I'm heading off the Berg for a week on Saturday, and I was hoping to use my newly acquired rack up there. I had a look at the MCSA KZN section for routes but there seem to be mostly epics with huge commitment requirements... Can anyone tell me about some easy( < 18/19) not-too-epic trad routes in the region of Monk's Cowl and Cathkin Estate? Something similar to going up Table Mountain, doing Jacobs and hiking down in less than half a day.

Hey Mat,

Berg climbing = epic adventure climbing.
No real way around it.

I've done both sentinal (standard, Angus Leppan and Paradigm) and the Bell - and these are probably the most enjoyable introductions to the berg.

Angus Leppan can be done in a day from Witsieshoek, while the bell is a weekend trip.

Have fun!

Ant

I can vouch for Angus-Leppan. Have climbed it twice and will repeat it as long as I can still climb - simply spectacular. Table Mountain's exposure is not a patch against that on the Sentinel's north face! The Sentinel is the most accessible and I'd also advise budgeting a whole day for that. If things go really well your car-to-car time for Angus-Leppan can be as low as six hours, but then you really need to push things. Keep the escarpment weather patterns in mind!

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"I have no more friends, and my nuts are too small!"

p.s. there is no restaurant at the top

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Climb ZA - Administrator

Thanks for your replies guys, I'll take my gear and see what I can get up. If there is anyone in the Berg area who wants a second and a third sometime next week, drop me a PM
Can't wait for the BERG!!!

Matt never did like the walk in,