Mount Roraima is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepuis or plateaus in South America. First described to Europeans by the English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh during his 1595 expedition, its summit area is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising. The mountain also serves as the tripoint of Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. Raleigh learned about it from indigenous peoples, who lived there before arrival of Europeans in the 1500–1600s. Mount Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela's Canaima National Park forming the highest peak of Guyana's Highland Range. The highest point in Guyana and the highest point of the Brazilian state of Roraima lie on the plateau, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains elsewhere. The triple border point is at, but the mountain's highest point is Laberintos del Norte. The 85% of this tepui is in Venezuelan territory, 10% in the territory of Guyana., and 5% belongs to the state of Roraima in Brazil.
Flora and fauna
Many of the species found on Roraima are unique to the tepui plateaus with two local endemic plants found on Roraima summit. Plants such as pitcher plants, Campanula, and the rare Rapatea heather are commonly found on the escarpment and summit. It rains almost every day of the year. Almost the entire surface of the summit is bare sandstone, with only a few bushes and algae present. Low scanty and bristling vegetation is also found in the small, sandy marshes that intersperse the rocky summit. Most of the nutrients that are present in the soil are washed away by torrents that cascade over the edge, forming some of the highest waterfalls in the world. from Mount Roraima There are multiple examples of unique fauna atop Mount Roraima. Oreophrynella quelchii'', commonly called the Roraima Bush Toad, is a diurnal toad usually found on open rock surfaces and shrubland. It is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae and breeds by direct development. The species is currently listed as vulnerable and there is a need for increased education among tourists to make them aware of the importance of not handling these animals in the wild. Close population monitoring is also required, particularly since this species is known only from a single location. The species is protected in Monumento Natural Los Tepuyes in Venezuela, and Parque Nacional Monte Roraima in Brazil.
Culture
Since long before the arrival of European explorers, the mountain has held a special significance for the indigenous people of the region, and it is central to many of their myths and legends. The Pemon and Kapon natives of the Gran Sabana see Mount Roraima as the stump of a mighty tree that once held all the fruits and tuberous vegetables in the world. Felled by Makunaima, their mythical trickster, the tree crashed to the ground, unleashing a terrible flood.Roroi in the Pemon language means blue-green and ma means great.It is also said to have inspired Paradise Falls from the Pixar film Up.
Ascents
Although the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult to access, it was the first recorded major tepui to be climbed: Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp on 18 December 1884 to scale the plateau, the route also used by the Clementis in their climb of 15 January 1916. It is currently one of the most important mountain trekking routes in Venezuela, visited by people from many places in the world. The only non-technical route to the top is the Paraitepui route from Venezuela; any other approach will involve climbing gear. Mount Roraima has been climbed on a few occasions from the Guyana and Brazil sides, but as the mountain is entirely bordered on both these sides by enormous sheer cliffs that include high overhanging stretches, these are extremely difficult and technical rock climbing routes. Such climbs would also require difficult authorizations for entering restricted-access national parks in the respective countries. In Brazil the Monte Roraima National Park lies within the Raposa Serra do SolIndigenous Territory, and is not open to the public without permission. The ascent of the northern 'Prow' by British climbers Mo Anthoine, Joe Brown, Hamish MacInnes, and Don Whillans in 1973 was filmed for a TV documentary, and recorded in a book by MacInnes The 2013 Austrian documentaryJäger des Augenblicks - Ein Abenteuer am Mount Roraima shows rock climbers Kurt Albert, Holger Heuber, and Stefan Glowacz climbing to the top of Mount Roraima from the Guyana side. Similarly, in 2010 Brazilian climbers Eliseu Frechou, Fernando Leal and Márcio Bruno opened a new route on the Guyanese side, climbing to the top in 12 days of a very difficult vertical wall climb. They called the new route Guerra de Luz e Trevas and classed it as 6° VIIa A3 J4. A 28-minute Vimeo video called is available documenting their climb.
