Routes as trad in Kilibi

Deep in the village 20 (Descrition by M Battani and U Pitsch) (approximately N3.11206° E33.40837°) Get up early for this one as it is a full day with the drive from Kalongo, parking, hiking, rapping, and getting home. We left our guest house in Kalongo at 6:15am. You may want to carry your boots/shoes on the climb because the descent is on the opposite side of the climb. We hiked barefoot back to our gear at the base of the first pitch. It hurt.

The route starts on the north east side of Kilibi Rock. You can see a big ramp leading up Kilibi. The first pitch starts up this ramp. Aim for the large flake about 60m up for your first stance.

1. 14, 60 m Largely a walk up. Graded 14, maybe easier. Start up a ramp 5m or so before your first pro under a flake. This pitch required lots of very small cams and a couple nuts. Pretty well protected. Some flakes sound a bit hollow. There is a bomber place to build an anchor under a strong flake just before a steepening. This pitch trends slightly right near the end and could be broken up into a 40 m and a 20 m pitch.

2. 12, 60 m Follow up the ramp to a stance in a good crack and pocket just below the butress. Build your anchor here. Not a very well protected pitch, but an easy climb.

3. 18X, 60 m The face above is difficult and poorly protected. Follow up the arête, over a black face bearing right, then further up the arête to a stance on a small but comfortable ledge. Very sparse protection, but good holds!

4. 20, 40 m (Crux) Pro here is much better than the last pitch. P4 pitch trends right, following a crack, and goes over a little tree to a great anchor/stance at some trees above. From the stance climb up to a bench. From the bench, climb up to gain a fist wide crack on the right. It is an excellent but strenuous layback crack with very good protection (Black Diamond cams 1 to 5 fit in this flaring crack). After the crack, continue easily up the ramp to a stance somewhere after the first few bushes. There are some solid trees to build a great anchor.

5. 15, 30 m Leave the trees, follow the crack across a black face to a huge ledge. Mostly a scrample.

6. 8, 25m, summit scramble, from the belay scramble up to the right through some boulders. Congrats! Enjoy the photos. You can see Mt. Oret and Amiel really clearly from here completing the “Agago Triangle”. Descent notes: scramble and descend down the west (nearly opposite side of “Deep”) via the Normal Route. Deep in the Village lacks sufficient rappelling points, so to save your pro/tack, go down via the Normal Route which has the trees/bushes necessary to enable a cheaper descent. The downclimb to the first abseil is bold. Go down a 4m chimney, then downclimb over some slab to boulders and then to a bush. From that bush, begin your rap down. Go right down the spine of the rock past a bushy crack and some tufts of grass towards some boulders. It is a one pitch (50m) abseil as you can scramble down from the pile of boulders below. It is a long rap, so careful not to go off the end of your ropes. Scrambling the entire descent is possible as well. From the foot of Kilibi, hike around to reach the trail out to your car. Hiking either way around Kilibi works, but we found the south side to be easier than the north. Once reaching the first pitch, you’ll hike east back to Joseph’s house to reach your car.

Description by Uwe Pitsch The route starts on the west side of Kilibi Rock.

1. 14, 50 m Climb the spine of the rock to a bush with a rope slung around it for abseiling

2. 10, ? m Continue up over boulders and short faces, if in doubt stay left.

3. Scramble / walk to the summit through a narrow gap between 2 huge boulders, chimney up at the end of the gap.