UPDATE FROM LEWIS – 10 December 2025
“I’ve just climbed Mount Kenya, hoping to swim in a lake beneath the Lewis Glacier, to shine a light on how quickly Africa’s last glaciers are disappearing, and why the world’s remaining ice is so precious.
I’ve visited hundreds of glaciers over the years, but the Lewis Glacier was one of the most shocking to witness. It is now so small, and it will disappear very soon.
Yet, shortly before we reached the summit, we were informed that the swim could not go ahead, and that filming near the glacier would not be allowed. After many months of preparation, this was painful to hear. However, this campaign has never been about the swim alone. It has always been about protecting nature for the people who depend on it today and in the future.
Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, where over 150 environment ministers and leaders are meeting. I’ll be sharing what I saw on the mountain, and why protecting glaciers is now so urgent.” – Lewis Pugh
3 December 2025
This week Lewis Pugh will climb Mount Kenya and undertake a symbolic swim in a lake beneath the aptly named Lewis Glacier.*
The Mount Kenya Glacier Swim will spotlight the rapid loss of Africa’s remaining glacial ice. It will highlight how this loss affects Africa, and how it represents climate impacts across the wider Global South, through shrinking water supplies, rising food insecurity, and growing pressure on communities, wildlife, and regional stability.
“We should not be silent about the disappearance of Africa’s last glaciers. This is a significant moment in history, and the world needs to pay attention.” – Lewis Pugh
The glaciers on Mount Kenya are estimated to be between 10,000 – 30,000 years old. Scientists now predict these will disappear within the next 3 to 5 years.
* The Lewis Glacier is named after Henry Carvill Lewis (1853–1888), an American geologist and pioneer in glacial geology.
Why Africa’s Ice Matters
Ice is essential for life on Earth. Its disappearance is a clear and urgent alarm ringing out changes in our climate.
Africa has glaciers in only three places: the Rwenzori Mountains, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Kenya. As the world passes 1.5°C of warming, a level that carries serious risks for people and ecosystems, African ice is vanishing.
“At 1.5°C of warming, we lose about half of the world’s glacial ice. Even if current national pledges are fully met, global warming is still projected to reach roughly 2.7°C. At that level, scientists estimate we lose roughly three-quarters of the world’s glacial ice. So every single fraction of a degree now matters,” says Lewis.
Millions of people rely on the water from Mount Kenya for their livelihoods. Lewis will visit local communities to learn how the disappearance of glaciers is affecting their lives.
He will then take what he’s learned directly to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, where he will host a half-day session focussing on mountains and glaciers.
Sharing the Story
A swim beneath a dying glacier on the equator shows in a simple way what scientific reports have been warning for years.
“Clear, human stories help people understand what these shifts mean in real life,” says Lewis. “It turns a distant problem into something people can see and feel, today.”
The story will be shared widely. Journalists joining Lewis on the climb will discuss what is happening on the mountain with scientists, mountain guides, and local communities.
Coverage will continue at UNEA in Nairobi, where environment ministers and global media will hear the reports from the glacier face first-hand.
Training
“There’s swimming in cold water, and there’s climbing at altitude. Both carry risk, but combine them and the stakes rise exponentially.” – Lewis Pugh
Lewis’s training started in October 2025 with cold-water swims in the sea off Plymouth, where the water temperature is now a crisp 10°C. “That’s the sort of temperature in which you can still do a good kilometre sprint,” says Lewis.
Lewis also spent time working out in the altitude chamber at Plymouth Marjon University five times a week. Here, the team would mimic the conditions at 4,000m, putting Lewis through carefully calibrated sessions of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).
“I learned the hard way about the dangers of high-altitude swimming when I swam on Mount Everest. This time I know what to expect, so I can be better prepared.”
A Cry from a Planet in Crisis
Lewis’s first high-altitude glacial swim was in 2010, on Mount Everest. Its purpose was to draw global attention to the scale of the crisis in the Himalayas, where retreating ice threatens the water supply to over two billion people. That swim showed how vast the consequences could be if the world fails to act.
Fifteen years later, the Mount Kenya swim carries the same message, but with a sharper edge. Everest was about scale; Kenya is about urgency. Africa’s last glaciers have gone past the point of no return, and the loss is unfolding right now.
“The Lewis Glacier is not named after me, of course. But it does feel very personal since I’ve been swimming around, on top of, and underneath glaciers for 20 years to draw attention to their vulnerability,” says Lewis. “People know that glaciers are melting, but they don’t understand the speed of what is happening. I thought I understood glaciers, and I thought that Africa’s glaciers still had several decades. I was deeply shocked to hear that Mount Kenya’s glaciers will be gone in three to five years, and Kilimanjaro’s will follow shortly afterwards.”
20 YEARS OF GLACIER SWIMS
2005
Magdalena Glacier, Svalbard
2006
Nigard’s Glacier, Norway
2010
Khumbu Glacier, Mount Everest, Nepal
at 5,200m altitude
2021
Illulisat, Greenland
2025
Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya
at 4,850m altitude
Timeline
November
Altitude training in the environmental chamber at
Plymouth Marjon University.
4 December
Travel from Nairobi (1,800m) to the base of Mount Kenya.
Visit local communities.
Overnight at Meteorological Station (3,000m).
5 December
Mountain acclimatization with 10km hike.
6 December
Climb via the Naro Moro route to Mackinder’s Hut (4,200m).
7 December
Climb to the Austrian Hut and then onto the Lewis Glacier (4,850m).
Swim in Tarn Lewis (4,850m).
8 December
Climb to Lenana Point (5,000m).
9 – 11 December
Attend UNEA in Nairobi.
