Arthur Herbert Firmin

Arthur Herbert Firmin (1912–1955) was a mountaineer, photographer, and policeman in British Colonial Kenya.

Early life

Firmin was born in Nairobi in 1912 and went to the UK for education. Returning in 1937 he joined the police as a photographer, resigning in 1946 to set up a photography business with his wife, Kathleen Barry. He specialised in mountain, wildlife and portrait photography; his work attracting enthusiastic praise at the 1953 Commonwealth Photographers Exhibition in London. The Manchester Guardian reported that “Firmin's work dominates the exhibition”

Mountaineering

Firmin was familiar with British hills and had spent 10 days climbing in Switzerland in 1951 when he climbed the Matterhorn.

In the eighteen years following his return to Kenya Firmin carried out exploratory climbing and made significant first ascents on Mount Kenya , Kilimanjaro and in the Ruwenzori Mountains. His 1944 ascent of the North Face of Mount Kenya with Peter Hicks was the first climb on that part of the mountain and became the North Face Standard Route, commonly called the Firmin-Hicks. The crux of this climb is called the Firmin Tower. The length of the route makes it difficult to ascend and descend in the same day. It is graded Kenya Grade 4 or Alpine D to TD.

In January 1946 he made the first ascent of the South Face of Batian with John Howard via its South West Ridge (Kenya Grade 4) becoming the first climber to have climbed both the North and South faces of the Mountain. This was followed in Feb 1950 with The South Face Route with J.S. Bagenal. Once regarded as the easiest router to the main summit, possibly grade 2 or 3, it has been rendered unjustifiably dangerous by climate change and disappearance of the icefields. In 1948 he made the second ascent of Shipton and Tilman's West Ridge route (grade 5) descending by his own route on the North face.

Firmin made numerous ascents of Kilimanjaro, once camping for a week in the crater. Firmin was attracted to Kibo's outlier, Mawenzi. In 1954 he climbed what is known as Firmin Route from the West with DN Sampson. (Grade 4). He also explored the East Face with JW Howard and others. Firmin climbed all the main peaks of the Ruwenzori in Uganda other than Margherita and made first ascents. With D Busk he investigated discrepancies in the maps of Stanley peak. They discovered that there are two peaks and another glacier. The were then named Elizabeth, Philip and Coronation Peak.

Death

Firmin died near Sisaghat Bazar in Nepal on May 28, 1955, aged 43 as the result of complications to a broken leg sustained while descending Himal Chuli. He is buried near Pokhara.

His wife, Kathleen, died in 1993 and is buried near Nanyuki, Kenya.

Commemoration

In 1959 The Arthur Firmin Memorial Hut was erected at 4,790m beside the old top hut to the east of the Lewis Glacier. It was conveniently placed for ascents of the standard route on Nelion and Batian and of Point Lenana. It was burned down in 1972 but replaced in 1973 with the Austrian Hut, money having been donated from Austria in recognition of the role of Kenya climbers in the rescue of Dr Gert Judmaier, who was injured high on the Firmin-Hicks route. One room in the hut is called the Firmin Room.