Bouldering in Lukenya, Bouldering

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Description

Lukenya has a lot of bouldering, and much more to explore!

Access issues inherited from Lukenya

Lukenya is owned by the Mountain Club of Kenya and entrance is free for members. Non-members have to pay for daily membership (KES400 for Kenyan citizens, KES800 for others, payable by Mpesa Paybill No. 880926, account: guest fee). No commercial groups are allowed without prior agreement from MCK. Some climbs are occasionally off-limits when eagles are nesting (in particular Eagle's Nest Face). If this is the case it is normally communicated on a notice in the sign-on book at the gate, through a climber Whatsapp group and on the relevant page on theCrag. There are many other wild animals that call Lukenya home, including a resident leopard, snakes, hyenas. In general, these will all stay well out of your way, but be aware at night and avoid confrontations with bigger grazers like giraffes or eland. This is a wild place, so treat it with respect, pack out any rubbish, and bury human waste at least 30 cm underground (bring a spade or trowel!).

Approach

The bouldering at Lukenya has been divided into several areas according to where you can park and access the boulders:

Campsite: at the top of the Lukenya hill, around the MCK campsite. Short walks, good landings, some highballs and classics.
Nemesis: around the Nemesis sport crag. Quite a variety of boulders scattered around the bushes.
Picnic tree: close to the parking spot that's at the end of the track running between Lukenya school and most trad cliffs (near Boulder crag). A few classic/historical boulders with many variations.
Watertower: the Mombasa road side of Lukenya hill, with a lot of boulders, including Lukenya's hardest.
Far ridge: on top of Lukenya hill, but going east, away from the campsite. Several clumps of boulders with much more to explore.
Plains area: all the boulders around the two rocky outcroppings next to the Mulwa campsite, past the school. A good concentration of high-quality blocs.

Ethic inherited from Lukenya

Lukenya is mostly trad, with some specific sport crags. No bolting is allowed without special permission from the Mountain Club of Kenya - get in touch with them if you think you have spotted a sport route, think there should be an extra bolt on a climb, see some degraded equipment, etc. Avoid cutting down any vegetation beyond a few bush branches - if you think a particular tree poses a real danger to climbers please bring this to the attention of MCK. Don't harass any of the local, sometimes rare wildlife.

History

History timeline chart

People have probably been scrambling on boulders at Lukenya for thousands of years, and if you're lucky you might stumble upon some Batwa cave paintings or archeological dig sites (look for NVJM/ painted on the rock) under some boulders. The first recorded evidence the MCK librarian has found of modern bouldering as we know it though is from 2005, with some hard lines being established by Peter Horsey and Felix Berg (who also holds the speed record for the Standard Route on Nelion). Since then there have been a few waves of development, and the pace has picked up from around 2015.