u/outoftime29

After climbing in the Rwenzori mountains of Uganda, I learned of Arlene Blum, a renowned mountaineer who had her own expedition to the range, an incredible story in its own right. She wrote a book about her first all-women ascent of Annapurna, titled Annapurna : A Womans Place. Some of the accounts in the book I found quite shocking. Considering the sexual assault allegations of Nims Dai, and now Edmund Hillarys shameless sexism, I'm curious about other peoples thoughts or if things are getting better/more inclusive/safer, or what can be done to bring more equality/safety for people of all sexes that want to adventure outdoors. Even Reinhold Messners book I found his treatnent of the women on his Everest solo expedition to be very abusive. What is it with the leading paragons of the face of Mountaineering being all so flawed and unsafe for women?

"In just the first few sentences, Arlene described three examples of toe-curling sexism that she encountered as she established herself as a mountaineer: refusal to join an expedition because her presence would jeopardise the ‘easy masculine companionship which is so vital a part of the joy of an expedition’, a guide who believed that there were ‘no good women climbers’, and an expedition to Denali where women could join to help with the cooking chores, but were not permitted to climb.

Upon turning the page we learn that the great Sir Edmund Hillary believed that the problems with multi-national teams ‘pale into insignificance compared with those that can be brought about by a single woman in a party’. Irene Miller, who was also a member of Sir Edmund’s Makalu expedition team, was told that ‘if you want to climb with the expedition, you ought to be willing to sleep with all the men on the team’. She stayed at base camp."

-excerpts from Arlene Blums book on Mark Horrells webpage

Edit- dropping this link from someones comment, it seems to be a good resource and starting point. If you see something, say something. https://americanalpineclub.org/safeoutside

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Kilimanjaro gets 99.99% of the mountaineering tourism traffic in Africa it seems. If you are looking for something more raw, rugged, uncrowded, less touristy, definitely look into Ugandas Rwenzori Mountains. There are many peaks to climb and multiple trekking paths to explore. Sharing this to spread some info on this incredible and underrated range and get it on more people's radar.

Uganda’s unmatched Rwenzori Mountains National Park, where the landscapes feel prehistoric (think Jurassic Park) and otherworldly, the source of the headwaters for the Nile river, home to several 5000meter/16000ft peaks, rare/endemic botanicals, chimpanzees, as well as the last glaciers of Uganda (likely gone within 10-20 years). These are the tallest non-volcanic and non-tectonic peaks on the planet and were first climbed and explored by the famed Duke of Abruzzi, which the Central Circuit trek follows in his expeditions footsteps.

The terrain has been slightly sanitized in recent years, with the construction of lengthy boardwalks through what were once long stretches of deep mud and bog, where progress meant hopping from grassy tussock to grassy tussock. Plenty still remains true to the Rwenzori’s natural character though, with steep & deep mud and some characteristic (or character building) tussock hopping. Uganda Wildlife Authority does require a guide for venturing into the Rwenzori. I can recommend Rwenzori Mountaineering Services or Rwenzori Trekking Safaris. RMS is locally operated and benefits the local community.

Traditionally, the trek takes 7–8 days. With the newer boardwalks, ladders, and stairs, four days seemed quite reasonable, especially since the entire route, including Margherita Peak, is only about 36 mi / 60 km with 15,000 ft / 4,500 m of elevation gain. Although, the porters, guides, and rangers all seemed astounded at a 4 day pace. I had actually initially planned for 5 days, which would have ended up being much too slow.

Margherita Peak (16,763ft/5109m) made for an interesting double national high point (Congo and Uganda), requiring some very basic glacier mountaineering, along with substantial sections of 3rd- and 4th-class scrambling, made more difficult by slick, wet, and frozen rock and constant sleet.

I would probably suggest taking an extra day to enjoy the scenery as well as for acclimatizing. Sleeping at 14,800ft/4500m on night 3 did give me a slight headache and a restless night, it ended up being okay, but that was a thin margin and fairly aggressive approach.

Uganda is superb, full of wildlife, and an incredible place to explore.

My friends cat got out a window yesterday and am posting hear trying to help hopefully find it. Please respond if youve been in the area and seen anything!

Has a pretty rad time this past weekend skiing 13ers and 14ers around the San Juans with stable blower powder snow. Despite a record breaking bad snow year and record breaking heat waves, the goods are still out there! Another big storm in the forecast. Who else is still getting after it??