Pico Cão Grande
Interesting facts
- The peak is made mostly of phonolite, a lava whose Greek name means 'sounding stone' because unbroken slabs ring with a metallic note when struck.
- Phonolite is the same rare rock that forms Devils Tower in Wyoming, another famous volcanic monolith rising from its surroundings.
- The Cameroon Line it belongs to runs for about 1,600 km and is unusual among volcanic chains in crossing both oceanic and continental crust.
- São Tomé itself is one huge shield volcano that rises from an Atlantic seabed more than 3,000 metres deep.
- The rainy south and west of São Tomé can receive around 6 metres of rain a year, which explains the slick moss that coats the needle's walls.
- The name of the 2016 route Nubivagant was glossed by its creators as 'ascent into the clouds'; the line is graded 8b, or 5.13d.
- During their four weeks on the wall in 2016, the climbers contended with snakebites and burnt-out battery chargers in the relentless humidity.
- On Nubivagant the hardest climbing comes in the first 100 metres; above that the difficulty eases considerably towards the summit.
- The Pou brothers' 2018 route Leve Leve, graded 8b+, was established from the ground up without aid, and an American team repeated Nubivagant free two weeks later.
Why it is worth it
Pico Cão Grande – "Great Dog Peak" – rises out of the rainforest of southern São Tomé like a giant grey spike, a sheer-sided needle of rock standing some 370 metres above the surrounding jungle and topping out at about 663 metres above sea level. The contrast between the smooth, almost vertical column and the dense green canopy at its foot makes it one of the most striking landforms in Africa.
The needle is a volcanic plug. It formed when magma cooled and hardened inside the vent of a volcano belonging to the Cameroon Line, the chain of volcanoes that runs from mainland Cameroon out into the Gulf of Guinea. The rock, mostly phonolite, solidified around three and a half million years ago in the Pliocene; the softer volcanic material around it has since been stripped away by erosion, leaving the hard core standing alone. The peak lies within Obô Natural Park, which protects much of the island's interior forest, in the Caué District in the far south of the island.
Moss-covered rock, constant humidity and snakes make the walls notoriously difficult to climb. A Portuguese team attempted the peak in 1975, but the first ascent was made only in February 1991 by the Japanese climbers Yosuke Takahashi, Kenichi Moriyama and Naotoshi Agata. In 2016 Gareth Leah and Sergio Almada spent four weeks establishing a 455-metre bolted route of fifteen pitches, which they named Nubivagant; in 2018 the Spanish brothers Iker and Eneko Pou opened a still harder line, Leve Leve, and also made the first fully free ascent of Nubivagant.
Getting there
The nearest village is Vila Clotilde, about 3 km to the east, and the district seat of São João dos Angolares lies about 9 km east on the coast road. The capital, São Tomé, is about 30 km away in a straight line, and the nearest airport is São Tomé International Airport (TMS), about 33 km away. The route from the capital follows the east-coast road south to São João dos Angolares and then turns inland.
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From the encyclopaedia
The Pico Cão Grande is a landmark needle-shaped volcanic plug peak in São Tomé and Príncipe, in the Caué District of São Tomé Island in Parque Natural Obô de São Tomé. Its summit is 663 m (2,175 ft) above sea level, and it rises about 370 m (1,210 ft) over the surrounding terrain. The volcanic plug was formed by magma solidifying in the vent of an active volcano. The nearest village is Vila Clotilde, 3 km to the east. The district seat São João dos Angolares is 9 km to the east.
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