Western Breach
A steep finish to the summit through a gap in the crater wall, not a route from the bottom. It is the most serious ground on Kilimanjaro and it carries a rockfall hazard the standard routes do not.
What the Western Breach is
The Western Breach is a gap in the wall of Kilimanjaro's crater, on the western side of Kibo. A steep line of scree and broken rock runs up through it from Arrow Glacier Camp at about 4,870 metres to the crater rim at about 5,730.
It is not a route from the bottom of the mountain. You reach Arrow Glacier by walking one of the standard western or southern approaches, then leave the normal path near Lava Tower and climb north-east instead of traversing across to Barranco.
Groups that use it almost always sleep in the crater afterwards, at Crater Camp beside the Furtwängler Glacier, and walk up to Uhuru Peak the following morning.
It is the most serious ground on Kilimanjaro, and the only part of the standard trekking mountain where the danger comes from the rock instead of the altitude.
How the climb works
- Getting to Arrow Glacier
- From Lemosho, Machame, Shira or Umbwe, leaving the standard path near Lava Tower and climbing to Arrow Glacier Camp at about 4,870 m.
- The night at Arrow Glacier
- A cold, exposed camp directly under the breach, and a very early start the next morning.
- The breach itself
- About 500 m of climbing over three to five hours on scree, loose rock and short scrambling sections. You use your hands in places.
- The crater rim
- You come out onto the crater floor at about 5,730 m, near the Furtwängler Glacier and the ash pit.
- Crater Camp
- Most itineraries sleep here, the highest camp on the mountain, before the final climb.
- Crater Camp to Uhuru Peak
- About 1 km and 165 m up the inner rim, an hour or so, on the standard path.
- The descent
- Down the southern side by Mweka, the same as every other southern route.
The breach sits below a face of frozen scree and loose rock. As the ice binding that face has retreated, material has come away more readily, and the climbing line runs directly beneath it.
In January 2006 a rockfall killed three climbers on the route, and the park authority closed it.
It has since been reopened, closed again, and restricted at various points, and operators have changed their own policies alongside that more than once.
Some operators now cross the exposed section very early, while the overnight freeze still holds the face together, and require helmets. That is a sensible response and it lowers the risk. It does not remove it, because the hazard is the mountain and not the schedule.
Anybody considering this route should check the park's current position at the time of booking. It has changed before and it will change again.
How hard it is
Harder than anything else on Kilimanjaro, and hard in a different way from the rest of it.
Everywhere else on this mountain, difficulty means long days and thin air. Here it means steep, loose ground with your hands on rock at nearly 5,000 metres, in the dark or the first light, with cold fingers.
No ropes and no technical climbing skill are needed on the normal line. A head for heights and confidence on loose rock are, and neither is something you can pick up on the walk in.
Crater Camp is the other difficulty. Sleeping at about 5,730 metres is far higher than any camp on a standard route, and most people sleep badly or not at all. Some develop symptoms overnight that would send them straight down anywhere else on the mountain.
What it does well
It puts you in the crater. Very few climbers ever stand on the floor of Kibo, walk out to the ash pit or stand beside the Furtwängler Glacier, and this is how the ones who do it get there.
It is quiet. Almost nobody is on the breach.
It is direct. From Arrow Glacier you climb straight to the rim instead of traversing east to Barafu and coming up the long southern scree in the dark.
And the summit morning from Crater Camp is short and easy set against a standard summit night. An hour of walking, in daylight, instead of six hours of scree before dawn.
Rockfall, which is not a risk you can train away or walk slowly past.
A night at about 5,730 metres, higher than anybody should sleep without a reason, which brings on altitude symptoms in people who were fine the day before.
An extra day on the mountain and an extra day of park fees.
And a summit day that depends entirely on conditions. If the face is judged unsafe on the morning, a good operator turns the group around and traverses to Barafu instead. That means the route you paid for is not always the route you get, and the ones who handle it well tell you so in advance.
We do not use the Western Breach
None of our published climbs go through the breach. Lemosho, Machame, Marangu, Rongai and the Northern Circuit all summit by the standard lines, from Barafu, School Hut or Kibo Hut.
We leave it out because of the rockfall. Everything else on Kilimanjaro is a walk where the main risk is altitude, and altitude is something a long itinerary and an honest guide can manage. Rock coming off a face above you is not.
That is a judgement, and reasonable operators make it differently. Some run the breach carefully, with early crossings and helmets, and their climbers come back delighted.
If you want the crater and not the breach itself, ask us. A night at Crater Camp can sometimes be added from the ordinary summit path, which reaches the same place without the exposed climb.
Who it suits
The Western Breach suits experienced mountain walkers who have been on steep, loose ground before and know they are comfortable on it.
It suits climbers who have already summited Kilimanjaro by a standard route and want the crater this time.
It suits people who understand the hazard, have asked the questions below, and have chosen an operator whose answers were good.
It does not suit a first climb at altitude, under any circumstances.
And it does not suit anybody who has not consciously decided to accept a risk the rest of this mountain does not carry.
Questions to ask an operator who offers it
- The park's position
- What is it today, and when did you last check?
- The crossing time
- What time do you cross the exposed section, and why that time?
- Helmets
- Do you provide them, and are they required or optional?
- The turnaround rule
- What happens if conditions look poor on the morning, and who makes that call?
- The alternative
- Where do you go instead if the breach is off, and does the price change?
- The guide
- How many Western Breach climbs has this particular guide led?
- An operator who answers all six clearly is taking it seriously. One who waves the questions away is not.
When to climb it
The dry windows are January to March and June to October, and the choice of month matters more on this route than on any other.
The face is held together by frost. A hard overnight freeze binds the loose material, and the risk is at its lowest in the first hours after dawn in a cold, dry spell.
Wet conditions and repeated freezing and thawing are the worst case. Water gets into the rock, freezes, expands and loosens it, and April, May and November are the months when that happens most.
If you are going to climb the breach at all, go in the coldest, driest part of the dry season. And be ready for your guide to change the plan on the morning.
Climbing the Western Breach with us
We do not publish an itinerary on this route
Our published climbs go up Machame, Lemosho, Marangu, Rongai and the Northern Circuit. If the Western Breach is the route you want, say so when you enquire and we will tell you honestly whether we can arrange it for your dates.