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Adam's Peak - February 2020 (4)

Mountain·Sri LankaSri Lanka

Adam's Peak

2,243m

Central Massif

Summit weather

Rehman Abubakr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation
2,243m
Relief
1,775mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
55°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
NoneSee month by month ↓
First ascent
1345
Summit
6.8094°N, 80.4994°E

Mountain in Sri Lanka

Adam's Peak is a mountain in the Central Massif (Sri Lanka). Its summit stands 2,243 m above sea level. It was first climbed in 1345.

From the lowest point within 5 km (468 m), it rises 1,775 m. The steepest side is the north face: 32° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 55° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Hatton, 14 km away at 1,271 m: 972 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Adam's Peak for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

4.3/10

Difficulty to the top

Hike

Most path sections around the top are T2 on the SAC hiking scale.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

  • 0.2/2.50 waymarked routes and 4 path sections nearby
  • 0.2/1.51 huts and shelters
  • 1.0/2972 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.3/1.51,065 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Adam's Peak

In a normal year there is no snow on this mountain, not even at the summit.

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Adam's Peak, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average March afternoon the summit reaches about 20 °C; on January nights it falls to about 9 °C. Afternoons at the top are above freezing in every month of the average year. In March the 0 °C line climbs to about 6,340 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, July is the driest month (82 mm) and November the wettest (274 mm).

1,000 m2,000 m3,000 m4,000 m5,000 m6,000 mSUMMIT · 2,243 mHATTON · 1,271 mJanuary: 5,780 mFebruary: 6,040 mMarch: 6,340 mApril: 6,300 mMay: 6,000 mJune: 5,780 mJuly: 5,720 mAugust: 5,780 mSeptember: 5,840 mOctober: 5,860 mNovember: 5,780 mDecember: 5,700 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °CHatton high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January189235,780108116.4
February199246,0408697.7
March2011256,340104128.3
April2012256,300175207.5
May1913246,000164206.7
June1813235,780101186.5
July1712225,72082166.3
August1812235,78092156.3
September1812235,840129186.5
October1812235,860234236.3
November1811235,780274235.4
December1710225,700212185.1

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 681 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east
2,243 m530 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
2,243 m472 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 32°NNE: 32°NEE: 24°ESE: 29°SES: 22°SSW: 24°SWW: 28°WNW: 23°NW

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Adam's Peak

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Adam's Peak seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

  • 1mountain huts and shelters

    Fishing Hut

  • —cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
  • —ski areas
  • —waymarked hiking routes
  • —via ferratas
  • —climbing crags and routes
  • —named glaciers
  • 9viewpoints

    Maskeliya Ravana Gala, Meellakela, Heramitipana, Seethagangula and 5 more

  • —campsites
  • 31hotels, B&Bs and chalets

    River View Wathsala Inn, Punsisi Rest, White House, White Elephant and 27 more

  • 13restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

4 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T2
  • T2 mountain hiking

Towns at the foot

  • Hatton14 km · 1,271 m
  • Ratnapura17 km · 73 m
  • Talawakele22 km · 1,217 m

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Adam's Peak - February 2020 (1)
Rehman Abubakr · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adams peak - wild senctury
Nisal Senanayaka · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1991–2020 average181920201918171818181817
2020+0.7±0.0+0.9+1.5+0.4+0.4−0.1+0.4−0.7+0.1+0.5+0.3
2021−0.5−0.4−1.5−0.7−0.4−0.1−0.1−0.6−0.4−0.5−0.9+0.5
2022+0.4−0.8−1.4−1.2−0.9−0.6−0.1−0.6−0.3−0.7−0.4−0.7
2023−1.1−1.1−1.2±0.0−0.2+0.4+0.4+1.2−0.1−0.2+0.5+0.4
2024+0.3+0.1±0.0+1.5+1.0+0.8+1.1+0.6+0.6+0.3+0.5+0.9
2025−0.7−0.2−1.0−1.6−0.5−0.1−0.2−0.3−0.2−0.2−0.4±0.0

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q60789) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profilesCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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