AMONG LOFTY SNOW PEAKS

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 26 June 1926, Page 3

AMONG LOFTY SNOW PEAKS

A thrilling story of strenuous climbing among the highest peaks in Africa by a well-knokn Capetown mountaineer, Mr G. Londt, was told this week by Mr Londt himself, who has just returned from East Africa after conquering, alone, peaks which have never before been scaled, says the Capetown correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald” writing recently. Kibo, the western summit of Kilimanjaro, has of course, been climbed before in spite of its 19,700 feet, but it was in a blinding snowstorm during the second attempt on the mountain in a month that Mr Londt managed to reach the crater at the top of the dome-shaped summit. Kibo is comparatively easy from the climber’s point of view, but Mawenzi, the eastern peak, although only 17,000 feet, offers serious difficulties to the mountaineer and Mr Londt reached the highest point on this peak yet climbed. In his attempt on Mount Kenya, some 150 miles distant, he was again troubled with bad weather, but managed to reach 16,000 feet, the second highest point yet attained. Mr Londt is one of the star climbers of the Capetown Club. His feats in the Cape and Drakensberg are well known, particularly his ascent of Catkin Peak, the top of which had only been reached on one previous occasion. With four months’ leave in front of him, Mr Londt determined to try his skill at the twin peaks of Kilimanjaro and Kenya, and being unable to find a companion, set off on his highly-danger-ous expedition accompanied only by two native boys. Incidentally, in addition to the endurance and height records he has achieved, he has earned the right to re-name certain peaks which now bear German names. The story Mr Londt told was thrilling. He reached Mombasa on October 22, and Moshi, which nestles among the foothills of Kilimanjaro, on October 28. He left on his first attempt on Kilimanjaro on Sunday, November 1. Accompanied by his two boys and clad only in a khaki shirt and shorts, his favourite climbing kit in the Cape. Kilimanjaro presented few difficulties. “There was no climbing as you get it on Table Mountain,” said Mr Londt. “It was simply a case of walking up.” Yet he broke all records. Usually it takes a week to get from New Moshi

to the lip of the crater. Mr Londt got to the highest peak yet reached on Mawenzi, and advanced to the .19,300 foot mark on Kibo in the week. This effort so exhausted him that he had to return without reaching the highest point.

g The story of this aseent, told in Mr ft Londt’s own words, is as follows: | “Within a week of leaving New Moshi £ I managed to climb the second highest | pinnacle of Mawenzi for the first time, F and then crossed the plateau from | Mawenzi to Kibo and reached 19,300 | feet. I failed to reach the top, how- | ever, on account of exhaustion, and I I eame back to the Peters Hut at 12,500 | feet. On the following day I went up | to 15,000 feet and spent the night in ! a cave. On the next day, Thursday, I I climbed tip to the rim of the crater, ’ but about 300 ft or 400 ft from the highI est point I failed altogether, and I returned to Gilman’s Point, which was simply an over-hanging rock, and spent the night in the crater. “This is the first recorded instance I in mountaineering history that anyone has slept in the crater of Kilimanjaro,” remarked Mr Londt. “Strange to say, it -was mild at that height, although the sky had a peculiar greyish dark look. The highest grass does not come above the 11,000 foot line, and there was neither stick nor branch tn be seen anywhere.” It was -weird and eerie for the climber in the crater by himself, 19,000 feet above the rest of humanity on the withered, dried-up vent that had once led to the interior of the earth, now a wilderness of jagged krantzes and twisted lava. ‘ ‘ I spent 30 hours in the crater,” Mr Londt said, ‘ ‘ and in four days I climbed practically 20,000 feet.” . Mr Londt pointed out that the mis take that previous climbers made was that when they got into the crater they came to the conclusion that they had reached the top. “That is not the top,” he said. “The real test lies in the six or*, seven hundred feet that lie. above the crater.” On this occasion Mr Londt found the record of the two men, both Germans who had reached the then highest point, and brought jt back with him to substantiate his claims. The book, a little Ameriean-cloth covered exercise book such as one can buy anywhere for 6d, contained on the fly leaf the words in beautiful Teutonic, characters, “Kibo Gypfelbuch,” and on the following two pages were verses of poetry written by “Ernst W. J. Wolfram, first president of the Kilimanjaro Mountain Association; New Moshi, January 13, 1914. Dedicated to the stormers of Kibo.” The verses started off with the following (translated): “What a feeling of exaltation to be at one’s objective. Thy heart swells with pride and thy eyes sparkle with joy.” On the next page were the names of the two climbers, Cur! von Salis and Walter von Euchteschell, followed by the words, “Naben dieses' Buch am 13 February 1914, her deponiert. ” The book was testified to in a written statement by a well-known doctor of New Moshi, who had seen it before it was taken up by the two climbers, and he identified their two signatures and stated that he knew of their intention to leave the' book :>n top ;.s a record. It was wrapped in oilskin and concealed in a beacon on the rim of the crater, where it was found by Mr Londt after its-lonely 11 years’ sojourn on the snow-bound, wind-swept rim of Mount Kilimanjaro. Mr Londt . detached one page from the book and left that as his record in its place. He intends to take the !>• ok to Capetown for exhibition to the club, and then to return it fo Moshi to a resident, who will hand it on to the nejt climb'cr of repute who makes an attempt on Kilimanjaro. His finding of the book was really accidental. “When I got to the highest point, ns it looked,” he con’d see' no ,higher point. I was above the rim of I

the crater and I began to traverse it round to the left along the snow ridge. It sloped steadily’ for some time, and then suddenly dipped. There I spotted the top stone of the beacon made by the two last men to reach this point 11 years ago. Only about 6in of the .beacon was visible, and I suppose that that will soon be covered altogether.” For about three weeks Mr Londt gave Kilimanjaro a rest, during which time, with a well-known big game hunter, he made an attempt on Mount Kenya, about 140 miles away, and failed through bad weather. But he reached the second highest point yet attained since 1890, when Sir Halford Mackinder, now Professor of Geography in London University, with two Swiss guides, after reconnoitring the mountain-for a fortnight, managed uo to 17,040 feet. This is the highest '

point yet reached. Mr Londt attained' a height of 16,000 feet. On his return to Kibo the weather had entirely changed. Previously it had been fine, with beautifully mild winds. Now it broke almost as he started to climb, and snow began to fall as he got higher. But he pushed on until he got shelter in a small cave. “On the following morning,’’ Mr Londt said, “I left about 6.30. The first time I went up I struck no snow till I got to the erater rim, but the second time I struck snow on the plateau at 14,000 feet, so that really the second climb was a snow climb. I got at last to 15,000 feet after an awful struggle, and reached to the cave again. From there to the top it snowed and rained alternately all the time, and I took two days to reach the top. But at last I managed it in a swirling snowstorm. ’ ’

How severe this last lap must have been can be imagined from the fact that Mr Londt became snow-blind while at the top through not having snow glasses. But it took him only an hour to return to the 15,000 foot line, although he had to be led by his boys. He was snow-blind for 48 hours, and had to be led to the 12,500 ft line seeing not one step of the way.' “It was very painful,” remarked Mr Londt. “It felt as if I had a big stone inside my eyes, and a lot of needles. I do not know whether it was more painful to keep my eyes open or closed. I don’t want that experience again.” First Ascent of Two Recalled.

Mount Mawenzi is joined to Kibo by a plateau at the height of 14,000 feet. Both were surveyed fairly well by Hans Meyer in 1889, and the two peaks were named by him—the one on Kilimanjaro as the “Kaiser Wilhelm Peak.” But neither was elimbed by him. It was these two peaks that Mr Londt climbed, and he has therefore the right to re-name these peaks as he chooses. Mount Mawenzi is a very dangerous climb. It has seven peaks, the highest. of which is 17,570 ft., which, however, has never been scaled, though Hans Meyer got very far up. The second highest is 16,820 feet, and Hans Meyer got to within 700 feet of the top. This peak Mr Londt climbed for the first time. lit- contrast to Kilimanjaro, Mawenzi is composed of ranges of pinnacles rearing up for several thousand’feet above a plateau of soft volcanic detratus of a reddish colour.

Mr Londt has still some weeks of his leave to go, and he had intended to try some of the Drakensberg peaks, but, lacking companionship, he is now returning to the Cape. With him he is taking some remarkable photographs of Kilimanjaro and Mawenzi, including a unique one of the inside of the crater,and several of its snow-covered rim, showing his own footsteps in the snow is, evidence of the conquest of the top.