it
seemed impossible to continue in any direction. But we never had to use our
hands to scramble over rocks. We could manage the entire climb with our poles.
Our first goal was to reach Stella Point. That is the spot where the steep
slope ends. All that remains after that is the relatively gentle slope that
climbs 160m (600 ft.). Reaching this point would entitle the climber to a Green
Certificate. Reaching Uhuru Peak meant a Gold Certificate. The walk on the edge
of the crater rim to Uhuru peak had the reputation of leaving several hikers
behind due to high altitude, exhaustion and the occasional blizzard.
Magically, the glaciers on Kibo got nearer (must have been all that
climbing!) but still looked impossibly far. Maiko and Simon constantly
encouraged us "Just one and a half hour to go. See that flashlight? That is
Stella point. We are almost there".
Venkatesh adds: I tried
to deal with the monotony by playing my favorite music in my head - a medley of
Beethoven, Rafi and the Grateful Dead. Simon, amazingly, sang in Swahili
throughout the night. One particular rhyming song was simplicity itself and I
joined him and repeated every line as he sang it. It was all about climbing
Kilimanjaro (Hakuna Matata - it is nothing! Take it slowly slowly and you will
reach the top).
We still can't believe that we eventually got through those 6 hours.
Actually, it was really not that difficult. We were gasping for air but managed
to pace ourselves so that it never got out of hand. Our legs did protest sometimes, but
the constant exhortations and singing from Simon and our own pledges ("We
will not give up until we run out of all our chocolates and candy") kept us
going. And there was no risk of us running through our sweets as it was
impossible to pull them out of our pockets with the thick ski gloves. And nobody
wanted to take those off.
Maiko and Simon constantly offered to carry our packs and offered their own
jackets for additional protection from the cold. They never took their eyes off
us, constantly enquiring if we were alright and if we had any signs of altitude
sickness. Maiko was actually taken aback that we did not experience any sickness
at all, throughout the trip.
The slope got steeper. "One more steep (section) to Stella point and
this is the last one" encouraged Maiko. "Look there, we will be at
Stella point soon". And that was that. We were there soon enough. As can be
seen from the graphic below, the steepest part of the night's climb was the last
stretch just before Stella point. The elevation lines are closer to each other
there as they cross the 5700m line.
Topographic map of the summit route (Mweka from bottom right)
5:55 am. - Daybreak at Stella Point
What was a featureless ice mass from below is now revealed as the complex ice
structure that is the Rebmann Glacier.
Looking east towards the sun that is about to rise behind Mawenzi peak and
panning north towards the Ice Cathedral (see map above)
