Arrow Glacier, Glacial formation on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Arrow Glacier is a small ice remnant on the west slope of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, lying between 5,470 and 5,300 metres (17,950 and 17,390 ft). It survives as a patch of ice on dark volcanic rock high on the Western Breach, the climbing line also called the Arrow Glacier Route or Lemosho Route. It is what remains of the Little Barranco Glacier and may no longer exist as of 2011.
Arrow Glacier is a recently named remnant of an icecap that once crowned Kilimanjaro's summit, and it was what remained of an earlier glacier known as the Little Barranco Glacier. It may not even exist as of 2011.
The Arrow Glacier sits along the Western Breach, one of the most remote routes on Kilimanjaro, and many climbers who pass by treat the sight of the ice as a marker of how much the mountain has changed over their lifetimes. Communities living on the lower slopes have long connected the state of the glaciers with the reliability of water flows that feed their farms.
The glacier is only accessible via the Western Breach Route, a steep and technically demanding ascent that requires a special permit and prior climbing experience. The camp at the base of the route sits at about 4,860 meters (15,944 feet) and serves as the last resting point before the final push toward the summit plateau.
In 2006, a rockfall near the Arrow Glacier triggered a deadly avalanche that killed several climbers and led to a temporary closure of the Western Breach Route. Since then, access to this route has been controlled more strictly, and groups are kept smaller than on the main paths.
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