Credner Glacier

The Credner Glacier is one of the outlet glaciers descending from the Northern Ice Field on the summit of Kibo, Mount Kilimanjaro’s highest cone. Flowing down the northwestern flank of the mountain, it is part of the quietest and least-visited side of the summit — a remote sheet of ancient ice high above the plains of northern Tanzania.

Named by early European scientists who studied Kilimanjaro, the Credner Glacier is a link to the mountain’s age of exploration and, today, a marker of its rapidly changing ice.

Overview of the Credner Glacier

The Credner Glacier is a plateau outlet glacier fed by the Northern Ice Field, the largest surviving ice body on Kilimanjaro. It spills from the northern summit plateau down the northwestern slopes of Kibo, alongside its neighbour the Drygalski Glacier.

Because it lies on the cool, shaded northern side of the mountain, the ice here has endured longer than on other aspects — but like all of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers, the Credner is thinning and retreating, its edges marked by the sheer vertical ice walls typical of the mountain’s plateau glaciers.

Where Is the Credner Glacier Located?

The Credner Glacier descends the northwestern flank of Kibo, flowing from the Northern Ice Field above 5,700 metres. It sits on the remote northern side of the summit, away from the main climbing routes, in a part of the mountain seen mostly by trekkers on the long Northern Circuit Route.

Key location details:

• Mountain: Mount Kilimanjaro (Kilimanjaro National Park)
• Position: Northwestern slopes of Kibo
• Source: Northern Ice Field
• Neighbouring glacier: Drygalski Glacier
• Elevation: from about 5,700 m down the northern slope
• Status: retreating outlet glacier of the Northern Ice Field

An Outlet of the Northern Ice Field

Kilimanjaro’s summit was once capped by a single continuous ice sheet. As that cap thinned and broke apart, its edges divided into separate outlet glaciers. The Credner Glacier is one of these — a tongue of ice fed by the Northern Ice Field and flowing down the mountain’s northwestern side.

A defining feature of the glacier is its vertical ice margin — a sheer wall of layered ice that marks its edge and reveals the seasons of snowfall compressed over centuries. These walls are the leading edge of the glacier’s retreat, eroded by the intense equatorial sun even though the summit air never rises above freezing.

Naming and Exploration History

Like many features on Kilimanjaro’s summit, the Credner Glacier was named in honour of a German scientist during the era when European explorers and researchers were first mapping and studying the mountain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The neighbouring Drygalski Glacier was named for the polar scientist Erich von Drygalski, and it was by way of the Drygalski Glacier that climbers Oehler and Klute made the third recorded ascent of Kibo in 1912.

These names tie the northern glaciers to Kilimanjaro’s golden age of exploration, when its ice, geology and volcanic origins were being documented for the first time.

Climate and Conditions on the Glacier

The Credner Glacier lies in Kilimanjaro’s arctic summit zone, where the air stays permanently below freezing while the equatorial sun is intense.

Conditions on the ice:

• Surface temperatures remain below freezing year-round, from a few degrees below zero by day to well under −15 °C on cold, clear nights.
• Its shaded northern position has helped it survive longer than glaciers on the sunlit southern and eastern sides.
• Precipitation falls as snow and graupel and often disappears within days.
• The glacier has no active accumulation zone, so it loses more ice than it gains.

A Retreating Glacier: Ice Loss on Kilimanjaro

The Credner Glacier is part of one of the world’s most studied examples of tropical glacier loss. Almost 85 percent of Kilimanjaro’s ice cover disappeared between 1912 and 2011, shrinking from about 11.4 km² to under 1 km².

Key facts about the retreat:

• Average annual ice loss was about 1.1 percent from 1912 to 1953, rising to 1.4 percent (1953–1989) and 2.5 percent (1989–2007).
• Of the ice still present in 2000, nearly 40 percent had gone by 2011.
• The northern glaciers, including the Credner, have thinned and retreated along with the ice field that feeds them.
• One 2013 assessment estimated most of Kilimanjaro’s ice will vanish by around 2040, and that it is highly unlikely any ice body will remain after 2060.

Why the Credner Glacier Is Retreating

The causes of Kilimanjaro’s ice loss are subtler than simple warming. Research points to a decline in atmospheric moisture — lower specific humidity following a sharp climate shift at the end of the 19th century — rather than rising air temperature as the main long-term driver. No clear warming trend was found at the elevation of these glaciers between 1948 and 2005.

Because the summit air stays below freezing, the ice rarely melts from the top. Instead it is lost mainly through solar radiation striking the vertical ice walls and through sublimation, where ice turns directly to vapour in the dry, sunlit air. Once the vertical margins are exposed, there is little to stop the glacier’s slow retreat.

Seeing the Credner Glacier

The Credner Glacier is one of Kilimanjaro’s more remote glaciers, best seen from the northern side of the mountain.

• The Northern Circuit Route traverses the quiet northern slopes beneath the Northern Ice Field and its outlet glaciers.
• Climbers who reach the crater rim near Gilman’s Point and continue to Uhuru Peak can view the northern glaciers across the summit.
• The neighbouring Drygalski Glacier shares the same northwestern flank.

Why the Credner Glacier Matters

The Credner Glacier is a small but meaningful part of Kilimanjaro’s summit landscape. Named during the mountain’s age of exploration, it links the modern climber to the scientists who first studied Kilimanjaro’s ice. Its retreat, alongside the rest of the mountain’s glaciers, is a clear and sobering illustration of how tropical ice is responding to a changing climate.

What the Experience Feels Like

To see the Credner Glacier is to glimpse one of the wildest and least-visited corners of Kilimanjaro. On the remote northern slopes, far from the crowds of the main routes, the ancient ice stands in silence above the plains — a reminder of how vast and quiet the roof of Africa can be.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Credner Glacier

Where is the Credner Glacier on Mount Kilimanjaro?

The Credner Glacier descends the northwestern flank of Kibo, flowing from the Northern Ice Field above 5,700 m, on the remote northern side of the summit.

What ice field feeds the Credner Glacier?

It is an outlet glacier of the Northern Ice Field, the largest remaining ice body on Kilimanjaro, and it shares the northwestern slope with the Drygalski Glacier.

Is the Credner Glacier retreating?

Yes. Along with the rest of Kilimanjaro’s ice, it has retreated sharply — nearly 85 percent of the mountain’s ice was lost between 1912 and 2011, and most is projected to be gone by around 2040.

Why is the ice retreating if the summit stays below freezing?

Loss is driven mainly by reduced atmospheric moisture, intense solar radiation on the vertical ice walls, and sublimation — ice turning directly to vapour — rather than by melting from above.

Can you see the Credner Glacier when climbing Kilimanjaro?

It is best seen from the northern side of the mountain, especially along the Northern Circuit Route, and from the crater rim between Gilman’s Point and Uhuru Peak.

Need help with Kilimanjaro National Park?

If you’d like help understanding Kilimanjaro National Park, choosing a route that explores the quieter northern side of the mountain, or planning a safe and well-paced climb toward features like the Credner Glacier, we’re happy to guide you through the options and logistics so you can experience the roof of Africa at its most remote and rewarding.