Nelion – Batian

Climbing Nelion – Batian

  • 7 days

Overview

The most popular route that is taken to climb Nelion is the MacKinders route. It is a 5th class rock route with a maximum difficulty of 5.6. You’ll descend via the same route too. This is a fun route that is generally on good rocks and sunny. You should bring rock shoes. Your normal footwear can be left at the base of the route. Although it’s still long, this route is considered to be easier than the North Face Standard Route on Batian.

The climbing season is usually December through March, when the southeast face of the Nelion peak is relatively snow-free and the climbing conditions are at their best.

Day to day itinerary

You’ll depart from Nairobi at 8am and you’ll drive through the agricultural land up to Chogoria for lunch. After lunch, you’ll get into a 4×4 and drive up to the edge of the bamboo forest, where you’ll start trekking for a distance of 10km up to Mt Kenya Bandas. You’ll have dinner and stay at the Mount Kenya Bandas overnight.

After having breakfast and sorting the porter loads, you’ll set off up the mountain at a nice and easy pace. Taking a slightly longer walk via Lake Ellis gives you scenic views of Mugi, Ithanguni, and the Giants Billiards Table, whilst if you follow the river near the road head upstream for about 3km, the foreground scenery and flora is particularly beautiful.

You’ll have lunch on the banks of a stream, and then it’s time for you to go up the left hillside to reach your camp at about 3600m.

You’ll have an early start.  Again, you’ll be walking well off the beaten track and you’ll follow a ridge up the mountain for about 3 hours. Eventually, you’ll join the tourist trail on the normal Chogoria route at an altitude of about 4,100m.  You’ll have breathtaking views of the Gorges Valley, Ithanguni and the Northern Moorlands.

Your lunch will be served at a small stream crossing, before you continue for another hour to get to the Minto’s Hut area at 4200m and rest.

Your afternoon will be spent relaxing at the camp, though a 10-minute walk to the “temple” is well worth the effort.  This is a 150 meter tall vertical cliff that gets its name from the position that visitors often adopt when peering over the edge – they look as if they are praying.

Today, you’ll begin your trek by ascending some huge rock walls.

From the top, you`ll have an excellent view of Mt. Kenya. After ascending for a couple of hours, you’ll reach Tooth Col. From there, you’ll traverse until you reach the Austrian Hut. Finally, you’ll ascend to Point Lenana at 4985m. Point Lenana is the Mount Kenya peak that most people usually climb. From this summit, you’ll descend back to the Austrian Hut. You’ll have dinner and you’ll stay at the Austrian hut.

You’ll be climbing the southeast face of Nelion. The climb is tough, but the view from the top is worth it. You’ll start before dawn, and you can reach the base of the route in about an hour. Crampons are generally used to cross the small glacier and the Gate of Mist. It is not steep, but the snow is often quite firm.

It will take you 5 hours to reach the summit of Nelion, and then you’ll cross the Gate of Mist (this takes 2 hrs) to reach Batian, and then you’ll return to Nelion. You’ll descend further to the Austrian Hut, which is where you’ll stay overnight. The summit day is fairly long, taking about 10 to 12 hours.

After breakfast, you’ll descend to Shipton’s Camp via Simba Col, and then you’ll begin a 5-hour descent via Mackinder’s Valley to the Old Moses Camp. The descent is gentle and it gives you lots of time to enjoy the fascinating scenery, which includes the moorlands, before you reach the camp.

You’ll have dinner and you’ll stay at the Old Moses Camp.

After an early breakfast, you’ll descend for 3 hours to get to the Sirimon Park gate, where you’ll catch a vehicle and go back to Nairobi. You’ll be arriving by 16.00.

Prices are per person based on:

1 person US$ 2,160
2 people US$ 2,040

per person

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