Cape Verde
Pico do Fogo
Loose black scree all the way to a steaming crater rim 2,829 metres above the Atlantic.
Cinder crunches and slides underfoot, three steps up and one back, until the smell of sulphur arrives before the view. At 2,829 metres the rim of Pico do Fogo opens onto a crater where steam curls from the rock, the vineyards of Chã das Caldeiras a small green interruption in the lava far below.
Pico do Fogo is Cape Verde's highest mountain and an active volcano, a young black cone standing inside the older caldera it grew from. The climb begins among vines at around 1,700 metres and gains more than a thousand vertical metres on ash and broken rock; a local mountain guide is required, and the route earns the rule, shifting and unmarked in the scree. The crater at the top still breathes, steam and sulphur rising from vents in its walls, and the lava of the 2014 eruption that reshaped the villages below stays in view the whole way up. The descent is the reward for the slog: a headlong run down deep soft ash, boots filling, each stride carrying metres.
Solo
This is a climb you share with one guide and the mountain: focused effort, thin air, and a summit that smells of sulphur. Stay in the caldera the night before for the early start.
Friends
Suffer the scree together and race the ash-run down, then hold the debrief over caldera wine and goat's cheese in the village.
- At 2,829 metres, Pico do Fogo is Cape Verde's highest point and an active volcano.
- The ascent starts among the vineyards of Chã das Caldeiras and must be made with a local mountain guide.
- Steam and sulphur rise from vents in the summit crater.
- The descent is a fast slide down deep volcanic ash slopes.
Carry a packed lunch up from your guesthouse; the mountain gives you nothing but cinders and sky.
Back among the vines, recovery is goat's cheese, fresh bread and a glass of the caldera's own red.
Honister Slate Mine
England
A via ferrata bolted to slate cliffs above a pass where miners once clung.
Serra dos Órgãos
Brazil
Brazilian climbing began here in 1912, on a human pyramid, with pitons the blacksmith forged himself.
Stelvio Pass
Italy
Forty-eight hairpin bends climbing to 2,757 metres, the highest paved pass in the Eastern Alps.
Cruzinha da Garça
Cape Verde
Twelve kilometres of cliff-carved path end at a fishing hamlet on black sand.
Assomada
Cape Verde
Papaya, maize and market din fill the highland town that feeds all Santiago.
Mindelo
Cape Verde
Morna drifts from harbour bars where the barefoot diva Cesária Évora first sang for sailors.
Santa Maria
Cape Verde
Kites carve the trade wind; the morning catch sells straight off the wooden pier.