Climbers backpackers in Drakensberg

[ClimbingCanuck]

Hey there,

I'm a climber visiting from Canada. I'll be spending a few days in the Drakensberg while here and hoping to get on a route or two.

I'm looking for the backpackers which is most popular with climbers as I'm hoping to find a partner to climb with at said backpackers.

Thanks so much!!

[Nic Le Maitre]

There's a good Drakensberg site at vertical-endeavour.com

If you want rock climbing, I'd not recommend the Drakensberg, if you find a hold that you like, you can take it home with you... There is good climbing elsewhere, closer to Durban. The hiking in the Drakenberg is stunning though

[Viking]

I'd have to respectfully disagree with Nic. Whilst generally speaking the rock is not as good as other places, most of the classic routes have decent rock.

The Drakensberg offers some amazing adventure climbing with mostly long and amazingly beautiful walk-ins (hikes). Unfortunately there are not many routes that you can do from the car-park in a day though. Sentinel, Rhino Peak, Sterkhorn and maybe Cathedral Peak can be climbed as a (long) day trip via the technical routes, with Sentinel offering the best climbing to walk-in ratio by far - around 2hours for the walk-in.
There are one or two Sandstone routes lower that are ok, but I wouldn't travel many miles for them.

So the vast majority of routes are trad and as mentioned the rock can be less than solid in certain places.
But be warned, if you are hoping to pitch up at a backpackers and meet fellow climbers to go out with, you will be disappointed. It's not like North America and Europe where people are queuing to climb. Your best bet is to go with a partner - you won't find one there.

[ClimbingCanuck]

Ohhhhhhh okay excellent thanks guys!!

Maybe i'll save my climbing for the cape and namibia then and just check out a couple hikes while in the berg.

Thanks so much!

[Ghaznavid]

Plenty of great hikes in the Drakensberg, many can be done in a day. Viking mentioned Rhino Peak and Cathedral Peak, which are both also great days out via the walking route. Rhino sometimes has some issues with unfriendly shepherds at the top of the pass, so just read up on how to handle the situation. The local office might send a ranger up with you if you arrange it in advance.

Notes on Basotho culture at:
http://www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum ... mitstart=0