Tag Archive for: Karanga camp

Everyone together for a Kilimanjaro team picture!

Today the Kilimanjaro team climbed to high camp. They left Karanga camp and crossed the barren hillsides to reach Barafu camp, and continued on to the Kosovo camp, our special high camp that rarely sees any other climbers. This camp puts the team in a position above most other climbing parties so that the summit day is shorter and they can get out ahead of any potential crowds at the start. Before bed, the team talked through the summit day strategy, then went to bed early in preparation for an ‘alpine start’ tomorrow morning. Everyone’s hoping the weather will be good for summit day!

Here’s a short message from the team:

Sun’s up and we’re on the trail. This afternoon high camp and midnight tonight our summit push begins!  Over and out.  Team Madison Mountaineering Africa

Stats for day 5:
Start: Karanga Camp, 13,335’
Finish: Kosovo Camp, 15,700’
Distance Traveled: 3.5 miles

The flora and fauna of Kilimanjaro

The flora and fauna of Kilimanjaro

If climbing Kilimanjaro is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.

Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

Jumping for Kilimanjaro joy!

After breakfast, the Kilimanjaro team left camp and began the ascent of the Great Barranco wall! This scramble provided a great morning workout as they topped out at 14,500’ with spectacular views of the plains below! Then they descend to the Karanga river and hiked up a short distance to Karanga camp.

Here’s a short message from the team:

Today clear, breezy, and a pinch of big mountain chill setting out for the scramble up the legendary Barranco wall!

Stats for day 4
Start: Barranco Camp, 13,066’
Finish: Karanga Camp, 13,335’
Distance: 3 miles

Truckin' up to Karanga Camp on Kilimanjaro!

Truckin’ up to Karanga Camp on Kilimanjaro!

If climbing Kilimanjaro is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.

Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

Today the team climbed to high camp. They left Karanga camp and crossed the barren hillsides to reach Barafu camp, and continued on to the Kosovo camp, our special high camp that rarely sees any other climbers. This camp puts the team in a position above most other climbing parties so that the summit day is shorter and they can get out ahead of any potential crowds at the start. Before bed, the team talked through the summit day strategy, then went to bed early in preparation for an ‘alpine start’ tomorrow morning. Everyone’s hoping the weather will be good for summit day!

Stats for day 5:
Start: Karanga Camp, 13,335’
Finish: Kosovo Camp, 15,700’
Distance Traveled: 3.5 miles


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

Instagram:

After breakfast, the team left camp and began the ascent of the Great Barranco wall! This scramble provided a great morning workout as they topped out at 14,500’ with spectacular views of the plains below! Then they descend to the Karanga river and hiked up a short distance to Karanga camp.

Stats for day 4
Start: Barranco Camp, 13,066’
Finish: Karanga Camp, 13,335’
Distance: 3 miles

Jumping for joy on Kilimanjaro!

Who’s happy to be climbing Kilimanjaro and has two thumbs?  This guy!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

Instagram:

Kilimanjaro climbers jumping for joy!
Follow the team’s progress with our real-time tracking map

Earlier today, our Kilimanjaro team trekked the 2.7 miles below the southern face from Karanga Camp to our high camp on the Mweka Ridge:  Kosovo Camp (4870 m / 15,978 ft).

We like to pass by the popular, and often very crowded, Barafu Camp and take an extra hour of climbing up to Kosovo Camp.  This much quieter camp positions us for a slightly shorter summit day.  After an early dinner, the team will hit the sack early to get some much-needed rest to be ready for tomorrow’s early morning, alpine start of SUMMIT DAY!


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates

Instagram:

Follow the team’s progress with our real-time tracking map

En route to Karanga Camp, expedition leader Garrett Madison catches a pocket of cellular coverage and provides today’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Kilimanjaro expedition team with Drew and Jordan.  Today’s day four and we left our camp at Barranco this morning and climbed up the Great Barranco Wall.  Just topped out!  Beautiful views above the clouds and we are heading to Karanga Camp for tonight.

Everyone’s doing well.  We’ve got the mountain all to ourselves.  It’s pretty nice being up here on Kilimanjaro.  We’ve had good weather and more good weather in the forecast.  So, hopefully in the couple of days, we’ll have clear skies for our summit day.

We will check-in soon!

Kili Climbing Confidence!

Kili Climbing Confidence! (photo: Drew Maloney)


In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates

Instagram:

Our high point of the day

Kilimanjaro lead guide, Rob Smith, details the team’s day moving from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp, including the ascent of the “Breakfast Wall”:

We were awake at 5am in preparation to climb the Barranco Wall. It was a chilly morning. If we were lacking motivation, it came in heaps, from an impromptu song and dance send-off from our team. Dressed in thick coats and wooly hats, the pace ramped up until Willie threw a cartwheel followed by a backflip. Suitably impressed by his acrobatics, we left camp and were soon at the base of the Barranco Wall. 750′ of rock with a sinuous path worked into it by the passage of climbers. Part scramble, part walk, we made our way to the top. And we were rewarded with emerging into the sun and seeing a sea of cloud beneath us as far as we could see. With the crux of the day behind us, we descended towards Karanga Camp (4029m/13,220ft) with a final steep uphill to pull into camp after 4 hours.

 

Tomorrow we begin the final phase of the trip, as we continue to Kosovo Camp (4870m/15,978ft), our high camp. From there we will begin our summit climb in the early hours of the following morning.

 

Today’s Swahili: Hakuna Matata – No Problem / No Worries.

Kristin climbing the Borranco Wall

Our high point of the day

Karanga Camp on Kilimanjaro

Karanga Camp!  This morning the Kilimanjaro team climbed “the Breakfast Wall” (aka the Great Barranco Wall), a nice challenge to start the day and get the body warmed up for a nice day of trekking.  The top of the Barranco Wall (4240 m / 13,911 ft) provides spectacular views of the plains far below.

From there, the team descended into the Karanga valley.  Then up a final hill to the Karanga Camp (4043 m / 13,264 ft).  Total hiking for the day was about four hours.  Everyone is doing very well and having a great time!

All of the team are excited about reaching the high camp of Kosovo (4870 m / 15,978 ft) tomorrow just above the Barafu Camp to get ready for the summit attempt on the following day!!

Our Kilimanjaro climb concluded as we just arrived back in Arusha, Tanzania. We had a fantastic adventure on Mount Kilimanjaro, culminating in our summit of the peak on October 6th. All members of our team reached the top of the mountain, this was a magical moment as the sun rose over the plains below, and the weather was perfect! This was especially appreciated by our group as we had a couple of days of inclement earlier in the climb. We had the appropriate clothing and equipment to wear in the rain, hail, and snow, but it was still challenging weather conditions to climb in. Our climbers pulled together and supported one another as we climbed higher on the mountain throughout the week, and especially on summit day as we left our high camp at midnight and climbed through the dark, to reach the summit of Uhuru peak at 6 AM. All members are now on their way home now or spending a few days on safari here in Tanzania, savoring the experience of reaching the roof of Africa! –Garrett Madison

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To review our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Beautiful pictures by Madison Mountaineering adventure photographer Petr Jan Juracka from Charles University in Prague! Enjoy 🙂

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At 11:30pm last night our Kilimanjaro team departed for the Roof of Africa and made it to the summit at 6am for a beautiful sunrise. After a safe descent the team is now resting at lower elevation enjoying a well deserved hot-tub at the resort. Way to go team!

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To monitor our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

Processed with Snapseed.

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Audio dispatch by Dante (climber) after their successful summit!