HIGHEST AFRICA

foreign and now your true adventure host Bill Burruss hi there this is Bill burritt saying welcome to Adventure true adventure filmed as it happens throughout our fascinating world did you know that they're glaciers in Africa when you stop to think about it there's some pretty high mountains there and not long ago an American decided he had to be the first man to conquer all 15 African Peaks more than 16 000 feet high from The Plains and jungles of the Dark Continent we're going along with him one of the most exciting colorful of those clients the ruin zory the mountains of the Moon Mount king and the two tallest peaks of Kilimanjaro this is the most spectacular mountain climbing adventure in African history and one of the most extraordinary accomplishments of its kind anywhere in the world when someone asked the famous English Mountaineer George Mallory why he felt he had to climb a certain Peak he gave the classic answer because it's there that was challenge enough John D Graham a retired businessman age 63 answered the challenge of Africa's highest peaks and climbed from the jungles to the glaciers in an exciting and dramatic true adventure there's a special magic about Africa it has a background of drama and excitement that goes back to the days of exploration when men were still looking for the sources of the Nile this spectacular Wildlife even on the roads and highways and parts of the continent still challenge anyone who's looking for adventure above the plains above the scattered Maasai in The samburo Villages Tower the peaks of highest Africa [Music] one of the most extraordinary achievements in the history of crew adventure begins here in East Africa for the Mountaineer the greatest challenges are the ruins Ori range Kilimanjaro and mount Kenya because their peaks include the 15 highest in all Africa John D Graham's ambition conquer them all starting with the ruin zory the lower part of the trail to the foot of Mount Stanley is well traveled by wild animals some of them dangerous and the gram Expedition carries no guns the ruins zory range is 60 miles long and 30 miles wide it has 10 Peaks over 16 000 feet and yet its existence was unknown to the modern world until the journalists Explorer Henry M Stanley discovered it in the year of 1888. annual rainfall here averages about 200 inches in fact Rue and zory the name Stanley gave the mountains is a native name meaning Rainwater the rain makes for a rough going it also accounts for the giant lobelia and other flowers growing on the Mountainside 1 000 feet but you go Hut near the lake is to be Jack Graham's base camp from here 20 of the porters returned to their Village and the climb begins in earnest the remaining party now includes Jack Graham retired American businessman Felix julen a Swiss Army captain and expert climber Dolph wreast also from Switzerland he climbed Mount Everest in 1956 plus seven Porters and their head man simony The Assault on the first Peak begins early next morning this is spake Glacier named after the English Explorer John hanning speak the ruins sorry live up to their reputation for bad weather Graham has to climb to the top of Mount spake in a snowstorm this isn't only in Africa it's in the heart of the tropics almost on the equator [Music] the summit of Mount speak [Music] took three hours to climb the glacier but only 30 minutes to run down it [Music] on Mount Stanley there are nine Peaks over 16 000 feet two of them weren't even discovered until 1956. no one has ever climbed all of them but the attempt to do just that begins with a hike from Lake bujuku to Alina Hut which is perched 14 800 feet up the side of Mount Stanley [Music] foreign [Music] tropical plants grow clear to the foot of the glaciers and that's as far as the barefoot African Porters can go still supplies for the assault on the Stanley Peaks have to reach Elena Hut somehow so Jack Felix and all freest double up it's bitterly cold at Alina Hut which isn't surprising this is higher than the Matterhorn and the first climb begins in a blizzard their destination the summit of Alexandra [Music] Alexandra is covered with snow and solid walls of ice the danger of falling ice cornices breaking loose and avalanching down is always with them [Music] the first of the Stanley Peaks is conquered Mount Alexandra [Music] this is to be a great day of mountain climbing after a three-day layover caused by impossible weather Jack Felix and Dolph with the camera set out across the Alina glacier [Music] they climb Mount Alina also the great tooth savoia Mount Elizabeth this is the approach up the north side of Mount Philip there's a snow and ice cool war or Gully that leads all the way to the summit [Music] at the top of Mount Philip in one day they've climbed five Peaks all over sixteen thousand feet [Music] start of a new day the first day of clear sunshine starting across the Stanley Glacier the men have a perfect view of Alexandra and Margarita in the distance today's main objective Mount Margarita the highest peak in the ruin zory it was named in honor of the queen of Italy when the Duke of Abruzzi led the first successful Expedition into the Ruan Zari in the year of 1906. but even getting to Margarita poses a rather special problem for Jack Graham and his friends the best way to reach it is over the summit of Mount Alexandra so up the sides of Alexandra they go once more this means climbing an ice wall that blocks their way to the East Ridge leading to The Summit [Music] foreign [Music] icicles 10 to 20 feet long almost on top of the Equator [Music] foreign [Music] the summit of Alexandra 16749 feet it's the ruins ori's second highest peak climbed again because it's the easiest approach to Margarita the highest peak of all now down the Steep North Face of Alexandra toward the saddle between Alexandra and Margarita foreign [Music] they start up the Steep Gully on the south side of Margarita [Music] Margarita the highest peak on Mount Stanley in the highest in the Ruan zory but even this isn't enough of an achievement for one day there are still two other Peaks above 16 000 feet on Mount Stanley mibius and Albert and before the day's over Jack Graham has climbed them too then all ten ruinsary Peaks over 16 000 feet have been conquered by one person for the first time even so this true adventure in highest Africa is far from Over the highest peaks of all are still to come [Music] Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest mountain with Mount Kenya as runner-up north of Kilimanjaro sprawls the tribal home of the Messiah whose Warriors once dominated most of Kenya and Tanganyika these aristocratic people are indifferent to civilization they're convinced that their way of life is superior to anything the modern world can offer or them the good life is here in East Africa's wilderness for Jack Graham visiting the Maasai is only a Prelude to Adventure his expedition is on its way to climb kilimanjaro's topmost Peaks mawenzi and Keeble there's mowenzie in the distance from Morongo at 4 500 feet it takes him three days to climb to the shelter at the foot of mawenzi the elevation here is already 15 000 feet next day at Sunrise the party starts out although mawenzie isn't the highest peak on Kilimanjaro it's by far the hardest to climb it calls for Alpine climbing with ice ax rope and crampons [Music] there's no way to bypass this jean-darm or Pinnacle so over the top in the background there's the summit of kibu the target for tomorrow [Music] they're approaching the top now after four hours of climbing from the mawenzi shelter foreign [Music] Peaks formed by ancient volcanic action [Music] the summit of mawenzi 16 496 feet up the fourth highest peak on the continent of Africa there's a register left by an earlier Expedition members of the Sierra Club of California A Long Way from Home above the African clouds foreign next objective mount kibu next morning Jack and his party leave the mawemsey shelter to hike seven miles across the high saddle to kibu Hut probably the highest in the world [Music] leaving the kibu hut at 2 20 next morning they arrive at Gilman's point in time for sunrise at 6 a.m here they're on the rim of a crater at 18 635 feet but kibu's real Summit is on the higher Ridge Beyond there's a Sierra Club register here too from Gilman's point the Summit is only a mile and a quarter further around the Crater Rim and it's only 705 feet higher they're no technical climbing difficulties you don't even need rope ice ax or crampons just the same perhaps 80 percent of the people who try to climb Mount kibu have to turn back at Gilman's point or even sooner because of the altitude kibu has defeated some of the world's best climbers [Music] snow ice Cliffs and icicles on Kilimanjaro only three degrees south of the Equator [Music] thank you at the top of Kaiser Wilhelm Spitz the summit of kibu on Kilimanjaro this is literally highest Africa there's nothing higher nineteen thousand three hundred forty feet high Kilimanjaro has been conquered [Music] Thompson Falls in Kenya it's not far from The samburo District home of the samburo tribes people this is a closed area in order to visit this Village on its way to mount Kenya Jack Graham has to get special permit from the government at Nairobi [Music] from the samburo district Jack travels to the farm of an Englishman named Raymond hook hook that's provided transport for most of the expeditions to mount Kenya for 30 years but this time it's taken months to get permission to make the climb why well Mama terrorists are still hiding out in the forests on Mount Kenya so this too is a closed area [Music] over 13 000 feet this eye on the Alps you'd most likely find the hillside covered with snow and Glaciers but not in Africa this Hut at the foot of Mount Kenya is higher than the summit of Mount McKinley but Jack's base camp is to be top Hut a thousand feet higher yet [Music] that again and nilian the Twin Peaks of Mount Kenya there's the route for climbing nelian as always an early start [Music] here at top Hut is at 15 800 feet higher than Mont Blanc the highest peak in the Alps [Music] Jack and Felix start across the Lewis glacier to climb the southeast face of nilian that's where they're going this is the start of the actual ascent [Music] batian incidentally was first climbed by Sir Halford mckinder in 1899 but this peak nilian wasn't conquered until 1929. here's a very difficult spot easy now [Music] still quite a way to go [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] inch by inch up the side of the rocky core of an ancient volcano laid bare by erosion foreign [Music] nearly there now even below the summit there's quite a view all together they're surrounded by a 300 square mile area and an elevation of over 11 000 feet set aside is a Mountain National Park and they've made it the summit of nilion seventeen thousand and twenty two feet Africa's third highest peak [Music] there's a register to sign up here too in order to climb both the Twin Peaks in a single day they'll have to attempt the Traverse from meleon to batyon this is a maneuver you can only try in good weather and it's highly dangerous even then most parties are turned back here you can see why [Music] well at least the weather is perfect the rest will be a matter of nerve and skill and there's a peek over there no American has ever climbed this is the dangerous gate of The Mists Jack is starting to repel down the sharp Ridge to the head of the diamond glacier one slip here would mean a thousand foot drop [Music] now to cross the diamond glacier foreign [Music] step is a climb up the Rock Ridge to The Summit at seventeen thousand at 52 feet batian is the highest peak on Mount Kenya the second highest in all Africa and John D Graham is the first American ever to climb Tatian and to conquer Mount Kenya foreign [Music] the peaks of Kilimanjaro Mount Kenya for the first time all 15 Peaks above 16 000 feet have been climbed by one man the continent that's been drawing men into adventure for generations and has done it again Africa is still there exciting and spectacular waiting for whoever may be next to answer the call true adventure [Music] but it was certainly a thrill sharing the experience with John D Graham of climbing in highest Africa these Peaks that we saw but you know his friends call him jack so I think I'll call him Jack and ask him first of all when did you first start climbing mountains Jack bill I started climbing the high peaks in Colorado in 1936 at the age of 40 I also started skiing at that time so you see life begins at 40. well you're a living example of that Jack how many Peaks have you climbed have you ever taken count during the past 26 years I have climbed 120 Peaks over 14 000 feet in various parts of the world in this country the classification of high peaks is over 14 000 feet while in the Alps it is over four thousand meters I have also climbed over a hundred Peaks under 14 000 feet gee that's tremendous what about the greatest thrill that you've ever had in in climbing mountains well Bill I've had lots of Thrills in climbing maybe my greatest thrill was climbing all 23 Peaks over 14 000 feet in the Alps in one summer it was the first time at all the highest peaks had been climbed in one season gosh that's a tremendous experience Jack but what about the most uh strenuous climb that you've ever had on account of the very heavy loads that had to be carried up the mountain the sudden storms the Sub-Zero weather and the high altitude my most strenuous climb was North America's highest peak Mount McKinley in Alaska elevation 20 320 feet which I climbed at the age of 65. well John D Graham you have certainly found the Fountain of Youth I want to thank you Jack for being on our show and I want to thank you out there for sharing with us this true adventure until we meet again this is Bill buried saying may all your adventures be happy one [Music] all right foreign [Music]