Fire on the Mountain

Another long, well protected bolted climb on the Chambe West Face!! Climbs the left side of obvious waterfall on the right side of the Lower Chambe West Face. Starts in a cool amphitheater. You can’t see the first pitch until you are in the amphitheater because it is hidden behind a small hill. This route will only be dry during the peak of dry seasons as it climbs an obvious water feature.

Witness Stima and George Parker, both local hiking guides/porters, know where the route is and how to get there. I would recommend hiring at least one of them, even if you don’t need a guide. It is very helpful to have a Chichewa speaking local around to navigate the scene with the villagers. Not many westerns head up to this part of the Mulanje Massif. Ruth from the Hikers Nest will help you get in contact with Witness or George

Pitch 1 - climbs through a bulge then trends slightly right towards the top to a two bolt belay at a decent stance. The first half of this pitch is a little dirty now but will be great once it cleans up. It will go free around mid 5.12 (tech, off vert granite trickery). The crux is short lived and french free-able with mandatory 5.9 climbing - 45m 5.9 A0

Pitch 2 - climb nice edges straight up to a two bolt belay. Take note of the rappel anchor on the left though. This will be needed for the descent. The correct belay anchor for the end of P2 does not have rappel rings - 32m 5.10-

Pitch 3 - more nice climbing that follows small edges to a big ledge with a 2 bolt belay. Mentally engaging but well protected! Straight outta Tuolumne style face climbing. You can barely combine pitch 2/3 with a 70m. Might have to simul a few feet - 38m 5.10+

Pitch 4 - climb the easy slab past a few bolts, pull a small bulge, then get ready to pull another bulge then finish with some steep friction climbing - 50m 5.10+

Pitch 5 - a deceivingly difficult slab pitch - 45m  5.10

Pitch 6 - more slab climbing past a headwall and a tree. After passing the headwall, go up past the bushes then trend left on a flake system towards a 2 bolt anchor. The last 60 feet of this pitch has no bolts on easy 5th class terrain - 58m 5.9+

Pitch 7 -  easier climbing on terrain that wanders. This pitch and the next one have some runouts on low angle terrain - 60m

Pitch 8 – similar to the previous pitch. Top out at a bolted anchor on the ledge system between the upper and lower wall  - 60m

Descent - Rappel the route with 2 60m ropes using an alternate anchor for the last rappel. There is a 2 bolt anchor with rappel rings up and left from the end of P1. This allows you to rappel from the ledge at the top of P3 in 2 rappels with 2 60m ropes. You could also walk off via the jungle ledge system to the south

It is best to park or get dropped off at 15°53'07.7"S 35°30'00.7"E. We would park off the main road in the village and pay one of the local teenagers at the end of the day for watching our vehicle. This was probably unnecessary but it made it clear that we had permission to park in the village. Follow the locals trail directly out of the village past a few bigger brick buildings. There are many trails throughout this area but generally it is best to follow well-travelled ones while aiming for the huge waterfall where the route is. The base of the route is located at 15°53'43.8"S 35°30'40.3"E. The best way we found to get into the amphitheater is to get on top of the small hill in front of the waterfall then bushwhack straight down an infrequently traveled trail. The approach is about 1.5 miles with 1000 feet of gain