Furtwangler Glacier correctly spelled as the Furtwängler Glacier is located near the very top of Mount Kilimanjaro, close to the summit and Uhuru Peak, and is one of the largest glaciers on the mountain. Named after one of the two friends who happen to be the fourth party to climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro back in the year 1912. The glacier is named Furtwangler Glacier after Walter Furtwängler who was part of the people that climbed Mount Kilimanjaro during that year, together with Siegfried König.
Location of the Furtwangler Glacier
The Furtwangler Glacier is located on the Kibo Crater within Kibo Peak. While hiking from Stella Point in the wee hours of the morning, heading to Uhuru Peak, the main summit, you will come across the Furtwängler Glacier on the southern side coming from Kilimanjaro crater.
The glacier is a small portion of what is left after the greater part of an ice cap that once capped the peak of Kilimanjaro melted. it is a remnant of about 25% of what used to be an ice cover at the summit of the mountain from when it was discovered in October 1912 to June 2011. Due to global warming, activists and researchers believe that by the year 2040, most of what remains may disappear completely if the situation continues at this pace and by 2060 all of Mount Kilimanjaro’s ice will not exist anymore.
Furtwangler Glacier at a glance
- One of the largest glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro
- Estimated extinction: 2030
- Named after Walter Furtwängler, one of the climbers to successfully reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in the year 1912
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