Arrow Glacier, Glacial formation on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Arrow Glacier is a body of ice on the western face of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, sitting at an elevation of roughly 5,300 to 5,470 meters (17,400 to 17,950 feet). It appears as a pale band of ice spread across dark volcanic rock on the upper section of the Western Breach.
The glacier formed during a cold period that began more than 11,000 years ago, when ice covered much of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes. Over the past century, it has retreated noticeably, and old photographs of the mountain show how much smaller it has become.
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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