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Other regions

Africa

Northern Africa

Atlas mountains are the most northernly and the highest of the mountains in northern Africa. The broken chain of Atlas extends for over 1500km across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Highest mountains are located in High Atlas, the western part of the range. Despite a scarcity of roads, most of the major mountains are easily accessible. The approach to the mountains is short, and there are mountain huts, plenty of guides, good trails, and mules to carry gear.

The highest mountain of northern Africa is Toubkal (4165m), located only 75km south of the city of Marrakech. It dominates the area with its steep rocky faces, and is surrounded by massive granite buttresses and several secondary peaks. There are several other mountains rising to around 4000 meters.

The summers of the area are hot and harsh while winter snows are very heavy. The high peaks maintain their snow caps for much of the year, but there are no glaciers. The two best climbing seasons are in the winter/spring period, from February to May, when snow is still present but temperatures are comfortable; and in early Autumn (September), when the mountains are dry and the weather is cool again before winter storms return.

• Climbing in Morocco - Gorges du Todra. At PlanetMountain.com.
• Morocco - climbing at the end of the road. By Sarah Harrison at PlanetFear.com.

East Africa

Mountain climbing in the Africa is dominated by two highest mountains, Kilimanjaro (5895m) and Mount Kenya (5199m). Albeit lower, Mount Kenya has more to offer for climbers. While Kilimanjaro offers easy hiking trail to the highest summit, reaching the highest point of Mount Kenya requires technical rock or ice climbing. Most of the people visiting Mont Kenya don't go beyond the trail end at Point Lenana (4985m).

Besides rock routes, both Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya have several ice climbs, most famous of them Diamond Couloir and slightly easier Ice Windows on Mount Kenya. On Kilimanjaro, probably the best known climbing routes are Heim Glacier and Breach Wall Direct. Melting of the glaciers has deteriorated the conditions off all ice climbs in Africa.

• Allan, Iain: Guide to Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro, 5Rev Ed edition. African Books Collective, 1991. Isbn: 978-9966985606.
• Burns, Cameron M.: Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. Menasha Ridge Press, 1998. Isbn: 9781871890983.
• Wielochowski, Andrew: East Africa International Mountain Guide, 1986 edition. West Col Productions, 1986. Isbn: 9780906227299.

• East Africa Climbing Guide. Plenty of information about the mountains and routes. Includes the most significant mountains of Eastern Africa. A truly indespensible site.

Southern Africa

Mulanje is a large granite massif in Malawi, a small African nation, situated snugly between southern Tanzania, northeastern Zambia, and Northern Mozambique. The massif rises abruptly from the surrounding plain, and reaches its highest point of 300m in Sapitwa Peak. Mulanje has a well organized system of trails and huts, leading through forests of large cedar trees.

Drakensberg is a major escarpment of South Africa, stretching for hundreds of miles along the southeastern edge of the vast interior plateau. For much of their length, the mountains are capped by a thick layer of basaltic lava, which has been heavily eroded over the centuries, leaving a bewildering assortment of rugged blocks and pinnacles. Erosion has caused the isolation of many free-standing rock peaks, excellent for rock climbing. The mountains are typically covered with snow and ice in Winter.

The highest peaks and most spectacular scenery are found in a compact area along the 90-mile boundary between Lesotho and Natal provinces. Here crags and pinnacles tower above sandstone foothills and rolling grasslands. Some of the more popular climbing peaks are Mont-aux-Sources (3282m), Monk's Cowl (3234m) and Cathedral Peak (3004m).

Large and flat-topped Table mountain (1087m) is located southwestern corner of Africa, close to Cape Town. Its deeply scarred and craggy sandstone cliffs are one of the most popular climbs in the world, and there are over 500 documented routes to the top, many of them serious technical climbs.

Madagascar is a large island in the Indian ocean, 380km off the southeast coast of Africa. Its narrow coastal plain rises to a high mountainous plateau in the island's center. The mountains' granite peaks rise above grasslands and cultivated slopes and valleys. Highest mountains are Maromokotro (2876m), Ankaratara (2643m) and Pic Boby (2658m). Towns and villages are scattered throughout the mountains, predominantly inhabited by native islanders known as the Malagasy. Also Réunion Island has high mountains.

• The Mountain Club of South Africa

Oceania

East India

The Indonesian archipelago streches for almost 5000km from the Asian mainland into the Pacific Ocean and consists of 13,000 plus islands. The most famous climbing destination in East India is Carstenz Pyramid (5029m) located in Eastern Indonesia. The second highest peak of the area is Kerinci (3805m) in Sumatra. Most high peaks are volcanoes.

The area has plenty of warm weather and steep rock, thus the emerge of rock climbing routes is pretty much inevitable. Especially Thailand has plenty of established areas. Especially popular is Phra-Nang Peninsula in Southern Thailand.

• Climbing in Thailand. Information about climbing in Thailand and SE Asia.

New Zealand

Southern Alps on the South Island of New Zealand extends entire length of the Island and are known for their beauty and wild nature. The Southern Alps are a very young range, still actively being uplifted. This, combined with high precipitation on its western side and high erosion rates, results in very dynamic landscapes. The range is a collection of permanently snow and ice-clad summits, heavily crevassed glaciers and spires and ridges of shattered rock. These qualities make Southern Alps one of the best alpine climbing areas in the world. <<more>>.

Australia

For climbers looking for alpine climbing in Oceania, Australia is not the best place to go. Mountains are concentrated in southeast corner of the continent, between Melbourne and Sydney in the Australian Alps. The area is popular resort for both hiking and skiing. here lies the highest peak of Australia, Mount Kosciusko at 2228. From alpine climbers point of view, the best mountains of Australia bare located in Tasmania, just off the southeast coast of the Australian mainland. These craggy crests rise to 1600m above lush, practically impenetrable bush land. The highest peak of Tasmania is Mount Ossa (1617m). Tasmanian mountains are popular with extensive trails and excellent climbing. The weather, however, is frequently less attractive than the scenery, and you should expect heavy precipitation. The best time for hiking and climbing is December through March.

• Climbing Autralia. Sydney climbing guide.
• Crags in Australia
• Sydney climbing guide. Crags in Australia.

Polar Regions

Antarctica

Getting access to the climbs in the Antarctica used to be extremely difficult, not to mention prohibitively expensive. Nowadays commercial expeditions are organised. Ellsworth Mountains, south of the Antarctic Peninsula is the best-known and the highest of the ranges. 5140m Mount Vinson is located in Sentinel Range of Ellsworth mountains. It is the highest peak of Antarctica and by far the most climbed. Shinn, Mount Gardner and Mount Tyree are also occasionally climbed. Climbing is done during the Antarctis summer (december - february). Even then the average temperature is around -40°C.

Greenland

Greenland is world's largest island and one of the least explored areas in the world. It is predominantly an ice cap with a rugged mountain chain which runs north to south up the East Coast. Greenland holds tremendous climbing potential for the future. Although several of the southern big wall arenas and alpine ranges have become increasingly popular there are still many unexplored regions even close to best known regions, not to mention about virtually unclimbed areas on northeast.

The highest ranges (Lemons, the Lindberghs, Watkins) are located on East Coast. Here lie Mount Gunnbjornsfjeld , the highest mountain in Greenland, is located on the central part of the East Coast approximately 45km from the coast.

South Greenland is rapidly becoming world famous for its big granite walls on peaks like Ketil and Ulamertorssuaq at the head of Tasermiut Fjord. Overshadowed by these few world class cliffs the climbing potential of the peaks in the rest of the region is rarely reported although the area between Tasermiut Fjord and Augpilatoq alone offers over 1000km2 of relatively accessible granite mountains rising with well-defended buttresses and faces from 1000m to 1500m out of the fjords. Every part of the region provides ranges of towers and spires equally impressive as the Chamonix Aiguilles.

• Big walls of Southern Greenland. Ketil Fjeld, South Greenland, 1987. Article written and translated 1994.
• Greenland Climbing Guide. At Sportextreme.com.
• Greenland Report. By Matt Heason at PlanetFear.com.