My Letter to the Uganda Wildlife Authority

Hello,

I wanted to provide you some direct feedback on my recent climb in the Rwenzori Mountains.  I am copying my outfitter as well, in case this is not the correct e-mail address to submit concerns to.

I climbed Margherita Peak on 10 Jan with Rwenzori Trekking Services.  Our two lead guides on summit day were Enoc and Robert.  If I recall correctly we were the 3rd of five groups to arrive at the second glacier, the steep one.  Our guides were world class professionals.  They knew what they were doing and were vary safe.  I have experience on both glacier climbs as well as winter mountaineering so I am not a novice to the alpine environment.

The reason I have chosen to contact you has to do with the other trekking services on the peak that day.  I don"t know specifically who they were except that they were not from RTS.  My first complaint was not a safety issue but speaks to the lack of professionalism I observed from the other services.  While waiting on our guides to place fixed ropes the next group arrived.  Their lead guide kept looking all about at both us as well as his own clients.  Being that we arrived in the dark and all were wearing headlamps this guide was blinding us each time he looked in our direction.  Headlamp discipline is a basic hiking skill, and this fellow lacked it completely.  By this point several groups were waiting to scale the glacier.  One of the earlier groups had a panicked client and were not handling it well.  We ended up being delayed nearly an hour while the situation was resolved.  Once our guides had a fixed rope in place we began up.  At this point several groups were all waiting to scale the glacier.  As I am sure you are aware climbing this glacier in the dry season creates something of a bottle neck where groups can access the glacier safley.  One of the guides from another service stepped between myself and the other 2 climbers I was to be roped with and began faking out his rope.  I mentioned that I was going to have to step around him and he ignored me.  This is significant because I was wearing crampons on bare rock which is precarious enough.  Additionally they seemed unconcerned who they leapfrogged or how so long as they were on the glacier.  A woman in our first climbing party (we were broken into 2 groups for this glacier) was just starting up and nervous, when a guide from a different service, began changing up her belay rope.  She panicked and I heard her scream for him to stop touching her rope.  She was a novice and was doing her best to follow the directions of our guide Robert who was well up on the glacier at the ice screw securing the fixed rope.  The most concerning things I noticed were other groups crossing over our fixed line in their rush to climb.  Walking across a fixed safety line with crampons is not only poor form but dangerous business for anyone who will be using that line.  Crampons can easily slice a line making it useless.  We finally made the summit but on the return I noticed several clients from other services were using our fixed line while we were descending on it as well.  Again this is a sloppy and dangerous practice that was ignored by their guides. 

As I stated I do not know who the other guiding services were that happened to be on the mountain that day.  I am hoping you can contact them and take some form of corrective action.  They were dangerous and unprofessional and appeared to not have much understanding of alpine skills.  As for myself I will only venture into the Rwenzori"s with Rwenzori Trekking Services as they are he only safe group in the range.

All the best,

Day 2, Deep in the jungle

Day two has begun.  Which is to say it's morning.  I didn't sleep too badly last night.  I as a bit chilled until I got into my sleeping bag.  After that I was toasty.  I woke frequently, but was dreaming quite a lot, so I know I slept.  At one point I closed my eyes and saw the familiar patterns of an ayahuasca experience, but in black and white, not color.  That was a surprise.  The night was quite clear and the day is beginning that way as well. It will be interesting to see how the weather behaves.... will it be normal?  Or will I have yet another trek with unusually amazing weather? 

Typical trail in the Rwenzori mountains!

We are now on the other end of the hike (afternoon).  It began with another grunch of uphill hiking but was somehow a bit easier than yesterday.  We hiked past the moss covered trees, through the bamboo forest and into the completely weird zone.  If you happen to be atheist come on this trek.  The landscape up here will make you believe in God.  If you don't believe in enchanted forests, come to the the Rwenzoris.  I was looking closely for witches in the darker, spookier sections of forest. 

It didn't rain today.   Much of today's the hike was in the clouds.  We had an optional hike up a close by peak but I think it's been delayed by the clouds.  If we do it in the morning then there is a better chance it will be clear.

Enoc Falls

Sine Hut, accomodations for 1st night in the Rwenzori's
(2596m elevation)

Breakfast at Sine Hut