In my experience, vistas of the Rocky Mountains tend not to be quite as dramatic because in the Rockies it is necessary to climb into a broad range of mountains and no single peak is seen in contrast to the surrounding prairie. It is difficult to appreciate your elevation under such circumstances. Even a simple photograph of the view of the mountain from the window out of our hotel room made it into my scrapbook. About 100,000 years ago a landslide carried away part of the summit and after sporadic eruptions, eventually all of the volcanoes became dormant. The glaciers formed and took up permanent residence on the summit of Kibo.
Snow never seems to melt up there, it evaporates straight into the air.
According to modern sources, the glaciers are slowly receding from the peak. One of the reasons we chose Kilimanjaro was for its climatic variety. The lower zones, just outside the national park, are densely populated by people of the Chagga tribe who farm on the rich soil. Bananas and coffee practically burst from the soil. A good number of poachers also seem to ply their trade along the edges of the national park, which is amorphously delineated in most locations.