While the height of Mt. Everest dwarfs Kilimanjaro, the African peak earns bonus points because it’s not part of a mountain range.
Question: What is the world’s tallest free-standing mountain? (Hint: It’s not in Asia)
Answer: Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Mt. Everest tends to hog the glory as the tallest mountain on Earth. But that claim to fame is only true by certain measurements. If the title goes to elevation above sea level, then, yes, Everest wins out, topping out at 29,035 feet. But it isn't actually the peak sticking out furthest into space, an honor which goes to Ecuador's Mount Chimborazo; though Chimborazo is nearly 9,000 feet shorter than Everest, it sits on the equator, Earth's biggest bulge, and ends up nearly 2 miles closer to the moon as a result. But both of those peaks are parts of long mountain ranges, allowing for a more gradual build-up to their great heights.
The sheerest vertical rise comes from the tallest free-standing mountain on Earth, meaning a peak that is complete unto itself and not simply part of a range. That mountain is Kilimanjaro, at just under 20,000 feet above sea level. Like most of the world’s tallest free-standers, Africa’s tallest peak (by any measure) is volcanic, with a trio of major cones (Kibo being its most prominent) and 225 satellite cones which cracked its slopes more than 150,000 years ago.
The Kibo volcanic cone is only dormant, not extinct. Though it’s been over 300,000 years since a major destructive event, its last eruption was a mere 200 years ago. Despite being famously snowcapped (see below), Kilimanjaro remains hot at its core. Even now, fumaroles still spew gasses and, in 2003, scientists made a surprising discovery: molten magma continues to flow just 1,200 feet below the surface. Should Kilimanjaro ever blow its peak (an event scientists are not expecting), it could (literally) lose its crown as tallest freestanding mountain on earth.
Fascinating Facts about Kilimanjaro's Icy Side
- There has nearly always been ice on Kilimanjaro, beginning at least 500,000 years ago and lasting through five distinct glacial eras.
- At its peak, an unbroken ice cap covered a full 150 square miles of the mountain, masking nearly half its height.
- There is a lone 200-year period, more than 11,000 years ago, in which there is no evidence of an ice cap.
- When the first non-Africans summited Kilimanjaro in the 1880s, all but the inner core of Kibo was entirely covered in ice, with glaciers spilling down the slopes in multiple directions.
- Twice in the 20th century, the glaciers receded dramatically—in 1912 and again in 1953—only to rebound somewhat both times, though never to previous levels.
- It is decreased precipitation, not warm temperatures, that causes the glacier coverage to shrink most.
- Shrinking glaciers have more exposed vertical walls and more exposure to solar radiation (even in the freezing temperatures at that elevation), which yields more retreat.
- 85% of the glacial coverage that existed at the dawn of the 20th century is now gone, with less than a square mile remaining.
- Some scientists predict that most of the ice will be gone by 2040, with a bare summit by 2060.
- Fortunately, while the snowline is pretty, it is not crucial: the forests down the mountain provide the water reserves for the region.
- Not everyone agrees with the worst-case scenario, with the park's chief ecologist proclaiming, "Total melt will not happen in the near future."
Witness the majesty of Kilimanjaro during our Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Masai Mara to the Serengeti adventure.
