Mountains Of The Moon

Reality Check

GRADE C/D The summit attempt is a D grade walk because of the high altitude and the level of physical effort needed with scrambling involved. The rest of the trek is a C/D grade more as a consequence of the high altitude and extended wilderness camping and the difficulty of walking through mud on difficult trails; hence the C/D grading for the overall trek.

We strongly recommend that you thoroughly read the Exodus grading system as outlined online and in the Walking & Trekking 2012 Brochure before booking this trip. Walking Conditions This is a long and hard trek, which reaches an altitude of 4,842 m,on the summit of Mt Baker. Even if you consider yourself fit, you might still find the climb very hard, depending on how well your body acclimatises to high altitude. There is no scientific way to determine how easily you acclimatise, and be aware that the acclimatisation process also can differ from climb to climb.

Some of the trails are well defined and of good quality but some forest sections are often slippery and paths can be very wet in poor weather conditions. The distances we cover on this trek are small, however depending upon conditions underfoot days can be long due to mud, boggy ground, and slippery steep trails and boulders.

The ascent of Mt Baker peak is usually non technical except in the snow seasons of April-May and September-October. All year round safety ropes will be used on steep sections, and crampons will be supplied locally if needed and instruction given on how to use them.

You will need to scramble over rocks and be comfortable with basic winter mountaineering skills during the snow season. Harnesses with karabiners are supplied locally and are needed as a safety precaution for the summit on Mt Baker, as there is a rock ledge to navigate.

No previous experience is necessary but it requires stamina and determination. For anyone wanting an introduction on crampon use our one-week trip to climb North Africa's highest peak Mt Toubkal (4167m) and its sister peak Ouanakrim (4088m), provides an excellent opportunity to try out winter walking, on our Mt Toubkal Winter climb (trip code TMW). The ascent is not technical, but a rough scramble in places with, depending on the weather and snow fall, large snow patches to traverse (for these sections, ice axe and crampons will be necessary).

The summit attempt of Mt Baker is not recommended for anyone suffering from vertigo. Our guides provide all the ropes and lead the way. During the course of the trip we shall spend time at both high and low altitude, experiencing both extremely cold and quite hot conditions. Please note that you will need complete confidence in your physical ability to attempt this trek. You should be prepared for early starts every day on trek, but we go to bed early to compensate. In principle this is a full service trek but it must be appreciated that Uganda is still an area where concepts of tourism and services are not up to international standards, and punctuality and adherence to plans are foreign to their nature. If you have been on walking trips with us in Nepal, Peru or Kilimanjaro for example, do not expect the same levels of service in Uganda as there is not a history of trekking here with big groups. It is the way of life in this area and is the trade off for going somewhere that is not crowded with other trekking groups. There is no mobile phone reception from day 4 until the evening of day 10.

Legal Note: all group members joining this tour will be asked to sign a Customer's Acknowledgement of Risk' liability waiver at the start of the holiday. This document limits the liability of our main supplier and is standard practice for most mountaineering companies and on all their tours. As a client of Exodus Travels Ltd, your rights under the Package Travel Regulations (1992) are unaffected, and Exodus remains liable for the actions of our sub-contractors. A copy of this document is available from Exodus if required.