I have a few questions about Vredehoek,so feedback would be much appreciated.

Do people still climb in the quarry?
To whom must a speak to obtain permission to bolt a few routs in the quarry?
Is Vredehoek quarry under the SANP?

me and a friend is really serious about bolting a route or 2 there,so serious that we will spray paint the bolts before bolting them,to blend in with the rock and we are going to pick up the trash!!!

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Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Probably a good idea to go onto the route wiki on this site for the Quarry (Higgovale/Glencoe quarry) and check out the existing routes. Draw a proposed line on where you see your route going (making sure it is not messing with any existing routes) then i think you MAY need to send to MCSA sub comm for the go ahead. The last part I am not 100% sure of, BUT PLEASE dont bolt too close to any existing lines as the quarry is seeing quite a bit of traffic these days and is a great place for beginners to start getting outdoors.
Thanks for the help with cleaning up the litter, although it should be 100% better than it was 2 years ago.
cheers

The merits/safety of climbing in quarries aside, as far as I know the Vredehoek quarry is not zee same place as Higgovale quarry....... I believe there was some very limited info on routes in Vredehoek quarry in a prehistoric edition of Guy's Western Cape climbing guide....

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One life, one body. Use them well.

As Q20 mentioned, it would be a good idea to confirm which quarry. The Vredehoek quarry is above the Derry street Spar in Vredehoek. The Higgovale quarry is in ... Higgovale. Both have routes. The Higgovale quarry has lots of routes, lots of grades and is Granite. The Vredehoek quarry has two routes (as far as I know) opened a while back by Jeremy Colenso, the grades are i believe 22 and 24, although they feel a little more like 26 and 28!

aha, that settles it then, I cocked that up.
Great, good to hear no one wants to bolt anymore lines in the Higgovale quarry.

Thanks for the replays guys! yea me and my friend is really serious about bolting a line or 2 in Vredehoek quarry.

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oh yes and i don't know if this will help but we also looked at a few thing:

Walking to and from venue:

*Erosion of footpaths
*Trampling/removing indigenous vegetation
*Fauna and Flora impact
*Litter

Belaying and Climbing:

*Erosion of base crag
*Removing of indigenous flora
*Disturbance of animals and endangered birds,nesting
*Waste
*Disturbance of archaeologically sensitive sites

Bolting/New routes

*Visual impact of fixed protection
*Damage to Rock Art

I am no expert but as far as my bit of knowledge go's there is Low to No impact on any of the above mentioned things.

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Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

I've never been to Vredehoek quarry, but seeing his homework, this guy has my vote for a spot on the MCSA climbing sub-com

Never been there myself either, but read a description of how to get there somewhere (will try to remember where) but at the time I looked for it on google and flagged this as the location based on the description: Vredehoek Quarry

I though it was Guy and Doug (? Ward?) who manufactured some routes there back in the mists of time.

Guy Holwill, Jeremy Colenso, Malcolm Gowans and I all did routes there (maybe someone else too), cant for the life of me remember what grades they were, they are probably listed in the first Western Cape Crags guidebook written by Guy (Im not at home so cant look). Take a stickclip and huge balls if you want to climb there - the bolts are twenty+ year old mild steel drop in anchors (and some better ones) and the rock is extremely friable with new loose shit coming down all the time. Jeremy's routes (yeah at least 26 for the crack) are natural and peg protected. These routes were half covered when developers dumped a huge load of soil into the quarry many years ago. SanParks are NOT keen for ppl to climb there as the place was deemed unsafe, it is also a favourite site for ppl doing illegal shit including shooting guns (it is NOT a firing range, ppl shooting there can be arrested)............. crap choice of place to climb IMHO, maybe take a bulletproof vest just to be safe, I was nearly shot by some trigger happy twat there once!

If you really must risk your life in that ugly hole (worst vibe of any place in Cape Town!) then study the rock very very closely before putting the chisel in, often its loose (ok Ive said that already), if you look closely you will see rectangular pieces where the fracture lines cross each other which can be chiseled out to produce a more 'natural' looking and feeling route than simply blatantly chopping into the middle of the blank face.

Good luck!!!!!!!! I hope that common sense prevails and that you simply stay the f-k away from the place! Get a clue - climb on real crags not man made choss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like given the availability of great climbing venues around CT it's a place to avoid like the plague.

It was a great place for acid parties in the 80's. Fond memories

Jermey Colenso on Firearms (26) at the Vredehoek Slate Quarry - From Southern Rock Magazine

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Climb ZA - Administrator

Looks desperate, slippery, nasty, and super stiff.... almost as bad as that Scot climbing that depressing quarry in the Movie E11.

Thanks for the reply's once again people,i understand the quarry fuh king sucks but with a bit of effort(picking up the trash and using paint remover) the place would once again be climbable and i don't know what you guys think but i think if there is once again activity in the form of people climbing there,the unwanted illegal activity will subside that's what i think?

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Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Go for it

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Climb ZA - Administrator

XMod, totally agree with you. Jones47, good luck making that place pleasant to go climb at (and climbable for people who don't have balls of granite) big up if you do! Lastly, Spike they still have those "illegal" parties there now and then and is probably the only time that quarry is pleasant!

Dumbarton Rock may be a shithole, but it isn't a quarry. And yes, the rock is slippery and awful.

Ok I was super negative back there, but it really is a dirty hole of a place, with a freaky strange vibe and the rock is frightening as more stuff keeps falling down it with every rain.

If you do go for it replace the drop-in bolts on 'Eye of the Storm' 22 which is on the right (might not be the most righthand route, second from right? - cant remember) and add a bolt at the start. The drop-ins are deathtraps by now and we never did get around to putting the first bolt in. There are a few much longer lines there that wont even need much chipping but the rock is not as solid as where we bolted. Think about what I said about how to chip, it works well.

Im afraid that no matter how much you tidy up, climbers will never be there often enough to deter unwanted types, its just the sort of place that attracts weird shit (like climbing choss and acid parties! ).

Hi guys

There are several walls but only the one on the right (with the routes) is even remotely stable. I tried to clean some of the other stuff, but I just kept pulling shit off. The slab up and left of Firearms is ok but it ends in vertical gravel. Nice!!

I definitely agree with Greg that the existing bolts should be treated with extreme caution.

I haven't been there for a long time, so my memory might be slighly inaccurate. The routes from left to right are:

1. Pink thing in my ring 24 (John Orrock) - just left of Firearms (the route is destryed by the dumping that raidsed the ground so that the first bolt is now at knee level)
2. Firearms 25 (Jeremy Colenso) - the crack
3. I've run every red light 26 (me) - nails hard wall just right of the blocky corners
4. Something
5. Something else (one was opened by Greg and Malcolm and I think I may have done the other - or not) they are both 22 ish

There is a direct start to Firearms that would be desperate because slate has no friction.

Cheers

Guy

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There's no point being pessimistic, because it probably won't work

@ XMod i understand your standpoint and i also think its bit of a shit hole but yea me and my friend is way stoked to bolt some routs there,and we spend so much time at Higgovale quarry that it's really not fun any more.but yea we were planing to replace all the bolts we could see.

I still don't know if we have permission to bolt there????????

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Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Just to fill in on Guy's info, the routes on the right:
4: Eye of the Storm 22 FA G.Hart (one stiff move to thin slot)
5: ? 21/2 FA M.Gowans

Think thats it, havent dragged the books out to check tho.

The south wall had a long line on it but with some really dodgey looking ledges and rock. The opposite side of the quarry seemed to offer two or three lines but again the rock is pale yellow and bloody awful looking. The main problem with the place is that loose stuff from the rim of the hole is constantly falling down, you need to rap in and brush it off every single time you climb or risk getting a fat hole in your head.

Parks refused permission for further bolting as the place is unsafe. It was thus not placed on the list of recognised crags despite being suggested for inclusion. To be honest, bolts are bleddy expensive, personaly I think you are totally wasting your time and money. You would be way better off looking for potential in Montagu or saving them up for when we (hopefully) finally get permission organised for Hellfire. Any bolting you do at the quarry would, strictly speaking, be illegal so keep it on the low-down (bit late for that now! - organise an acid party rather!! )
Good luck - be safe!

Hey Jones46, keep us updated please, it would be great to know how you guys are progressing.

I always thought ppl who put up routes give so much, so well done and good luck!

So to sate my curiosity, I took a stroll to the Vredehoek quarry. ‘Interesting’.
If anyone else really wants to go check it out, I feel I should suggest going in a group and maybe take a large dog with big teeth. At least parking at the Spar should keep your car safe.

Psyche is important. It’s why we get up stupidly early, drive silly distances to shiver on cramped belay ledges and get back late with bloody knuckles and spiky stuff in our socks. It’s why guys dedicate weeks to projecting hard boulder problems, and why we spend all our savings travelling to far away places to play on rocks. Psyche is great, and everyone gets amped for different things.

So I guess if you are honestly psyched about the quarry, then see what you can find out. However, having been there, there are clearly a long list of general safety and climbing reasons why it would never be a popular climbing spot (despite the 3 min walk in).

Each to their own – be safe.

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One life, one body. Use them well.

Yeah I slate the place, yet I was also drawn to its walls (I blame Johnny Dawes), I suppose we all need to slatiate our psyche!

I was running in Deer Park on Saturday, so i popped in at the Quarry to have a fresh look at the routes. I had always been aware of the two routes on the left, but not of the routes on the right hand side. The left routes look worthwhile, the ones on the right look a bit kak!

So i reckon maybe put anchors on top of Firearms, and maybe replace the pegs with bolts. you could also replace the bolts on the route to the right and it could share anchors?

I don't think safety is such an issue there at the moment, there is a constant stream of bikers and runners around most of the time.

I know what you mean about a freaky vibe though XMOD, there was a rumour years ago about security police drowning bergies there in the 80's! THat might have something to do with that!

When my mom was a teenager one of her sidekicks drowned there apparently. Jumped in and never came out.
Seems the **** parties went back a few generations

80's stile Acid party anybody?

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Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.