The Mulanje Massif in southern Malawi, a sprawling network of forested peaks with myriad granite faces, whose highest summit rises to 3,002m, has seen a renewed burst of development in the past four years. The crown jewel, the two-tiered northwest face (commonly referred to as the west face) of Chambe (2,556m), has received five new lines in that period, more than doubling the total.

I traveled there in July 2022 with Kiran Kallur (India) and Matthew McGeever (USA) to get in on the action. Ahead of our trip, and after reading his report in the 2019 AAJ about a new route he had done, I reached out to James Garrett (USA) for logistical info and beta on developing routes on Chambe. James’ excellent advice in that 2019 write-up remains spot-on.

After flying into Blantyre, Matt and I drove 60km west to the village of Likhubula, where we made our home base at the Hikers’ Nest, a charming guesthouse run by Ruth Kalonda. We hired two local trekking guides, Witness Stima and George Pakha, to help us navigate to the wall each day and watch our belongings. Witness and George, along with guide Kingsley Mmambo, have worked with climbers and know the locations of the routes on Chambe’s northwest face. Hiring guides is a good way to participate in the local economy in Likhubula; a couple of dollars a day can mean the difference between eating or not that night for the local guides.

Before Kiran arrived, Matt and I spent our first day at Mulanje climbing The Initiation, a 270m, eight-pitch 5.7 on the left side of the lower northwest face. We simul-climbed it in two long pitches. American climbers Scott Eubank and Emily Spahn had bolted this previously unreported route in August 2019. It was a great introduction to the granite of Chambe: high friction, few real holds, wild vellozia bushes to stand upon, and screeching baboons.

Once Kiran showed up, we set to work opening a new 600m route in the middle of the wall. We bolted our way upward—the wall is devoid of features aside from a handful of major crack systems, rendering traditional protection all but useless. For the 5.10+ crux sixth pitch, we bolted the 40m pitch on rappel, having traversed in from the left after climbing the three existing pitches (and adding two new pitches) on another James Garrett route, The Raven (5 pitches, 5.8, Garrett-Lawson-Levy-McGeever).

Our new route, Witness and George, is sparsely bolted but mostly follows mellow friction slab in the 5.5–5.9 range. Aside from the delightful crimping on the crux pitch, the line is of middling quality.

After Kiran and Matt left the country, I still had some time. I linked up with Emily Spahn and made the second ascent—the route still awaits a free ascent—of Fire on the Mountain, another previously unreported climb that she and Scott Eubank bolted on the far right side of the lower northwest face in August 2019. Scott had bolted the first three pitches on lead, but the five upper pitches were equipped top-down, a first for Chambe. Fire on the Mountain is 365m and eight pitches long, and climbs the entire lower face. Emily and Scott graded it 5.10+ A0 (though I think at least one pitch probably merits 5.11); the first pitch, yet to be freed, will likely be in the 5.12+ realm. For my money, this was the best of the routes from the recent spate of development. It is sustained, varied, and thoughtful.

A climb that I hoped to get on, but that remained wet for the entirety of my stay, was James Garrett and Richard Ford’s 2018 route Passion and Pain, located about 60m right of the start of Witness and George. James and Richard established seven pitches in 2018, but they didn’t have the time to push the line to the jungly plateau between the upper and lower faces. James added an eighth pitch with Tyler Algeo on a return trip in 2019. In September 2022, now 70, James returned to the Mulanje Massif, intent on extending the route to the natural end point; he recruited legendary American climbers Mark Jenkins, Mark Richey, and Geoff Tabin to join him. The foursome added four new pitches, including a final 60m “5.11++++,” which Jenkins and Richey bolted on lead, an experience the former described as “desperate.” Jenkins freed this pitch on top-rope. With its central location on the face, consistent quality, thoughtful bolting, and ease of descent (it can be rappelled with a single 60m rope), Passion and Pain (690m, 12 pitches, IV 5.11+)—or at least the first 11 pitches of it—seems destined to become the classic of the cliff.

To date, the steeper and taller (ca 950m) upper northwest face of Chambe still only has one route, the upper half of Frank Eastwood’s 1977 West Face Direct (VI 5.10). In concert with its lower half, this route, first done in a three-and-a-half-day effort, is often touted as a 1,700m climb and thus the longest technical rock climb on the continent. However, there is 0.5km walk between Chambe’s two tiers, making them rather discontinuous. (The total height of Chambe’s northwest face is frequently cited as 1,700m but is actually closer to 1,560m.) One thing is sure: The upper northwest face is enormous and a veritable blank canvas.

It is much steeper than the lower face and would require difficult climbing and oodles of bolts, but a new line here would be a gnarly accomplishment and wonderful addition to the area.

Climb Malawi, a nonprofit gym 375km away (about a five-hour drive) in the capital city of Lilongwe, is the leading climbing organization in the country. Route developers are encouraged to touch base with Climb Malawi or the Mountain Club of Malawi to help the local community keep accurate records of climbs that are developed. A guidebook, published by the Mountain Club of Malawi in 2020, is available for free online.

— Michael Levy, AAJ