Africa - AsiaMount Kilimanjaro (1)Mount Kilimanjaro, with its threevolcanic cones,Kibo,Mawenzi, andShira, is a dormant volcanic mountain inTanzania. It is the highest mountain inAfricaand the highest free-standing mountain in theworldat 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet abovesea level(theUhuru Peak/Kibo Peak).[4]

Geology[edit]Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, the highest at 5,895m (19,341ft); Mawenzi at 5,149m (16,893ft); and Shira, the shortest at 3,962m (13,000ft). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim.Kilimanjaro is a largestratovolcano. Of its three peaks, Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, while Kibo, the highest, is dormant and could erupt again. The last major eruption has been dated to between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago.[5]Although dormant, Kibo has gas-emittingfumarolesin its crater. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as theWestern Breach.History[edit]Name[edit]The origin of the name "Kilimanjaro" is not precisely knowHistory[edit]Name[edit]The origin of the name "Kilimanjaro" is not precisely known, but a number of theories exist. European explorers had adopted the name by 1860 and reported that "Kilimanjaro" was the mountain'sKiswahiliname.[6]But according to the 1907 edition ofThe Nuttall Encyclopdia, the name of the mountain was "Kilima-Njaro".[7]Johann Ludwig Krapfwrote in 1860 that Swahilis along the coast called the mountain "Kilimanjaro". Although he did not support his claim,[8]he claimed that "Kilimanjaro" meant either "mountain of greatness" or "mountain of caravans". Under the latter meaning, "Kilima" meant "mountain" and "Jaro" possibly meant "caravans".[6]Jim Thompson claimed in 1885, although he also did not support his claim,[8]The term Kilima-Njaro has generally been understood to mean the Mountain (Kilima) of Greatness (Njaro). This is probably as good a derivation as any other, though not improbably it may mean the "White" mountain, as I believe the term "Njaro" has in former times been used to denote whiteness, and though this application of the word is now obsolete on the coast, it is still heard among some of the interior tribes. Either translation is equally applicable.... By the Wa-chaga[,] the mountain is not known under one name, the two masses which form it being respectively named Kibo and Kimawenzi.[9]Lhotse

Lhotse(Nepali: ;Chinese:;pinyin:Luz Fng;Tibetan:,Wylie:lho rtse,ZYPY: Lhoz) is the fourth highestmountainonEarth(afterMount Everest,K2andKangchenjunga) and is connected to Everest via theSouth Col. Lhotse means South Peak inTibetan. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres (27,940ft) above sea level, Lhotse Middle (East) is 8,414m (27,605ft) and Lhotse Shar is 8,383m (27,503ft). It is located at the border between Tibet (China) and the Khumbu region ofNepal.

Climbing[edit]An early attempt on Lhotse was by the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, headed byNorman Dyhrenfurth. It also included two Austrians (cartographer Erwin Schneider and Ernst Senn) and two Swiss (Bruno Spirig and Arthur Sphel), and was the first expedition in the Everest area to include Americans (Fred Beckey,George Bell, and Richard McGowan). The Nepalese liaison officer was Gaya Nanda Vaidya. They were accompanied by 200 local porters and several climbingSherpas. After a brief look at the dangerous southern approaches of Lhotse Shar, they turned their attention, during September and October, to the West Cwm and the northwest face of Lhotse, on which they achieved an altitude of about 8,100 metres (26,600ft). They were beaten back by unexpectedly strong wind and cold temperatures. Under Schneider's direction they completed the first map of the Everest area (1:50,000photogrammetric). The expedition also made several short films covering local cultural topics, and made a number of first ascents of smaller peaks in theKhumburegion.[3]The main summit of Lhotse was first climbed on May 18, 1956 by theSwissteam ofErnst ReissandFritz Luchsingerfrom the Swiss Mount Everest/Lhotse Expedition.[4]On May 12, 1970,Sepp MayerlandRolf WalterofAustriamade the first ascent of Lhotse Shar.[5]Lhotse Middle remained, for a long time, the highest unclimbed named point on Earth; on May 23, 2001, its first ascent was made by Eugeny Vinogradsky, Sergei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov of aRussianexpedition.The Lhotse standard climbing route follows the same path asEverest'sSouth Colroute up to theYellow Bandbeyond Camp 3. After the Yellow Band the routes diverge with climbers bound for Everest taking a left over theGeneva Spurup to the South Col, while Lhotse climbers take a right further up the Lhotse face. The last part to the summit leads through a narrowcouloiruntil the Lhotse main peak is reached.As of December 2008, 371 climbers have summitted Lhotse and 20 have died.[6]