South Africa Rock Climbing Routes Wiki - User contributions [en]

FUN Time 20 ****

2012-11-24T10:25:27Z

Snort:

[[Image:Fun_Time_TOPO_HIGH_RES.jpg]]
'''Start''' View the topo on the photograph. The route traverses in from the right and the start is marked with a cairn.

* Pitch 1 : (19) 30m Walk left along a ledge system to a cairn. Traverse low below an overhang past a green bush and step down after 5m to end below a steep white face. Climb up the right facing corner and exit left above it to a small ledge with a bush.
* Pitch 2 : (20)35m Climb directly up from the ledge past the thin crux(tiny cam BD C1 or C2). Continue to the large left facing corner and up this to a comfy ledge.
* Pitch 3 : (20) 20m Move right and do a tricky stem move in a grey groove and continue diagonally right to the large overhang. Climb through the notch directly above the belay and continue to a small belay stance.
* Pitch 4 (17) 30m Climb diagonally right to the monster sized pillar and traverse to the right at its base. Continue up and right to a right facing corner (or climb the dark face to the left of the corner) and exit diagonally left to a large bushy ledge and stance.
* Pitch 6 : (14) 20m Exit the ledge on easy rock on it's left and then pull through the bulge just left of the overhang above and then climb diagonally right to a stance below shiny grey rock and left leaning cracks directly above the previous belay.
* Pitch 7 : (17) 25m Climb the crack system to the next ledge and stance
* Pitch 8 : (20) 25m Climb the overhanging jam crack and continue up the steep crack and face to a stance on the right below a right facing corner.
* Pitch 9 : (18) 40m Climb the corner and continue past a short chimney crack above. Continue up the left facing corner crack or up the left slanting grassy cracks and exit left and then find your way to the top. Avoid the horrible off width by climbing around on the left.

Scramble off.

FA: C Edelstein, F Davids and T Firman Summer 2009
FA Pitch 9 "Krakadouw" pitch C Edelstein and Neels Havenga 20 Jan 2010

(See Topo on photograph)

== '''Descent''' ==
EITHER walk right to the gulley between Smalblaar ridge and the chesspieces. This involves three short abseils.

OR use the [[DOWN TIME Rap Route]]

[[Category:Yellowwood Amphitheatre]]

File:Fun Time TOPO HIGH RES.jpg

2012-11-24T10:22:55Z

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File:Fantastic Time 1 Topo.jpg

2012-11-24T10:22:07Z

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FUN Time 20 ****

2012-11-24T10:16:51Z

Snort:

[[Image:Fun_Time_Topo.jpeg|frame|center|Slack Time topo]]
'''Start''' View the topo on the photograph. The route traverses in from the right and the start is marked with a cairn.

* Pitch 1 : (19) 30m Walk left along a ledge system to a cairn. Traverse low below an overhang past a green bush and step down after 5m to end below a steep white face. Climb up the right facing corner and exit left above it to a small ledge with a bush.
* Pitch 2 : (20)35m Climb directly up from the ledge past the thin crux(tiny cam BD C1 or C2). Continue to the large left facing corner and up this to a comfy ledge.
* Pitch 3 : (20) 20m Move right and do a tricky stem move in a grey groove and continue diagonally right to the large overhang. Climb through the notch directly above the belay and continue to a small belay stance.
* Pitch 4 (17) 30m Climb diagonally right to the monster sized pillar and traverse to the right at its base. Continue up and right to a right facing corner (or climb the dark face to the left of the corner) and exit diagonally left to a large bushy ledge and stance.
* Pitch 6 : (14) 20m Exit the ledge on easy rock on it's left and then pull through the bulge just left of the overhang above and then climb diagonally right to a stance below shiny grey rock and left leaning cracks directly above the previous belay.
* Pitch 7 : (17) 25m Climb the crack system to the next ledge and stance
* Pitch 8 : (20) 25m Climb the overhanging jam crack and continue up the steep crack and face to a stance on the right below a right facing corner.
* Pitch 9 : (18) 40m Climb the corner and continue past a short chimney crack above. Continue up the left facing corner crack or up the left slanting grassy cracks and exit left and then find your way to the top. Avoid the horrible off width by climbing around on the left.

Scramble off.

FA: C Edelstein, F Davids and T Firman Summer 2009
FA Pitch 9 "Krakadouw" pitch C Edelstein and Neels Havenga 20 Jan 2010

(See Topo on photograph)

== '''Descent''' ==
EITHER walk right to the gulley between Smalblaar ridge and the chesspieces. This involves three short abseils.

OR use the [[DOWN TIME Rap Route]]

[[Category:Yellowwood Amphitheatre]]

FUN Time 20 ****

2012-11-24T10:10:07Z

Snort:

[[Image:Slack Time topo high res.jpg|frame|center|Slack Time topo]]
'''Start''' View the topo on the photograph. The route traverses in from the right and the start is marked with a cairn.

* Pitch 1 : (19) 30m Walk left along a ledge system to a cairn. Traverse low below an overhang past a green bush and step down after 5m to end below a steep white face. Climb up the right facing corner and exit left above it to a small ledge with a bush.
* Pitch 2 : (20)35m Climb directly up from the ledge past the thin crux(tiny cam BD C1 or C2). Continue to the large left facing corner and up this to a comfy ledge.
* Pitch 3 : (20) 20m Move right and do a tricky stem move in a grey groove and continue diagonally right to the large overhang. Climb through the notch directly above the belay and continue to a small belay stance.
* Pitch 4 (17) 30m Climb diagonally right to the monster sized pillar and traverse to the right at its base. Continue up and right to a right facing corner (or climb the dark face to the left of the corner) and exit diagonally left to a large bushy ledge and stance.
* Pitch 6 : (14) 20m Exit the ledge on easy rock on it's left and then pull through the bulge just left of the overhang above and then climb diagonally right to a stance below shiny grey rock and left leaning cracks directly above the previous belay.
* Pitch 7 : (17) 25m Climb the crack system to the next ledge and stance
* Pitch 8 : (20) 25m Climb the overhanging jam crack and continue up the steep crack and face to a stance on the right below a right facing corner.
* Pitch 9 : (18) 40m Climb the corner and continue past a short chimney crack above. Continue up the left facing corner crack or up the left slanting grassy cracks and exit left and then find your way to the top. Avoid the horrible off width by climbing around on the left.

Scramble off.

FA: C Edelstein, F Davids and T Firman Summer 2009
FA Pitch 9 "Krakadouw" pitch C Edelstein and Neels Havenga 20 Jan 2010

(See Topo on photograph)

== '''Descent''' ==
EITHER walk right to the gulley between Smalblaar ridge and the chesspieces. This involves three short abseils.

OR use the [[DOWN TIME Rap Route]]

[[Category:Yellowwood Amphitheatre]]

File:Teatime.jpg

2011-10-30T16:24:24Z

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File:Karbonaatjieskraal Main Amphitheatre routes Photo Topo low res 4.jpg

2011-06-19T14:26:13Z

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File:Karbonaatjeskraal Lower Panel on West face photo topo low res 1.jpg

2011-06-19T14:23:29Z

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India Venster Trail

2011-03-22T18:34:08Z

Snort: /* India Venster Trail */

==== '''India Venster Trail''' ====

The India Venster trail is the most direct route to the three main rock climbing “crags” on Table Mountain. It also seems to be on the '''"must do list"''' of many ordinary people who are physically ill prepared and poorly equipped for such an undertaking and who willingly or unwillingly fail to appreciate its inherent dangers.

The first two climbing crags can be seen from the lower Cable-way station and are the two obvious buttresses that are visible up and to the left. The main climbing area that is home to the quality routes is situated on the final 100m or so of rock cliffs that support the upper cable way station on the north-east side (“Africa Ledge”) overlooking the city and also the west side (“Fountain Ledge”) that graces one with the most spectacular views of the Atlantic seaboard and sunsets that get sucked into the ocean.

[[Image:India Venster trail first half to top of India Venster buttress.jpg|thumb|right|India Venster trail to top of India Venster Buttress Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get off route]]

The trail gets is name from the shape of the ravine that is situated between the two large rock buttresses already mentioned - it is shaped like the Indian subcontinent. The “Venster” (window in the Afrikaans language) is attributed to a view point framed by rocks on the trail although it is no mean feat to actually identify it. Local die-hards will usually fight off old age by trudging up the India Venster route to get to the primary climbing ledge fondly known to locals as “The Ledge. This is the quickest and most efficient way of getting there but is by no means trivial for the un-initiated and inexperienced. Many seemingly competent and experienced individuals have been victims of gravity and have met with an unfortunate outcome (including paralysis and death). So it is wise to familiarize oneself with the route and preferably find a companion au fait with it.

India Venster trail 1st ½. Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get lost.

The hike starts about 50m to the right of the Cable-way ticket office where the bus parking ends and takes some formal steps to get going. The steps are often concealed by the buses parked there. The trail is well built here and finds its way to a very well constructed stepped section that is situated directly under the cables of the cable-way. This continues to the contour path for about 10 or 15 minutes.

On meeting the contour path there is a sign that designates the trail and also warns one of its dangers. From time to time the trail is marked by painted yellow foot-prints and blue dots. From here the trail starts up to the left but almost immediately veers right (west) and gradually ascends the gully on the west (right) side of the right side buttress (also known as Venster buttress) mentioned earlier. After 20 minutes or so one actually finds oneself almost directly on top of this buttress and although there is no shade there is often a cooling breeze here and this is a good time to take stock and enjoy the view.

The trail is partly visible as it ascends and contours to the left (east) below the rock amphitheatre and the cables of the cable-way to a point that almost reaches the sky-line visible higher and about 500m away way to the left (SE). The trail is well worn and if one should deviate from it, then it should be obvious to retrace one’s steps or merely look back and see where you digressed from it.

2nd ½ of trail. The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the trail from the level of the start of the scramble up to the ledge

As one approaches the east/left side of this amphitheatre, the trail abruptly becomes steeper and one is faced with relatively easy scrambling that should not ever result in difficulty. Again the passing of many thousands of people has caused the trail to be well worn and if it is not obvious then turn back and look again. There is no diversion, here or anywhere, that does not result in the trail becoming tenuous. Continue up this section for about 50m in vertical height and find the trail that goes left and to the sky line. (Do not continue up onto the broken scree of rocks above that clearly goes nowhere.)

[[Image:India Venster trail second section 25 to 35 minutes.jpg|thumb|right|The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the upper part of the India Venster trail]]

The dangerous part starts now.

There is a 15 to 20m Grade C (US 4th class) scramble that has claimed many victims but anyone that is practised with any level of scrambling and 3 point climbing should find it easy. (It was also engineered with staples and chains in May 2009 that renders the scramble more user friendly and much safer.)

If one chooses not to use the metal staples and chains then you will find that the scramble is well worn and some of the holds are rounded as a result; but the climbing is positive and the friction of the rock is good unless wet. It is not particularly steep and not very intimidating and this is, perhaps, why so many accidents occur here. As one reaches the skyline the scramble is back and behind one up to the right in a series of stepped right facing corners and chimney cracks. One then enters a deep shady gully with easier scrambling until one tops out onto the buttress above. At this stage the upper cable-way station is about 400m above and slightly to the right.

The trail now wanders easily up and to the right to the next buttress (keep an eye open for the yellow footprints) and one traverses to the left (SE) of this on level ground till the trail ascends steeply again up and to the right directly below the Cable car station and 100m from the top. This is “The Ledge” and any trained climber’s eye will recognize this as such.

On this side, facing NE – called Africa Ledge – there are two tiers with the upper tier boasting very steep and overhanging buttresses with grey and white rock. And the dominant features are rails, overhangs and dramatic arêtes.

The trail splits and takes one left about 150m to the “Lily pond” where there is perennial water; or, right and around the corner to "Fountain Ledge" that faces west and the Atlantic Seaboard and ocean. About 100m or so to the left and before the Lily pond is an overhang where one can cool off and compose oneself in the shade. This is colloquially known as the “Tea Cave” where much posturing, psyching up, procrastination and tea drinking occurs. This is the centre of this little climbing universe and should you find any old geezers drinking tea there, you are likely to be heartily welcomed (which means that you are going to be dissed and insulted.) If anyone is nice and kind to you, it probably means that they disapprove of you and you should move on.

Ignore their manners, get over yourself, drink their tea, eat their biscuits and give as good as you get. They will give you invaluable information of the conditions and the routes and, if nothing else, make your day memorable.

Water can be found about 50m beyond the cave at the “Lily Pond” so called because it is embraced by Arum lily plants. It is probably safe to drink and there are no reports of illness to date. (The weather in Cape Town can be very dry from December through to April and this results in the water becoming stagnant so it may be risky. And this is why climbers drink tea as the water is first boiled) The water is also shared by the local fauna – in particular the so-called Dassies (Hyrax or Rock rabbits). But Himalayan Thars are also sighted from time to time as has been a venomous cobra! (Ringhals).

This part of the trail peters out about 100m further on past some large overhangs and the yellow foot steps and blue dots are noticeable by their absence. To get to the top of the mountain one has to follow the trail back to where the trail splits to go round to the west – overlooking the splendid sickle shaped Camps Bay beach and the Atlantic ocean. The yellow footsteps re-appear at intervals. As one rounds the corner heading SSE there are impressive cliffs high up on the left supporting the Cable car station. One continues almost horizontally for about 300m round another corner where an old rusty fence blocks what appears to be the obvious way to go. The trail rises steeply behind and left and up for about 20m to a higher ledge system below some massive overhangs where abseilers and climbers are often noticeable. Again the trail continues horizontally to round another corner to the left and one is now heading away from the sea in a southerly direction. This part is invariably shady except late afternoon and can be very cold, misty and gloomy if the "South Easter" wind is blowing. From here the trail gradually ascends and one notices a square concrete building up to the right. Just before reaching it the trail splits. If one intends descending via the Platteklip route then head past the square concrete building to meet the end of the Platteklip trail at the head of the Platteklip Gorge where signs will also direct you to the upper Cable-way station which is about 10min walk. If one takes the left split in the trail one ends up on top of the "table" and at a fairly wide and built path. Turn left to attain the Cable-way and right to get to Platteklip.

'''Vital information:'''

The vertical height of the trail is around 700m

The average time for conditioned hikers with a light pack is around 2 1/2 hours up and about 90min down Platteklip.

'''Objective Dangers: This trail is extremely dangerous for a five main reasons.'''

'''1. Its start is seductive''' as it begins at the hub of activity at the lower cable way station up a very well engineered section below the cable of the cable-car. This is so despite any warnings. The difficulty starts much higher when the summit seems to be very close and one feels compelled to continue and very reluctant to turn back. The top that seems so near and lures one upwards at that point!

Ideally one should be accompanied with someone with recent experience of the route and that is also familiar with your level of competence and experience.

'''2. Capricious weather''' that can occur all year round is the second important reason . In summer it can get extremely hot even early in the morning as the trail is nestled in an Amphitheatre that is a heat trap and that is directly exposed to sun-shine till well in the afternoon. Ideally start at or soon after sunrise. This will result in one being in shade for about half the time and especially when one rounds the corner to the Fountain Ledge system. If the “South Easter” wind is forecast then it is likely to strengthen later in the day.

It is extremely unwise if not insane to attempt this route without ensuring inclement weather is not forecast and without extensively familiarizing oneself of its dangers.

Cape Town is one of those cities that can have 4 seasons in one day. The temperature on starting the route can be in the mid or even upper thirties degree Celsius. On approaching “The Ledge” one can be blown away by a gale force South Easter wind that can result in a temperature drop to as low as 4° C. Not only this, but one can be completely enveloped in thick cloud as one continues round to Fountain Ledge and heads for the top and visibility can drop to a few meters. This is extremely dangerous!

It is imperative to check the weather by logging onto the Table Mountain Cableway website: http://www.tablemountain.net/ and noting the conditions mentioned, viewing the webcam images and viewing http://www.weather.co.za/cape-town/ for the 2 day weather forecast. This will give one an idea of what is coming especially with respect to wind and rain.

'''3. Runaway fires''' plague the Cape Peninsula in the hot dry (tourist) season from January to May. There have been incidents of arsonists and negligent smokers starting fires that have resulted in deaths. If such a fire ignites up wind of you immediately escape down-hill as the fire will race up-wards at incredible speed due to the up-drafts that occur.

'''4. Water:''' There is plenty of water seeping from the mountain in Winter and it is usually cooler so water is less critical. But very hot days can still occur till late in July. One must not embark on this trail without at least 2 or even 3 litres of water per person and even more on a hot day. There is no guarantee one will not get lost and the “Lily pond” is fairly well disguised. Physical exhaustion, dehydration and heat exhaustion are common reasons for hikers being rescued.

5. '''Getting lost''' is a common occurrence on this trail - even in good weather. This can cause delays. It must be emphasized again that one should view the Cable-way website or call them to check the conditions prevailing or forecast for the top of the Mountain. The Cable-car can terminate operations at any time due to high wind on top of the Mountain even though it can be virtually windless at the lower station. The closure of the Cable-way is heralded by a siren that one will first hear about 30min before the final car leaves. If your intent is to walk to the top of the mountain and descend with the cable car then, depending on circumstance, the following actions are advised

'''If''' you hear the siren and you have not progressed well along Fountain Ledge, you will probably miss the final car down and then it is best to continue to Platteklip Gorge and hike down that way. One can also call the Cable-way office and inquire as to the time of the final car down. (+27214240015). The operator may be prepared to delay the final car down.

'''If''' you have not yet reached the scramble section then turn back.

'''If''' you are above the scramble you can continue to Platteklip Gorge or turn back depending on how difficult you found the scramble and if the visibility is deteriorating due to in-coming cloud and/or night fall. It will take the average hiker more than an hour to reach the Cable Car station from the top of the scramble. At this latitude the twilight period is relatively short.

'''If''' you are in a quandary or at all unsure, exhausted and dehydrated, bank your ego and call the SOS number and ask for advice. There are also care-taker staff permanently stationed at the upper station but it may be difficult for you to find them in high wind and poor visibility so call while you have cell phone reception.

Always take a cell-phone with a fully charged battery with you and store the Rescue services number in your contacts (+2786106417). The telephone number is noted at the warning sign at the contour path. Ideally take an MMS or E-mail enabled phone with a camera so that images taken of the landscape where you are stranded or lost and can be sent to the rescue personnel should you need to be rescued.

Be aware that there is no cell phone reception on top of the Mountain "table" away from the edge and there is no reception on the back table. Cell phone communication is invariably obtained if one has direct line of vision of the City or the Camps Bay beach but high winds can make the reception sketchy and then MMS, or text messages and E-mail may work better.

'''On the day you wish to do the route before leaving:'''

Ensure your cell phone is fully charged.
Check the weather on the local weather website.
Check the Cableway website and view the webcams.
Call the Cableway office around 08h00 to inquire about conditions on top of the Mountain.

'''What to take:'''

If the forecast is for the maximum temperature to exceed 30° then take at least 3 litres water per person preferably partly frozen!
No matter what the weather forecast, take a head torch, sun-hat, sun screen, a decent warm and wind and water proof jacket, a UV rated long sleeve shirt, especially if you have fair skin and a decent selection of snacks.

The vast majority of people that embark on the India Venster trail complete it successfully and have a wonderful "world class" experience. Being informed and prepared is the best way to guarantee this.

'''ENJOY!'''

Blouberg

2011-03-14T16:37:01Z

Snort: /* Frans' Kraal */

[[Image:Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province, South Africa.jpg|right]]
=Route Guide=
[[http://www.climb.co.za/topo/pdf/Blouberg_Route_Guide_2.pdf]]

=Directions=

==Walking Directions==
There basically two different walk-ins: African Ivory and Frans' Kraal. The African Ivory route tackles the mountain from the south and basically foolows the big watercourse, the source of which is the top pools near the cave. The Frans' Kraal route comes in from the east, and heads up a biggish river valley, then gets onto the ridge forming the valley bank. Once the big plateau is reached, the route goes clockwise around the southern Donjon, up to the top plateau.

General consensus is that Fran's Kraal is by far the better walk. You start ascending almost immediately on this walk, as opposed to African Ivory where it takes ages to reach the first steep bit. It is probably equally likely to get lost on either walk.

==Frans' Kraal==

Parking is no longer at Frans' Kraal, but rather at Isaac's Kraal. Isaac is a relative of Frans (son? nephew? grandson?) and the road virtually runs into his place. (The Rondawels have gone). His property is guarded by a fence with "white metal gates". From the house walk down the road towards the mountain (i.e. in a westerly direction. You'll pass Frans' Kraal (a white house) on your LHS about 100m down the road. Cross the small river at some big smooth boulders. Carry on along the very big path until the big thorn trees start. Just after entering the thron tree forest, turn onto the well worn path that goes up the hill.

Follow the path up the hill until a kraal on your RHS. There should be a path veering left at this stage, following a contour. Follow this path until it veers right up the hill, next to the main river (usually running). The path becomes steep now, staying on the true left of the river, until it levels off slightly and crosses the river. It usually takes 15-25 mins to get to this point.

There should be a very well worn path on the other side, heading south (i.e. away from the river). Head slightly left through the trees to find a good path that gradually takes you onto a ridge. A bit up this path it suddenly opens up and you get a good view of the plain below. Shortly after this, stick to the right and (there are many paths splitting and joining here - they all go more or less the same way, except for the left most one which goes the wrong way). You should now be heading due west again, up a steady ridge. This path is very eroded at times. Eventually, it will level off, go through a small dip past a little stream, and then up a short steep, boulder hopping section through trees until a contour path running north-south is reached. Turn left (south) onto the contour path. It usually takes about an hour to get here.

From here follow paths - and there are more than one option - and head for the middle of the Donjan visible ahead. You are ultimately heading for the left side of the Donjan. If you start heading too far east i.e. towards the right side of the Donjan and the obvious saddle, then you have gone too far. Go back west.

You should be amongst some massive yellowwoods. The perrenial drip of clean water is just higher up. The biggest tree around marks the start of the next section of the walk. It usually takes about 1hr30 to get to the drip.

From behind the big tree, find the path over the boulders and over a big fallen yellowwood trunk. It start off heading south, then turns sharp right and goes very steeply up the boulders. At the top of the steep stuff is a big boulder cave. Follow the path into the thorn tree forest. You cant really go wrong here. After about ten minutes you should pop out the trees onto the beautiful Blouberg plateau.

Choose your own way across the plateau. There is one path that goes at a low level (left) and another easier one, if you can find it, at a high. contour, level (right). Just head in the general direction of the crags due south. You'll find the river immediately below the crags. Turn upstream (right) and follow the river up the little kloof. Climb out on the true right of the kloof. Follow the path up the little valley, veer rightwards over a small ridge into a second small valley, and climb onto the ridge on the other side. Follow this ridge up to a big boulder. Climb the boulder and contour right to the cave. The whole walk usually takes about 2hr30 if you are au fait with the route and anything up to 8 hours if you are not!

=Water=

There is perrenial water in the main pool bleow the BAPM butress. From the cave, walk down the little kloof. Stick in the river bed (bare rock) and carry on downstream for a few minutes. The main pool is in the shade of a big tree.

If you don't want to walk that far, take a length of rubber tube with and use it to drain water out of the small pools that form in the small kloof below the cave. This is useful in the spring months when water is particularly scarce.

There is sometimes water on the summit, near the top of Hey Jude. Dont rely on it though cos its often dry.

=Start of Routes=

Walking down the ramp the first obvious good section of rock above is a big orangey/pink amphitheatre (Lost Tribe Area), about 120 m high. The ramp bottoms out just after walking over some exposed rock under a bulging overhang with a single tree root growing down it. Follow the path as it curves to the left, up then down the boulder hopping at the base of the obvious gulley (Great Gulley). Go up and leftish to the base of the big, steep, scary wall (Wall of White Light) with grass slopes beneath it. Wall of White Light starts approximately halfway between popping out of the bushes and the very obvious corner that leads to a sloping grass ledge 80m up. Psycho Reptile starts towards the right of Wall of White Light. Future Shock, Moonlight, Moonlight Direct, Crack of Adventure and Road to Nowhere all start up the obvious corner. Carry on past bad choss at base of wall until under a massive roof 70m up (Solar Eclipse). Scatterlings breaks through just to the right of the big roof. Eight Miles High starts up cracks just right of Scatterlings. Hey Jude (Bushpig, Tequila Sunrise and Moonshadow share Hey Jude’s start) starts in corner formed by big flake. Hey Jude climbs corner for 5m then steps right and up slabs. Last moon is the very obvious grey corner (40m high) with gnarly crack, about 30m right of big roof. Just around the corner to the right of this is the break taken by Something of Value. Look out for the two bolts on Wow Fuck just to the left of SOV (bolts are about 25m up on a very blank-looking headwall, above a groove). Moonraker starts 15m right of SOV, at big flakes.

=Classic Routes=
25 Tequila Sunrise - steals a few pitches from other routes plus some new pitches. Pretty much a direct line with mostly great gear.

24 Eight Miles High - Awesome, probably the best route on the wall. The pitch off the grass ledge is stiff for 22 and gear isn't great.

22 Scatterlings - Suberb sustained route. The final finger crack is immaculate and technical.

21 Something of Value - Very direct route (if the Tequila Sunrise variation is used instead of the original pitches 5&6). Tricky offwidth at the top.

21 Teddy Bears' Picnic - Excellent sustained route. Bomber gear all the way with a very exposed traverse on pitch 7. Pitch 8 has 2 bolts (replaced in Sept 2005).

20 Hey Jude - Good technical climing on the crux, mixed with thrashing crack climbing higher up. Well protected route, and the off-width isnt that bad.

19 Last Moon - Hard, awesome first pitch (more like 20), and the higher pitches on chickenhead faces are absolutely brilliant. Mostly good gear.

21 Big Corner - Great climbing on excellent rock. It's worth doing the Maleboch scramble to avoid the original first pitches.

22 Moonlight Direct - Good climbing. Long and hard grade 22 pitch with some suspect rock on the easy pitch off the grass ledge

20 Bushpig - A fast route at grade 20 with some fun chimneys towards the top. Follows the rap ladder. The grade 20-pitch of Hey Jude forms the crux.

19 Moonraker - Crux pitch is long and awesome with varied climbing. Pitches up to the grassy ledge are tricky

=Bouldering=

There is a great bouldering area in the small valley thet heads up towards Avalon (bolted route, 26). When standing in the cave, Avalon is the striking yellow wall to the north east. To get to the bouldering, walk to the top pools. Head eastwards for a minute or two over the grassy meadow. The bouldering valley will open up on your right, with the Avalon wall forming the head of the valley.

Another good bouldering area is near the bottom pools. From the cave go down the little kloof. Stick on the true left of the river and find your way down to the bottom pools. About 150 m downstream of the big pot-hole pool, on the true left of the river is a 5 m high gently overhanging wall. The wall is maybe 50 m wide.

=Cave Area Climbs=

On the true right of the bouldering valley leading up to Avalon is a very nice 16 hand and finger crack, Grand Illusion, (about 30 m below Avalon) opened by Mike Cartwright in 1990. Theres a good 21 on the face just to the left of the crack as follows:

Start about 2 m left of Grand Illusion. Climb up then follow the grips up and leftwards to get gear on the arete. Finish up rightwards to top out. This was opened on pre-placed gear. Gear is minimal and not very good.
FA: Steve Crowe, April 2005

All the bolts on Avalon, except the top one which is still ok, were replaced in October 2005 with 10 mm stainless. This is a great route. It is fully bolted, but has no top anchors so take a friend 1.5, friend 2.5 and a few big wires and some slings for the top. It is easy to scramble off from the top of the route. The original route breaks left at the last bolt (26). Carry on up and right for the direct finish (28)

=Tips for Some of the Routes=

==Something of Value (21)==
The 2nd pitch after the grass ledge goes up to a rail, then rails left to a corner. The original route climbs the corner for 3 m then buggers off left across an unprotected slab. This is hard and scary 21. Intead of traversing left, continue climbing the corner to the small roof that caps it. Step up and right to a peg, then some slab moves to another peg until able to move up and right into the main corner feature. Follow the corner to the overhang and pull this to get into the corner of the 6th pitch of SOV. Climb the easy (15) corner to the jumbo ledge. This pitch is from Tequila Sunrise and gets ***** with very good gear and wild steep climbing. Its also about grade 21.

==Teddy Bears' Picnic (21)==
The 5th pitch after the grass ledge (the precious mettle pitch) has 2 bolts on it. These were replaced with new 10 mm stainless steel bolts in October 2005. This is a great, well protected route.

==Dreams of White Dogs (26)and Dog of Thunder (30A0) ==
[[Image:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG||800px‎]]

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2010-11-25T08:00:30Z

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2010-11-25T07:53:52Z

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File:Sweet Dreams and Wet Dreams topo compressed.JPG

2010-08-18T07:53:12Z

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2010-08-18T07:47:57Z

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India Venster Trail

2009-06-14T15:37:47Z

Snort: /* India Venster Trail */

==== '''India Venster Trail''' ====

The India Venster trail is the most direct route to the three main rock climbing “crags” on Table Mountain. It also seems to be on the '''"must do list"''' of many ordinary people who are physically ill prepared and poorly equipped for such an undertaking and who willingly or unwillingly fail to appreciate its inherent dangers.

The first two climbing crags can be seen from the lower Cable-way station and are the two obvious buttresses that are visible up and to the left. The main climbing area that is home to the quality routes is situated on the final 100m or so of rock cliffs that support the upper cable way station on the north-east side (“Africa Ledge”) overlooking the city and also the west side (“Fountain Ledge”) that graces one with the most spectacular views of the Atlantic seaboard and sunsets that get sucked into the ocean.

[[Image:India Venster trail first half to top of India Venster buttress.jpg|thumb|right|India Venster trail to top of India Venster Buttress Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get off route]]

The trail gets is name from the shape of the ravine that is situated between the two large rock buttresses already mentioned - it is shaped like the Indian subcontinent. The “Venster” (window in the Afrikaans language) is attributed to a view point framed by rocks on the trail although it is no mean feat to actually identify it. Local die-hards will usually fight off old age by trudging up the India Venster route to get to the primary climbing ledge fondly known to locals as “The Ledge. This is the quickest and most efficient way of getting there but is by no means trivial for the un-initiated and inexperienced. Many seemingly competent and experienced individuals have been victims of gravity and have met with an unfortunate outcome (including paralysis and death). the So it is wise to familiarize oneself with the route and preferably find a companion au fait with it.

India Venster trail 1st ½. Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get lost.

The hike starts about 50m to the right of the Cable-way ticket office where the bus parking ends and takes some formal steps to get going. The steps are often concealed by the buses parked there. The trail is well built here and finds its way to a very well constructed stepped section that is situated directly under the cables of the cable-way. This continues to the contour path for about 10 or 15 minutes.

On meeting the contour path there is a sign that designates the trail and also warns one of its dangers. From time to time the trail is marked by painted yellow foot-prints and blue dots. From here the trail starts up to the left but almost immediately veers right (west) and gradually ascends the gully on the west (right) side of the right side buttress (also known as Venster buttress) mentioned earlier. After 20 minutes or so one actually finds oneself almost directly on top of this buttress and although there is no shade there is often a cooling breeze here and this is a good time to take stock and enjoy the view.

The trail is partly visible as it ascends and contours to the left (east) below the rock amphitheatre and the cables of the cable-way to a point that almost reaches the sky-line visible higher and about 500m away way to the left (SE). The trail is well worn and if one should deviate from it, then it should be obvious to retrace one’s steps or merely look back and see where you digressed from it.

2nd ½ of trail. The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the trail from the level of the start of the scramble up to the ledge

As one approaches the east/left side of this amphitheatre, the trail abruptly becomes steeper and one is faced with relatively easy scrambling that should not ever result in difficulty. Again the passing of many thousands of people has caused the trail to be well worn and if it is not obvious then turn back and look again. There is no diversion, here or anywhere, that does not result in the trail becoming tenuous. Continue up this section for about 50m in vertical height and find the trail that goes left and to the sky line. (Do not continue up onto the broken scree of rocks above that clearly goes nowhere.)

[[Image:India Venster trail second section 25 to 35 minutes.jpg|thumb|right|The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the upper part of the India Venster trail]]

The dangerous part starts now.

There is a 15 to 20m Grade C (US 4th class) scramble that has claimed many victims but anyone that is practiced with any level of scrambling and 3 point climbing should find it easy. (It was also engineered with staples and chains in May 2009 that renders the scramble more user friendly and much safer.)

If one chooses not to use the metal staples and chains then you will find that the scramble is well worn and some of the holds are rounded as a result; but the climbing is positive and the friction of the rock is good unless wet. It is not particularly steep and not very intimidating and this is, perhaps, why so many accidents occur here. As one reaches the skyline the scramble is back and behind one up to the right in a series of stepped right facing corners and chimney cracks. One then enters a deep shady gully with easier scrambling until one tops out onto the buttress above. At this stage the upper cable-way station is about 400m above and slightly to the right.

The trail now wanders easily up and to the right to the next buttress (keep an eye open for the yellow footprints) and one traverses to the left (SE) of this on level ground till the trail ascends steeply again up and to the right directly below the Cable car station and 100m from the top. This is “The Ledge” and any trained climber’s eye will recognize this as such.

On this side, facing NE – called Africa Ledge – there are two tiers with the upper tier boasting very steep and overhanging buttresses with grey and white rock. And the dominant features are rails, overhangs and dramatic arêtes.

The trail splits and takes one left about 150m to the “Lily pond” where there is perennial water; or, right and around the corner to "Fountain Ledge" that faces west and the Atlantic Seaboard and ocean. About 100m or so to the left and before the Lily pond is an overhang where one can cool off and compose oneself in the shade. This is colloquially known as the “Tea Cave” where much posturing, psyching up, procrastination and tea drinking occurs. This is the centre of this little climbing universe and should you find any old geezers drinking tea there, you are likely to be heartily welcomed (which means that you are going to be dissed and insulted.) If anyone is nice and kind to you, it probably means that they disapprove of you and you should move on.

Ignore their manners, get over yourself, drink their tea, eat their biscuits and give as good as you get. They will give you invaluable information of the conditions and the routes and, if nothing else, make your day memorable.

Water can be found about 50m beyond the cave at the “Lily Pond” so called because it is embraced by Arum lily plants. It is probably safe to drink and there are no reports of illness to date. (The weather in Cape Town can be very dry from December through to April and this results in the water becoming stagnant so it may be risky. And this is why climbers drink tea as the water is first boiled) The water is also shared by the local fauna – in particular the so-called Dassies (Hyrax or Rock rabbits). But Himalayan Thars are also sighted from time to time as has been a venomous cobra! (Ringhals).

This part of the trail peters out about 100m further on past some large overhangs and the yellow foot steps and blue dots are noticeable by their absence. To get to the top of the mountain one has to follow the trail back to where the trail splits to go round to the west – overlooking the splendid sickle shaped Camps Bay beach and the Atlantic ocean. The yellow footsteps re-appear at intervals. As one rounds the corner heading SSE there are impressive cliffs high up on the left supporting the Cable car station. One continues almost horizontally for about 300m round another corner where an old rusty fence blocks what appears to be the obvious way to go. The trail rises steeply behind andleft and up for about 20m to a higher ledge system below some massive overhangs where abseilers and climbers are often noticeable. Again the trail continues horizontally to round another corner to the left and one is now heading away from the sea in a southerly direction. This part is invariably shady except late afternoon and can be very cold, misty and gloomy if the "South Easter" wind is blowing. From here the trail gradually ascends and one notices a square concrete building up to the right. Just before reaching it the trail splits. If one intends descending via the Platteklip route then head past a square concrete building to meet the end of the Platteklip trail at the head of the Platteklip Gorge where signs will also direct you to the upper Cable-way station which is about 10min walk. If one takes the left split in the trail one ends up on top of the "table" and at a fairly wide and built path. Turn left to attain the Cable-way and right to get to Platteklip.

'''Vital information:'''

The vertical height of the trail is around 700m

The average time for conditioned hikers with a light pack is around 21/2 hours up and about 90min down Platteklip.

'''Objective Dangers: This trail is extremely dangerous for a five main reasons.'''

'''1. Its start is seductive''' as begins at the hub of activity at the lower cableway station up a very well engineered section below the cable of the cable-car. This is so despite the sign at the contour path that states: “WARNING: Extremely dangerous route with steep rock climbing and difficult navigation. DO NOT attempt this route if inexperienced. Use at own risk.” The second sentence can be misleading as there have been several instances of experienced individuals familiar with the route falling and injuring themselves.

The sign also then states: “Recommended safe hiking route Platteklip Gorge via Contour Path”. It is not intuitive to continue to this other trail as it is more than 1km away. And where the India Venster trail leaves the contour path it does not seem intimidating at all. The difficulty starts much higher when the summit seems to be very close and one feels compelled to continue and very reluctant to turn back. The top that seems so near, lures one upwards at that point!

Ideally one should be accompanied with someone with recent experience of the route and that is also familiar with your level of competence and experience.

'''2. Capricious weather''' that can occur all year round is the second important reason . In summer it can get extremely hot even early in the morning as the trail is nestled in an Amphitheatre that is a heat trap and that is directly exposed to sun-shine till well in the afternoon. Ideally start at or soon after sunrise. This will result in one being in shade for about half the time and especially when rounds the corner to the Fountain Ledge system. If the “South Easter” wind is forecast then it is likely to strengthen later in the day.

It is extremely unwise if not insane to attempt this route without ensuring inclement weather is not forecast and without extensively familiarizing oneself of its dangers.

Cape Town is one of those cities that can have 4 seasons in one day. The temperature on starting the route can be in the mid or even upper thirties degree Celsius. On approaching “The Ledge” one can be blown away by a gale force South Easter wind that can result in a temperature drop to as low as 4° C. Not only this, but one can be completely enveloped in thick cloud as one continues round to Fountain Ledge and heads for the top and visibility can drop to a few meters. This is extremely dangerous!

It is imperative to check the weather by logging onto the Table Mountain Cableway website: http://www.tablemountain.net/ and noting the conditions mentioned, viewing the webcam images and viewing http://www.weather.co.za/cape-town/ for the 2 day weather forecast. This will give one an idea of what is coming especially with respect to wind and rain.

'''3. Runaway fires''' plague the Cape Peninsula in the hot dry (tourist) season from January to May. There have been incidents of arsonists and negligent smokers starting fires that have resulted in deaths. If such a fire ignites up wind of you immediately escape down-hill as the fire will race up-wards at incredible speed due to the up-drafts that occur.

'''4. Water:''' There is plenty of water seeping from the mountain in Winter and it is usually cooler so water is less critical. But very hot days can still occur till late in July. One must not embark on this trail without at least 2 or even 3 litres of water per person and even more on a hot day. There is no guarantee one will not get lost and the “Lily pond” is fairly well disguised. Physical exhaustion, dehydration and heat exhaustion are common reasons for hikers being rescued.

5. '''Getting lost''' is a common occurrence on this trail - even in good weather. This can cause delays. It must be emphasized again that one should view the Cable-way website or call them to check the conditions prevailing or forecast for the top of the Mountain. The Cable-car can terminate operations at any time due to high wind on top of the Mountain even though it can be virtually windless at the lower station. The closure of the Cable-way is heralded by a siren that one will first hear about 30min before the final car leaves. If your intent is to walk to the top of the mountain and descend with the cable car then,depending on circumstance, the following actions are advised

'''If''' you hear the siren and you have not progressed well along Fountain Ledge, you will probably miss the final car down and then it is best to continue to Platteklip Gorge and hike down that way. One can also call the Cable-way office and inquire as to the time of the final car down. (+27214240015). The operator may be prepared to delay the final car down.

'''If''' you have not yet reached the scramble section then turn back.

'''If''' you are above the scramble you can continue to Platteklip Gorge or turn back depending on how difficult you found the scramble and if the visibility is deteriorating due to in-coming cloud and/or night fall. It will take the average hiker more than an hour to reach the Cable Car station from the top of the scramble. At this latitude the twilight period is relatively short.

'''If''' you are in a quandary or at all unsure, exhausted and dehydrated, bank your ego and call the SOS number and ask for advice. There are also care-taker staff permanently stationed at the upper station but it may be difficult for you to find them in high wind and poor visibility so call while you have cell phone reception.

Always take a cell-phone with a fully charged battery with you and store the Rescue services number in your contacts (+2786106417). The telephone number is noted at the warning sign at the contour path. Ideally take an MMS or E-mail enabled phone with a camera so that images taken of the landscape where you are stranded or lost and can be sent to the rescue personnel should you need to be rescued.

Be aware that there is no cell phone reception on top of the Mountain "table" away from the edge and there is no reception on the back table. Cell phone communication is invariably obtained if one has direct line of vision of the City or the Camps Bay beach but high winds can make the reception sketchy and then MMS, or text messages and E-mail may work better.

'''On the day you wish to do the route before leaving:'''

Ensure your cell phone is fully charged.
Check the weather on the local weather website.
Check the Cableway website and view the webcams.
Call the Cableway office around 08h00 to inquire about conditions on top of the Mountain.

'''What to take:'''

If the forecast is for the maximum temperature to exceed 30° then take at least 3 litres water per person preferably partly frozen!
No matter what the weather forecast, take a head torch, sun-hat, sun screen, a decent warm and wind and water proof jacket, a UV rated long sleeve shirt, especially if you have fair skin and a decent selection of snacks.

The vast majority of people that embark on the India Venster trail complete it successfully and have a wonderful "world class" experience. Being informed and prepared is the best way to guarantee this.

'''ENJOY!'''

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-05-26T12:50:45Z

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[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes.

To edit the wiki you need to have a forum user name and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current user name to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

== General Information ==

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*Du Toit's Kloof
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]
**[[Yellowwood Amphitheatre]]
*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Town, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.
*[[India Venster Trail]]
**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===
*[[Kgale Hill]]
*[[Mmopane Hill]]
*[[Mogonye]]
*[[Kanye]]
*[[Moshupa and Thamaga]]
*[[Otse]]
*[[Tswapong Hills]]
*[[Motlhabaneng]]

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

File:Cock and Bull Web size v1.JPG

2009-05-11T15:42:10Z

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File:Crank and Pull web size.JPG

2009-05-11T09:39:09Z

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India Venster Trail

2009-02-08T07:53:46Z

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==== '''India Venster Trail''' ====

The India Venster trail is the most direct route to the three main rock climbing “crags” on Table Mountain. It also seems to be on the '''"must do list"''' of many ordinary people who are physically ill prepared and poorly equipped for such an undertaking and who willingly or unwillingly fail to appreciate its inherent dangers.

The first two climbing crags can be seen from the lower Cable-way station and are the two obvious buttresses that are visible up and to the left. The main climbing area that is home to the quality routes is situated on the final 100m or so of rock cliffs that support the upper cable way station on the north-east side (“Africa Ledge”) overlooking the city and also the west side (“Fountain Ledge”) that graces one with the most spectacular views of the Atlantic seaboard and sunsets that get sucked into the ocean.

[[Image:India Venster trail first half to top of India Venster buttress.jpg|thumb|right|India Venster trail to top of India Venster Buttress Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get off route]]

The trail gets is name from the shape of the ravine that is situated between the two large rock buttresses already mentioned - it is shaped like the Indian subcontinent. The “Venster” (window in the Afrikaans language) is attributed to a view point framed by rocks on the trail although it is no mean feat to actually identify it. Local die-hards will usually fight off old age by trudging up the India Venster route to get to the primary climbing ledge fondly known to locals as “The Ledge. This is the quickest and most efficient way of getting there but is by no means trivial for the un-initiated and inexperienced. Many seemingly competent and experienced individuals have been victims of gravity and have met with an unfortunate outcome (including paralysis and death). the So it is wise to familiarize oneself with the route and preferably find a companion au fait with it.

India Venster trail 1st ½. Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get lost.

The hike starts about 50m to the right of the Cable-way ticket office where the bus parking ends and takes some formal steps to get going. The steps are often concealed by the buses parked there. The trail is well built here and finds its way to a very well constructed stepped section that is situated directly under the cables of the cable-way. This continues to the contour path for about 10 or 15 minutes.

On meeting the contour path there is a sign that designates the trail and also warns one of its dangers. From time to time the trail is marked by painted yellow foot-prints and blue dots. From here the trail starts up to the left but almost immediately veers right (west) and gradually ascends the gully on the west (right) side of the right side buttress (also known as Venster buttress) mentioned earlier. After 20 minutes or so one actually finds oneself almost directly on top of this buttress and although there is no shade there is often a cooling breeze here and this is a good time to take stock and enjoy the view.

The trail is partly visible as it ascends and contours to the left (east) below the rock amphitheatre and the cables of the cable-way to a point that almost reaches the sky-line visible higher and about 500m away way to the left (SE). The trail is well worn and if one should deviate from it, then it should be obvious to retrace one’s steps or merely look back and see where you digressed from it.

2nd ½ of trail. The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the trail from the level of the start of the scramble up to the ledge

As one approaches the east/left side of this amphitheatre, the trail abruptly becomes steeper and one is faced with relatively easy scrambling that should not ever result in difficulty. Again the passing of many thousands of people has caused the trail to be well worn and if it is not obvious then turn back and look again. There is no diversion, here or anywhere, that does not result in the trail becoming tenuous. Continue up this section for about 50m in vertical height and find the trail that goes left and to the sky line. (Do not continue up onto the broken scree of rocks above that clearly goes nowhere.)

[[Image:India Venster trail second section 25 to 35 minutes.jpg|thumb|right|The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the upper part of the India Venster trail]]

The dangerous part starts now. There is a 15 to 20m Grade C (US 4th class) scramble that has claimed many victims but anyone that is practiced with any level of scrambling and 3 point climbing should find it easy. The scramble is well worn and some of the holds are rounded as a result; but the climbing is positive and the friction of the rock is good unless wet. It is not particularly steep and not very intimidating and this is, perhaps, why so many accidents occur here. As one reaches the skyline the scramble is back and behind one up to the right in a series of stepped right facing corners and chimney cracks. One then enters a deep shady gully with easier scrambling until one tops out onto the buttress above. At this stage the upper cable-way station is about 400m above and slightly to the right.

The trail now wanders easily up and to the right to the next buttress (keep an eye open for the yellow footprints) and one traverses to the left (SE) of this on level ground till the trail ascends steeply again up and to the right directly below the Cable car station and 100m from the top. This is “The Ledge” and any trained climber’s eye will recognize this as such.

On this side, facing NE – called Africa Ledge – there are two tiers with the upper tier boasting very steep and overhanging buttresses with grey and white rock. And the dominant features are rails, overhangs and dramatic arêtes.

The trail splits and takes one left about 150m to the “Lily pond” where there is perennial water; or, right and around the corner to "Fountain Ledge" that faces west and the Atlantic Seaboard and ocean. About 100m or so to the left and before the Lily pond is an overhang where one can cool off and compose oneself in the shade. This is colloquially known as the “Tea Cave” where much posturing, psyching up, procrastination and tea drinking occurs. This is the centre of this little climbing universe and should you find any old geezers drinking tea there, you are likely to be heartily welcomed (which means that you are going to be dissed and insulted.) If anyone is nice and kind to you, it probably means that they disapprove of you and you should move on.

Ignore their manners, get over yourself, drink their tea, eat their biscuits and give as good as you get. They will give you invaluable information of the conditions and the routes and, if nothing else, make your day memorable.

Water can be found about 50m beyond the cave at the “Lily Pond” so called because it is embraced by Arum lily plants. It is probably safe to drink and there are no reports of illness to date. (The weather in Cape Town can be very dry from December through to April and this results in the water becoming stagnant so it may be risky. And this is why climbers drink tea as the water is first boiled) The water is also shared by the local fauna – in particular the so-called Dassies (Hyrax or Rock rabbits). But Himalayan Thars are also sighted from time to time as has been a venomous cobra! (Ringhals).

This part of the trail peters out about 100m further on past some large overhangs and the yellow foot steps and blue dots are noticeable by their absence. To get to the top of the mountain one has to follow the trail back to where the trail splits to go round to the west – overlooking the splendid sickle shaped Camps Bay beach and the Atlantic ocean. The yellow footsteps re-appear at intervals. As one rounds the corner heading SSE there are impressive cliffs high up on the left supporting the Cable car station. One continues almost horizontally for about 300m round another corner where an old rusty fence blocks what appears to be the obvious way to go. The trail rises steeply behind andleft and up for about 20m to a higher ledge system below some massive overhangs where abseilers and climbers are often noticeable. Again the trail continues horizontally to round another corner to the left and one is now heading away from the sea in a southerly direction. This part is invariably shady except late afternoon and can be very cold, misty and gloomy if the "South Easter" wind is blowing. From here the trail gradually ascends and one notices a square concrete building up to the right. Just before reaching it the trail splits. If one intends descending via the Platteklip route then head past a square concrete building to meet the end of the Platteklip trail at the head of the Platteklip Gorge where signs will also direct you to the upper Cable-way station which is about 10min walk. If one takes the left split in the trail one ends up on top of the "table" and at a fairly wide and built path. Turn left to attain the Cable-way and right to get to Platteklip.

'''Vital information:'''

The vertical height of the trail is around 700m

The average time for conditioned hikers with a light pack is around 21/2 hours up and about 90min down Platteklip.

'''Objective Dangers: This trail is extremely dangerous for a five main reasons.'''

'''1. Its start is seductive''' as begins at the hub of activity at the lower cableway station up a very well engineered section below the cable of the cable-car. This is so despite the sign at the contour path that states: “WARNING: Extremely dangerous route with steep rock climbing and difficult navigation. DO NOT attempt this route if inexperienced. Use at own risk.” The second sentence can be misleading as there have been several instances of experienced individuals familiar with the route falling and injuring themselves.

The sign also then states: “Recommended safe hiking route Platteklip Gorge via Contour Path”. It is not intuitive to continue to this other trail as it is more than 1km away. And where the India Venster trail leaves the contour path it does not seem intimidating at all. The difficulty starts much higher when the summit seems to be very close and one feels compelled to continue and very reluctant to turn back. The top that seems so near, lures one upwards at that point!

Ideally one should be accompanied with someone with recent experience of the route and that is also familiar with your level of competence and experience.

'''2. Capricious weather''' that can occur all year round is the second important reason . In summer it can get extremely hot even early in the morning as the trail is nestled in an Amphitheatre that is a heat trap and that is directly exposed to sun-shine till well in the afternoon. Ideally start at or soon after sunrise. This will result in one being in shade for about half the time and especially when rounds the corner to the Fountain Ledge system. If the “South Easter” wind is forecast then it is likely to strengthen later in the day.

It is extremely unwise if not insane to attempt this route without ensuring inclement weather is not forecast and without extensively familiarizing oneself of its dangers.

Cape Town is one of those cities that can have 4 seasons in one day. The temperature on starting the route can be in the mid or even upper thirties degree Celsius. On approaching “The Ledge” one can be blown away by a gale force South Easter wind that can result in a temperature drop to as low as 4° C. Not only this, but one can be completely enveloped in thick cloud as one continues round to Fountain Ledge and heads for the top and visibility can drop to a few meters. This is extremely dangerous!

It is imperative to check the weather by logging onto the Table Mountain Cableway website: http://www.tablemountain.net/ and noting the conditions mentioned, viewing the webcam images and viewing http://www.weather.co.za/cape-town/ for the 2 day weather forecast. This will give one an idea of what is coming especially with respect to wind and rain.

'''3. Runaway fires''' plague the Cape Peninsula in the hot dry (tourist) season from January to May. There have been incidents of arsonists and negligent smokers starting fires that have resulted in deaths. If such a fire ignites up wind of you immediately escape down-hill as the fire will race up-wards at incredible speed due to the up-drafts that occur.

'''4. Water:''' There is plenty of water seeping from the mountain in Winter and it is usually cooler so water is less critical. But very hot days can still occur till late in July. One must not embark on this trail without at least 2 or even 3 litres of water per person and even more on a hot day. There is no guarantee one will not get lost and the “Lily pond” is fairly well disguised. Physical exhaustion, dehydration and heat exhaustion are common reasons for hikers being rescued.

5. '''Getting lost''' is a common occurrence on this trail - even in good weather. This can cause delays. It must be emphasized again that one should view the Cable-way website or call them to check the conditions prevailing or forecast for the top of the Mountain. The Cable-car can terminate operations at any time due to high wind on top of the Mountain even though it can be virtually windless at the lower station. The closure of the Cable-way is heralded by a siren that one will first hear about 30min before the final car leaves. If your intent is to walk to the top of the mountain and descend with the cable car then,depending on circumstance, the following actions are advised

'''If''' you hear the siren and you have not progressed well along Fountain Ledge, you will probably miss the final car down and then it is best to continue to Platteklip Gorge and hike down that way. One can also call the Cable-way office and inquire as to the time of the final car down. (+27214240015). The operator may be prepared to delay the final car down.

'''If''' you have not yet reached the scramble section then turn back.

'''If''' you are above the scramble you can continue to Platteklip Gorge or turn back depending on how difficult you found the scramble and if the visibility is deteriorating due to in-coming cloud and/or night fall. It will take the average hiker more than an hour to reach the Cable Car station from the top of the scramble. At this latitude the twilight period is relatively short.

'''If''' you are in a quandary or at all unsure, exhausted and dehydrated, bank your ego and call the SOS number and ask for advice. There are also care-taker staff permanently stationed at the upper station but it may be difficult for you to find them in high wind and poor visibility so call while you have cell phone reception.

Always take a cell-phone with a fully charged battery with you and store the Rescue services number in your contacts (+2786106417). The telephone number is noted at the warning sign at the contour path. Ideally take an MMS or E-mail enabled phone with a camera so that images taken of the landscape where you are stranded or lost and can be sent to the rescue personnel should you need to be rescued.

Be aware that there is no cell phone reception on top of the Mountain "table" away from the edge and there is no reception on the back table. Cell phone communication is invariably obtained if one has direct line of vision of the City or the Camps Bay beach but high winds can make the reception sketchy and then MMS, or text messages and E-mail may work better.

'''On the day you wish to do the route before leaving:'''

Ensure your cell phone is fully charged.
Check the weather on the local weather website.
Check the Cableway website and view the webcams.
Call the Cableway office around 08h00 to inquire about conditions on top of the Mountain.

'''What to take:'''

If the forecast is for the maximum temperature to exceed 30° then take at least 3 litres water per person preferably partly frozen!
No matter what the weather forecast, take a head torch, sun-hat, sun screen, a decent warm and wind and water proof jacket, a UV rated long sleeve shirt, especially if you have fair skin and a decent selection of snacks.

The vast majority of people that embark on the India Venster trail complete it successfully and have a wonderful "world class" experience. Being informed and prepared is the best way to guarantee this.

'''ENJOY!'''

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-02-05T14:18:31Z

Snort: /* Western Cape */

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

'''==General Information=='''

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]

**[[Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]
***[[Prime Time Direct 24]]
[[Image:Prime_Time_Direct_Yellowwood_colour_Dec_2008_with_stances_web large.png|200px|thumb|left|Prime Direct Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]

*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Towb, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.

*[[India Venster Trail]]
[[Image:Table Mountain Zoomed out view of India Venster and Kloof Corner trails.jpg|thumb|right|Table Mountain Zoomed out view of India Venster and Kloof Corner trails]]

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

India Venster Trail

2009-02-05T14:17:40Z

Snort: New page: Table Mountain has three main climbing areas that are accessible from the lower cable station. The first two areas can be seen from the lower station and are the two obvious buttresses ...

Table Mountain has three main climbing areas that are accessible from the lower cable station. The first two areas can be seen from the lower station and are the two obvious buttresses that are visible up and to the left. The main climbing area that is home to the quality routes is situated on the final 100m or so of rock cliffs that support the upper cable way station on the north-east side (“Africa Ledge”) overlooking the city and also the west side (“Fountain Ledge”) that graces one with the most spectacular views of the Atlantic seaboard and sunsets that get sucked into the ocean.

[[Image:India Venster trail first half to top of India Venster buttress.jpg|thumb|right|India Venster trail to top of India Venster Buttress Time: about 30min. The satellite photo from Google-earth gives an accurate idea of the route. This part is not difficult or dangerous and one should not get off route]]
The trail gets is name from the shape of the ravine that is situated between the two large rock buttresses already mentioned - it is shaped like the Indian subcontinent. The “Venster” (window in the Afrikaans language) is attributed to a view point framed by rocks on the trail although it is no mean feat to actually identify it. Local die-hards will usually fight off old age by trudging up the India Venster route to get to the primary climbing ledge fondly known to locals as “The Ledge. This is the quickest and most efficient way of getting there but is by no means trivial for the un-initiated and inexperienced. Many seemingly competent individuals have been seduced by gravity and have met an unfortunate end (including paralysis and death). So it is wise to familiarize oneself with the route and preferably find a companion au fait with it.

The hike starts about 50m to the right of the ticket office where the bus parking ends and takes some formal steps to get going. The steps are often concealed by the buses parked there. The trail is well built here and finds its way to a very well constructed stepped section that is situated directly under the cable of the cable-way. This continues to the contour path for about 10 or 15 minutes.

On meeting the contour path there is a sign that designates the trail and also subtly warns one of its dangers. From time to time the trail has been marked by painted yellow foot-prints and blue dots. From here the trail starts up to the left but almost immediately veers right (west) and gradually ascends the gully on the west (right) side of the right side buttress (also known as Venster buttress) mentioned earlier. After 20 minutes or so one actually finds oneself almost directly on top of this buttress and although there is no shade there is often a cooling breeze here and this is a good time to take stock and enjoy the view.

The trail is partly visible as it ascends and contours to the left (east) below the rock amphitheatre and the cables of the cableway to a point that almost reaches the sky-line visible higher and about 500m away way to the left (SE). The trail is well worn and if one should deviate from it then it should be obvious to retrace one’s steps or merely look back and see where you digressed from it.

2nd ½ of trail. The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the trail from the level of the start of the scramble up to the ledge

As one approaches the east/left side of this amphitheatre, the trail abruptly becomes steeper and one is faced with relatively easy scrambling that should not ever result in difficulty. Again the passing of many thousands of people has caused the trail to be well worn and if it is not obvious then turn back and look again. There is no diversion, here or anywhere, that does not result in the trail becoming tenuous. Continue up this section for about 50m in vertical height and find the trail that goes left and to the sky line. (Do not continue up onto the broken scree of rocks above that clearly goes nowhere.)

[[Image:India Venster trail second section 25 to 35 minutes.jpg|thumb|right|The Google earth photo, unfortunately does not do justice to the detail and the angle of the upper part of the India Venster trail]]

The dangerous part starts now. There is a 15 to 20m scramble that has claimed many victims but anyone that is practiced with any level of scrambling and 3 point climbing should find it easy. The scramble is well worn and some of the holds are rounded as a result; but the climbing is positive and the friction of the rock is excellent. It is not particularly steep and not very intimidating and this is, perhaps, why so many accidents occur here. As one reaches the skyline the scramble is back and behind one up to the right in a series of stepped right facing corners and chimney cracks that total about 15m in vertical height. One then enters a deep shady gully with easier scrambling until one tops out onto the buttress above. At this stage the upper cableway station is about 400m above and slightly to the right.

The trail now wanders easily up and to the right to the next buttress (keep an eye open for the yellow footprints) and one traverses to the left (SE) of this on level ground till the trail ascends steeply again up and to the right directly below the Cable car station and 100m from the top. This is “The Ledge” and any trained climber’s eye will recognize this as such.

On this side, facing NE – called Africa Ledge – there are two tiers with the upper tier boasting very steep and overhanging buttresses with grey rock. And the dominant features are rails, overhangs and dramatic arêtes.

The trail splits and takes one left about 100m to the “Lily pond” where there is perennial water; or, right and around the corner to Fountain Ledge that faces west and the Atlantic Seaboard and ocean. About 100m or so to the left is an overhang where one can cool off and compose oneself in the shade. This is colloquially known as the “Tea cave” where much posturing, psyching up, procrastination and tea drinking occurs. This is the centre of this little climbing universe and should you find any old geezers drinking tea there, you are likely to be heartily welcomed (which means that you are going to be dissed and insulted.) If anyone is nice and kind to you, it probably means that they disapprove of you and you should move on.

Ignore their manners, get over yourself, drink their tea, eat their biscuits and give as good as you get. They will give you invaluable information of the conditions and the routes and, if nothing else, make your day memorable.

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-02-05T14:06:10Z

Snort: /* General Information */

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

'''==General Information=='''

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]

**[[Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]
***[[Prime Time Direct 24]]
[[Image:Prime_Time_Direct_Yellowwood_colour_Dec_2008_with_stances_web large.png|200px|thumb|left|Prime Direct Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]

*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Towb, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

File:India Venster trail second section 25 to 35 minutes.jpg

2009-02-05T13:24:56Z

Snort:

File:India Venster trail first half to top of India Venster buttress.jpg

2009-02-05T12:48:48Z

Snort:

File:Table Mountain Zoomed out view of India Venster and Kloof Corner trails.jpg

2009-02-05T12:32:25Z

Snort:

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-02-05T12:19:37Z

Snort:

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

==General Information==

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]

**[[Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]
***[[Prime Time Direct 24]]
[[Image:Prime_Time_Direct_Yellowwood_colour_Dec_2008_with_stances_web large.png|200px|thumb|left|Prime Direct Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]

*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Towb, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

Prime Time Direct 24

2009-02-05T12:07:18Z

Snort: New page: Prime Time Direct 24 '''Start:''' The best way to find the start is to have a good look at the photograph. It starts almost directly below the rectangular overhang in the middle of the ...

Prime Time Direct 24

'''Start:'''

The best way to find the start is to have a good look at the photograph. It starts almost directly below the rectangular overhang in the middle of the Amphitheatre. Above at about 5m is a shallow left facing corner.

'''Pitch 1: 25m 21'''

Climb up the corner until it gets to a tenuous stemming move. Continue up to a ledge on blocks. Or move left across the slab on good holds to a crack system and continue to the rail. Move back right to the blocks and then from the right side continue up the overlap above. Diagonal up left and do a tricky move into the short right facing corner to a good belay.

'''Pitch 2: 35m 24'''

This is sustained and varied and exciting pitch as good as any on Yellow Wood. Climb up to the rectangular overhang and then swing out left onto a thin rail. Have some tiny cams ready. Crank up and then do a tenuous stemming move to get to the easier ground below the large left facing corner. Continue up the corner with some funky moves to a rail under the overhang and rail right onto the exposed arete. Climb straight up from the edge to a rail about 4m above. Move right a couple of meters and then head diagonally up right on a low angle slab. Belay on a good ledge on the left.

First Ascent: Charles Edelstein and Dave Vallet December 2008

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-02-02T17:57:20Z

Snort: /* Western Cape */

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

==General Information==

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]
**[[Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]
***[[Prime Time Direct 24]]
[[Image:Prime_Time_Direct_Yellowwood_colour_Dec_2008_with_stances_web large.png|200px|thumb|left|Prime Direct Yellow Wood Amphitheatre]]

*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Towb, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

File:Prime Time Direct Yellowwood colour Dec 2008 with stances web large.png

2009-02-02T17:24:15Z

Snort:

File:Prime Time Direct Yellowwood colour Dec 2008 with stances web large.PNG

2009-02-02T17:09:06Z

Snort:

File:Flaky Dog Upper Africa Ledge Table Mountain V1.png

2009-02-02T10:42:35Z

Snort:

File:Flaky Dog Upper Africa Ledge Table Mountain V1.PNG

2009-02-02T10:32:35Z

Snort:

South African Climbing Wiki

2009-02-02T10:21:51Z

Snort: /* Western Cape */

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

==General Information==

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]
**[[Down Time (Abseil) off Yellowwood]]
*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE which is common in summer, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" at some of the crags; the rock becomes so slippery and even damp that it seems as if someone smeared oil onto the holds. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).

Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...

The rock friction is rarely if ever altered on the climbs that start at the "Ledge" on Table Mountain.

When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (but it could take a day or two to arrive.) The air can be warm and balmy before the clouds race in from the Atlantic. If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud there is a high chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.

When a so called cold "front" approaches then the best escape is to head to Montagu where a rain shadow protects the area from rain. As the front moves in from the sea over the peninsula there will be some delay before it gets to Paarl and then the Du Toit's Kloof range will also hold back the front for half a day or so. So one can climb at Paarl Rocks or Hellfire crag for a morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, as the "front" approaches it can get very windy in the Du Toit's pass as it acts as a chute.

The Cedarberg can also be considered but depending on the size of the front, it can rain there too.

Of the crags within an hour two of Cape Towb, Karbonaatjies Kraal is the last crag to be affected by wet weather.

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

File:TATWOC with direct finish web l.png

2009-02-01T15:20:38Z

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2009-02-01T15:13:51Z

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2009-02-01T15:07:35Z

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File:Africa Edge pitch 2.png

2009-02-01T09:20:11Z

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File:Africa Edge 1st pitch.png

2009-02-01T09:15:04Z

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File:Africa Edge pitch 2, top of pitch 3 and pitches 4 to 5 V3.JPG

2009-02-01T08:04:19Z

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File:Africa Edge Pitch 1.jpg

2009-01-31T16:02:24Z

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File:Africa Edge Pitch 1.JPG

2009-01-31T15:50:43Z

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South African Climbing Wiki

2009-01-31T15:23:10Z

Snort: /* Western Cape */

[[Image:Map_main.gif|right]]
Welcome to the '''ClimbZA Routes Wiki''', an online rock climbing guide that '''you can edit'''. Please help us build the guide by adding useful information and correcting mistakes. To edit the wiki you need to have a forum username and be added to the wiki group. Please send us a mail with your current username to info@climbing.co.za and we will add you to the wiki group. The reason for the extra step is to prevent spam posting on the wiki.

==General Information==

South Africa offers some of the best climbing in the world. The rock is solid and great quality. There are many different rock formations all with different features. [[Oudtshoorn]] crags are limestone with hanging stalactites and tufas. The Cederberg is compact sandstone with ledges that offer solid gear placements. There is great sport climbing in [[Montagu]], a small Klein Karoo town, where it is almost always dry, and there are loads and loads of bolted routes (about 400) of all grades. [[Waterval Boven]] is probably the most developed sport climbing area in the county with about 600 routes in a most beautiful setting. In the Free State, Mt Everest and Swinburne offer sport and trad climbing and awesome bouldering. The famous [[The Wave Cave|Wave Cave]] at Shongweni is just outside of Durban and has hard overhanging sport routes. You can do seaside cliff climbing at Morgan Bay. There is world class bouldering at [[Rocklands]] in the Cederberg, remote multi-pitch trad climbing at Magaliesberg and the Drakensberg Mountains. Ok, I could go on, but you get the point. The settings are beautiful and uncrowded by hoards of people. The small towns have a really nice laid-back country feel. The people are friendly and genuine. And the food, wine and atmosphere is always great!

A lot of climbing areas are on private land, so please be courteous to anybody you meet while in the area (it might be the landowner). Please don't litter. Only go to the toilet far away from the crag. Keep on the paths. Make a double knot on your shoelaces and always have a clean pair of underpants.

*[[MCSA]] Permits and Access
*[[Bolting information]]

==Areas==

=== Western Cape ===
*[[Du Toits Kloof]]
**[[Hellfire]]
**[[Country Climbing]]
**[[Down Time (Abseil) off Yellowwood]]
*[[Bain's Kloof]]
*Cederberg
**[[Bushman's Kloof Nature Reserve]]
**[[Vanrhynsdorp]]
**[[Wolfberg]]
**[[Truitjieskraal]]
**[[Krakadow]]
**Rocklands Area
***[[Rocklands]]
***[[De Pakhuys]]
***[[Riethuis]]
**[[Winterbach]]
*[[Montagu]]
*[[Swellendam]]
*[[Swartberg Pass]]
*Cape Peninsula
A Note on the weather: If the wind is blowing SE, we have what Cape-Climbers refer to as the "Schlorck Factor" the rock seems as if someone smeared oil onto the rock. Climbing is near impossible unless you have a bucket of chalk to compensate! This effect is caused by sea water being blown onto the crags (from afar that is).
Crags affected: The Mine, The Hole, Silvermine Crags, Elsies Peak, Kalk Bay Crags, Peers Cave...
Alternatives are Table Mountain and the movies.
When the North Wester blows, it generally means that bad weather is on the way (could take a day or two to arrive) If Lions Head mountain is covered in cloud theres a 95% chance its going to rain in the next couple of hours.
The best escape is to head north, Montagu, Cedarberg direction.

**[[The Mine]]
**[[The Underside]]
**[[Foreign Policy]]
**[[Silvermine Crags]]
**[[Elsies Peak]]
**[[Higgovale Quarry]]
**[[Hout Bay]] - Bokkemanskloof, Chapman's Peak, Skoorsteenkop, The Sentinel
**[[Kalk Bay]]
**[[Lakeside Pinnacle]]
**[[Lion's Head]] - Granite & Sandstone
**[[Muizenberg Buttress]]
**[[Peers Cave]]
**[[Table Mountain]]
**[[The Hole]]
** Peninsula Bouldering Areas
***[[Newlands Forest]]
***[[New Joshua Tree]]
***[[Silvermine Boulder]]
***[[Topside]]
***[[Llandudno]]
***[[Redhill]]
*[[Paarl Rocks]]
*[[Oudtshoorn]]
*[[Karbonaatjieskraal]]
*[[Kleinmond]]
*[[Elands Bay]]
***Towerkop

=== Eastern Cape ===
*[[Cape St Francis]]
*[[Fort Fordyce]]
*[[Hogsback]]
*[[Morgan Bay]]
*[[Pinnacle Gorge]]
*[[The Shire]]
*[[Howissen's Poort/Scoops]]
*[[Windmill Hole]]
*[[NSA, East London]]
*[[Buffalo River]]

=== Free State ===
*[[Langberg]]
*[[Eagle Mountain|Harrismith - Eagle Mountain]] (formally known as Mount Everest)
*[[Swinburne]]

=== KwaZulu Natal ===
*[[The Wave Cave|Shongweni - The Wave Cave]]
*[[Monteseel]]
*[[Kloof Gorge]]
*[[Drakensberg]]
*[[White Umfolozi River]]
*[[Howick Falls]]
*[[Umgeni Valley]]
*[[Winston Park]]

=== Limpopo Province===
*[[Blouberg]]
*[[Wellingtons Dome]]
*[[Makapansgat]]

=== Mpumalanga ===
*[[Waterval Boven]]
*[[Sabie Gorge]]
*[[Blydepoort]]
*[[Jim's Crag, Olifantshoek]]
*[[Wilgerpoort]]
*[[Ngwempisi]]
*[[GoldRush Bouldering]]
*[[Croc River Canyon]]

=== Gauteng ===
*[[Bronkies]]
*[[Bobbejaans Berg]]
*[[Melville Koppies]]
*[[The Glade]]
*[[Mutango Lodge]]
*[[Northcliff]]
*[[Plumbago Nature Reserve Bouldering]]
*[[Radioactive]]
*[[Strubens Valley]]
*[[Strubens 2]]
*[[The Chosspile]]

=== Northwest Province ===
* [[Magaliesberg]]
* [[Potchefstroom Crag]]
* [[Wigwam]]
* [[Secret Garden Bouldering]]

=== Namibia ===
*[[Spitzkoppe & Pontoks]]
*[[Aussenkehr]]

=== [[Botswana]] ===

=== [[Lesotho]] ===

==Route Hit List==

* [[Trad Hit List]]
* [[Sport Hit List]]

==Editing the Wiki==

===Naming a New Article===

Choose a '''specific name''' for your '''new article'''. For example, prefer "Silvermine Main Crag" to "Main Crag".

Not everybody will access your new article from the page that it is initially linked from: some may access the article directly from a search engine, or from elsewhere in the wiki. The article name should therefore make sense in a stand-alone context. An article's name is its unique identifier within the wiki. For instance, if you look at the list of [[Special:Popularpages|popular pages]], then an article called "Main Craig" makes little sense amongst "[[Bronkies]]," "[[Waterval Boven]]," and so forth.

Remember that a link name needn't match the article name. Example: Use "<nowiki>[[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]]</nowiki>" if you are in a Silvermine article and want to make a ''link'' that says [[Silvermine Main Crag|Main Crag]], (but the article linked to is called "Silvermine Main Crag").

===Further Information===
Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Meta-Wiki Editing Help] for further information on wiki editing.

==Note==
Google maps currently does not work on [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climb.co.za/wiki]: Use the [http://www.climbing.co.za/wiki www.climbing.co.za/wiki] URL instead (i.e. climb''ing'' instead of climb).

Blouberg

2009-01-31T15:15:01Z

Snort: /* Tips for Some of the Routes */

[[Image:Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province, South Africa.jpg|right]]
=Directions=

==Walking Directions==
There basically two different walk-ins: African Ivory and Frans' Kraal. The African Ivory route tackles the mountain from the south and basically foolows the big watercourse, the source of which is the top pools near the cave. The Frans' Kraal route comes in from the east, and heads up a biggish river valley, then gets onto the ridge forming the valley bank. Once the big plateau is reached, the route goes clockwise around the southern Donjon, up to the top plateau.

General consensus is that Fran's Kraal is by far the better walk. You start ascending almost immediately on this walk, as opposed to African Ivory where it takes ages to reach the first steep bit. It is probably equally likely to get lost on either walk.

==Frans' Kraal==

Parking is no longer at Frans' Kraal, but rather at Isaac's Kraal. Isaac is a relative of Frans (son? nephew? grandson?) and his Kraal consists of 2 rondawels, an outhouse and a mielie patch. From the house walk down the road towards the mountain (i.e. in a westerly direction. You'll pass Frans' Kraal (a white house) on your LHS about 100m down the road. Cross the small river at some big smooth boulders. Carry on along the very big path until the big thorn trees start. Just after entering the thron tree forest, turn onto the massive path that goes up the hill.

Follow the path up the hill until a kraal on your LHS. There should be a path veering left at this stage, following a contour. Follow this path until it veers right up the hill, next to the main river (usually running). The path becomes steep now, staying on the true left of the river, until it levels off slightly and crosses the river. It usually takes 15-25 mins to get to this point.

There should be a very well worn path on the other side, heading south (i.e. away from the river). Head slightly left through the trees to find a good path that gradually takes you onto a ridge. A bit up this path it suddenly opens up and you get a good view of the plain below. Shortly after this, stick to the right and (there are manny paths splitting and joining here - they all go more or less the same way, except for the left most one which goes the wrong way). You should now be heading due west again, up a steady ridge. This path is very erroded at times. Eventually, it will level off, go through a small dip past a little stream, and then up a short steep, boulder hopping section through trees until a contour path running north-south is reached. Turn left (south) onto the contour path. It usually takes about an hour to get here.

Walk along the contour path for a way until you encounter a big thorn fence blocking the path. Turn left along the fence until you find a devious gate through (this is not too obvious). Turn back right and head to join the original contour path. This area is in constant "development" by the local kraal owner, and fences etc are liable to change between trips. You should get back onto the contour path in the region of a massive clearing with one or two lone trees in the middle. The path goes through a gate at the southern end of the clearing. Carry on along the path until you see a big tree on the left, with a deep arrow carved into its trunk. The arrow points right. About 30m after this tree is a goo path heading right. The path then turns a bit left and goes up a steep hill between two thorn fences. At the top of the hill is a gate on the right. Go through the gate and follow your nose westwards through the kraal. You'll soon get to a muddy stream with some massive boulders.

Follow the devious path around the big boulder, and find the path through the steep vegetation behind. This takes you to a clearing after a while, on the other side of which the yellowwood forest starts. Find the path where it enters this forest and veers rightwards. Within a minute or two you should be amongst some massive yellowwoods. The perrenial drip of clean water is just a little bit up the hill. The biggest tree around marks the start of the next section of the walk. It usually takes about 1hr30 to get to the drip.

From behind the big tree, find the path over the boulders and over a big fallen yellowwood trunk. It start off heading south, then turns sharp right and goes very steeply up the boulders. At the top of the steep stuff is a big boulder cave. Follow the path into the thorn tree forest. You cant really go wrong here. After about ten minutes you should pop out the trees onto the beautiful Blouberg plateau.

Choose your own way across the plateau. There is one path that goes at a low level (left) and another easier one, if you can find it, at a high level (right). Just head in the general direction of the crags due south. You'll find the river immediately below the crags. Turn upstream (right) and follow the river up the little kloof. Climb out on the true right of the kloof. Follow the path up the little valley, veer rightwards over a small ridge into a second small valley, and climb onto the ridge on the other side. Follow this ridge up to a big boulder. Climb the boulder and contour right to the cave. The whole walk usually takes about 2hr30

=Water=

There is perrenial water in the main pool bleow the BAPM butress. From the cave, walk down the little kloof. Stick in the river bed (bare rock) and carry on downstream for a few minutes. The main pool is in the shade of a big tree.

If you don't want to walk that far, take a length of rubber tube with and use it to drain water out of the small pools that form in the small kloof below the cave. This is useful in the spring months when water is particularly scarce.

There is sometimes water on the summit, near the top of Hey Jude. Dont rely on it though cos its often dry.

=Start of Routes=

Walking down the ramp the first obvious good section of rock above is a big orangey/pink amphitheatre (Lost Tribe Area), about 120 m high. The ramp bottoms out just after walking over some exposed rock under a bulging overhang with a single tree root growing down it. Follow the path as it curves to the left, up then down the boulder hopping at the base of the obvious gulley (Great Gulley). Go up and leftish to the base of the big, steep, scary wall (Wall of White Light) with grass slopes beneath it. Wall of White Light starts approximately halfway between popping out of the bushes and the very obvious corner that leads to a sloping grass ledge 80m up. Psycho Reptile starts towards the right of Wall of White Light. Future Shock, Moonlight, Moonlight Direct, Crack of Adventure and Road to Nowhere all start up the obvious corner. Carry on past bad choss at base of wall until under a massive roof 70m up (Solar Eclipse). Scatterlings breaks through just to the right of the big roof. Eight Miles High starts up cracks just right of Scatterlings. Hey Jude (Bushpig, Tequila Sunrise and Moonshadow share Hey Jude’s start) starts in corner formed by big flake. Hey Jude climbs corner for 5m then steps right and up slabs. Last moon is the very obvious grey corner (40m high) with gnarly crack, about 30m right of big roof. Just around the corner to the right of this is the break taken by Something of Value. Look out for the two bolts on Wow Fuck just to the left of SOV (bolts are about 25m up on a very blank-looking headwall, above a groove). Moonraker starts 15m right of SOV, at big flakes.

=Classic Routes=
25 Tequila Sunrise - steals a few pitches from other routes plus some new pitches. Pretty much a direct line with mostly great gear.

24 Eight Miles High - Awesome, probably the best route on the wall. The pitch off the grass ledge is stiff for 22 and gear isn't great.

22 Scatterlings - Suberb sustained route. The final finger crack is immaculate and technical.

21 Something of Value - Very direct route (if the Tequila Sunrise variation is used instead of the original pitches 5&6). Tricky offwidth at the top.

21 Teddy Bears' Picnic - Excellent sustained route. Bomber gear all the way with a very exposed traverse on pitch 7. Pitch 8 has 2 bolts (replaced in Sept 2005).

20 Hey Jude - Good technical climing on the crux, mixed with thrashing crack climbing higher up. Well protected route, and the off-width isnt that bad.

19 Last Moon - Hard, awesome first pitch (more like 20), and the higher pitches on chickenhead faces are absolutely brilliant. Mostly good gear.

21 Big Corner - Great climbing on excellent rock. It's worth doing the Maleboch scramble to avoid the original first pitches.

22 Moonlight Direct - Good climbing. Long and hard grade 22 pitch with some suspect rock on the easy pitch off the grass ledge

20 Bushpig - A fast route at grade 20 with some fun chimneys towards the top. Follows the rap ladder. The grade 20-pitch of Hey Jude forms the crux.

19 Moonraker - Crux pitch is long and awesome with varied climbing. Pitches up to the grassy ledge are tricky

=Bouldering=

There is a great bouldering area in the small valley thet heads up towards Avalon (bolted route, 26). When standing in the cave, Avalon is the striking yellow wall to the north east. To get to the bouldering, walk to the top pools. Head eastwards for a minute or two over the grassy meadow. The bouldering valley will open up on your right, with the Avalon wall forming the head of the valley.

Another good bouldering area is near the bottom pools. From the cave go down the little kloof. Stick on the true left of the river and find your way down to the bottom pools. About 150 m downstream of the big pot-hole pool, on the true left of the river is a 5 m high gently overhanging wall. The wall is maybe 50 m wide.

=Cave Area Climbs=

On the true right of the bouldering valley leading up to Avalon is a very nice 16 hand and finger crack, Grand Illusion, (about 30 m below Avalon) opened by Mike Cartwright in 1990. Theres a good 21 on the face just to the left of the crack as follows:

Start about 2 m left of Grand Illusion. Climb up then follow the grips up and leftwards to get gear on the arete. Finish up rightwards to top out. This was opened on pre-placed gear. Gear is minimal and not very good.
FA: Steve Crowe, April 2005

All the bolts on Avalon, except the top one which is still ok, were replaced in October 2005 with 10 mm stainless. This is a great route. It is fully bolted, but has no top anchors so take a friend 1.5, friend 2.5 and a few big wires and some slings for the top. It is easy to scramble off from the top of the route. The original route breaks left at the last bolt (26). Carry on up and right for the direct finish (28)

=Tips for Some of the Routes=

==Something of Value (21)==
The 2nd pitch after the grass ledge goes up to a rail, then rails left to a corner. The original route climbs the corner for 3 m then buggers off left across an unprotected slab. This is hard and scary 21. Intead of traversing left, continue climbing the corner to the small roof that caps it. Step up and right to a peg, then some slab moves to another peg until able to move up and right into the main corner feature. Follow the corner to the overhang and pull this to get into the corner of the 6th pitch of SOV. Climb the easy (15) corner to the jumbo ledge. This pitch is from Tequila Sunrise and gets ***** with very good gear and wild steep climbing. Its also about grade 21.

==Teddy Bears' Picnic (21)==
The 5th pitch after the grass ledge (the precious mettle pitch) has 2 bolts on it. These were replaced with new 10 mm stainless steel bolts in October 2005. This is a great, well protected route.

==Dreams of White Dogs (26)and Dog of Thunder (30A0) ==
[[Image:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG||800px‎]]

File:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG

2009-01-31T15:09:13Z

Snort: uploaded a new version of "Image:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG"

Dreams of White Dogs 25 and Dog of Thunder 30A1 Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province South Africa

File:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG

2009-01-31T15:07:22Z

Snort: uploaded a new version of "Image:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG"

Dreams of White Dogs 25 and Dog of Thunder 30A1 Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province South Africa

Blouberg

2009-01-30T08:28:58Z

Snort:

[[Image:Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province, South Africa.jpg|right]]

=Directions=

=Walking Directions=
There basically two different walk-ins: African Ivory and Frans' Kraal. The African Ivory route tackles the mountain from the south and basically foolows the big watercourse, the source of which is the top pools near the cave. The Frans' Kraal route comes in from the east, and heads up a biggish river valley, then gets onto the ridge forming the valley bank. Once the big plateau is reached, the route goes clockwise around the southern Donjon, up to the top plateau.

General consensus is that Fran's Kraal is by far the better walk. You start ascending almost immediately on this walk, as opposed to African Ivory where it takes ages to reach the first steep bit. It is probably equally likely to get lost on either walk.

==Frans' Kraal==

Parking is no longer at Frans' Kraal, but rather at Isaac's Kraal. Isaac is a relative of Frans (son? nephew? grandson?) and his Kraal consists of 2 rondawels, an outhouse and a mielie patch. From the house walk down the road towards the mountain (i.e. in a westerly direction. You'll pass Frans' Kraal (a white house) on your LHS about 100m down the road. Cross the small river at some big smooth boulders. Carry on along the very big path until the big thorn trees start. Just after entering the thron tree forest, turn onto the massive path that goes up the hill.

Follow the path up the hill until a kraal on your LHS. There should be a path veering left at this stage, following a contour. Follow this path until it veers right up the hill, next to the main river (usually running). The path becomes steep now, staying on the true left of the river, until it levels off slightly and crosses the river. It usually takes 15-25 mins to get to this point.

There should be a very well worn path on the other side, heading south (i.e. away from the river). Head slightly left through the trees to find a good path that gradually takes you onto a ridge. A bit up this path it suddenly opens up and you get a good view of the plain below. Shortly after this, stick to the right and (there are manny paths splitting and joining here - they all go more or less the same way, except for the left most one which goes the wrong way). You should now be heading due west again, up a steady ridge. This path is very erroded at times. Eventually, it will level off, go through a small dip past a little stream, and then up a short steep, boulder hopping section through trees until a contour path running north-south is reached. Turn left (south) onto the contour path. It usually takes about an hour to get here.

Walk along the contour path for a way until you encounter a big thorn fence blocking the path. Turn left along the fence until you find a devious gate through (this is not too obvious). Turn back right and head to join the original contour path. This area is in constant "development" by the local kraal owner, and fences etc are liable to change between trips. You should get back onto the contour path in the region of a massive clearing with one or two lone trees in the middle. The path goes through a gate at the southern end of the clearing. Carry on along the path until you see a big tree on the left, with a deep arrow carved into its trunk. The arrow points right. About 30m after this tree is a goo path heading right. The path then turns a bit left and goes up a steep hill between two thorn fences. At the top of the hill is a gate on the right. Go through the gate and follow your nose westwards through the kraal. You'll soon get to a muddy stream with some massive boulders.

Follow the devious path around the big boulder, and find the path through the steep vegetation behind. This takes you to a clearing after a while, on the other side of which the yellowwood forest starts. Find the path where it enters this forest and veers rightwards. Within a minute or two you should be amongst some massive yellowwoods. The perrenial drip of clean water is just a little bit up the hill. The biggest tree around marks the start of the next section of the walk. It usually takes about 1hr30 to get to the drip.

From behind the big tree, find the path over the boulders and over a big fallen yellowwood trunk. It start off heading south, then turns sharp right and goes very steeply up the boulders. At the top of the steep stuff is a big boulder cave. Follow the path into the thorn tree forest. You cant really go wrong here. After about ten minutes you should pop out the trees onto the beautiful Blouberg plateau.

Choose your own way across the plateau. There is one path that goes at a low level (left) and another easier one, if you can find it, at a high level (right). Just head in the general direction of the crags due south. You'll find the river immediately below the crags. Turn upstream (right) and follow the river up the little kloof. Climb out on the true right of the kloof. Follow the path up the little valley, veer rightwards over a small ridge into a second small valley, and climb onto the ridge on the other side. Follow this ridge up to a big boulder. Climb the boulder and contour right to the cave. The whole walk usually takes about 2hr30

=Water=

There is perrenial water in the main pool bleow the BAPM butress. From the cave, walk down the little kloof. Stick in the river bed (bare rock) and carry on downstream for a few minutes. The main pool is in the shade of a big tree.

If you don't want to walk that far, take a length of rubber tube with and use it to drain water out of the small pools that form in the small kloof below the cave. This is useful in the spring months when water is particularly scarce.

There is sometimes water on the summit, near the top of Hey Jude. Dont rely on it though cos its often dry.

=Start of Routes=

Walking down the ramp the first obvious good section of rock above is a big orangey/pink amphitheatre (Lost Tribe Area), about 120 m high. The ramp bottoms out just after walking over some exposed rock under a bulging overhang with a single tree root growing down it. Follow the path as it curves to the left, up then down the boulder hopping at the base of the obvious gulley (Great Gulley). Go up and leftish to the base of the big, steep, scary wall (Wall of White Light) with grass slopes beneath it. Wall of White Light starts approximately halfway between popping out of the bushes and the very obvious corner that leads to a sloping grass ledge 80m up. Psycho Reptile starts towards the right of Wall of White Light. Future Shock, Moonlight, Moonlight Direct, Crack of Adventure and Road to Nowhere all start up the obvious corner. Carry on past bad choss at base of wall until under a massive roof 70m up (Solar Eclipse). Scatterlings breaks through just to the right of the big roof. Eight Miles High starts up cracks just right of Scatterlings. Hey Jude (Bushpig, Tequila Sunrise and Moonshadow share Hey Jude’s start) starts in corner formed by big flake. Hey Jude climbs corner for 5m then steps right and up slabs. Last moon is the very obvious grey corner (40m high) with gnarly crack, about 30m right of big roof. Just around the corner to the right of this is the break taken by Something of Value. Look out for the two bolts on Wow Fuck just to the left of SOV (bolts are about 25m up on a very blank-looking headwall, above a groove). Moonraker starts 15m right of SOV, at big flakes.

=Classic Routes=
25 Tequila Sunrise - steals a few pitches from other routes plus some new pitches. Pretty much a direct line with mostly great gear.

24 Eight Miles High - Awesome, probably the best route on the wall. The pitch off the grass ledge is stiff for 22 and gear isn't great.

22 Scatterlings - Suberb sustained route. The final finger crack is immaculate and technical.

21 Something of Value - Very direct route (if the Tequila Sunrise variation is used instead of the original pitches 5&6). Tricky offwidth at the top.

21 Teddy Bears' Picnic - Excellent sustained route. Bomber gear all the way with a very exposed traverse on pitch 7. Pitch 8 has 2 bolts (replaced in Sept 2005).

20 Hey Jude - Good technical climing on the crux, mixed with thrashing crack climbing higher up. Well protected route, and the off-width isnt that bad.

19 Last Moon - Hard, awesome first pitch (more like 20), and the higher pitches on chickenhead faces are absolutely brilliant. Mostly good gear.

21 Big Corner - Great climbing on excellent rock. It's worth doing the Maleboch scramble to avoid the original first pitches.

22 Moonlight Direct - Good climbing. Long and hard grade 22 pitch with some suspect rock on the easy pitch off the grass ledge

20 Bushpig - A fast route at grade 20 with some fun chimneys towards the top. Follows the rap ladder. The grade 20-pitch of Hey Jude forms the crux.

19 Moonraker - Crux pitch is long and awesome with varied climbing. Pitches up to the grassy ledge are tricky

=Bouldering=

There is a great bouldering area in the small valley thet heads up towards Avalon (bolted route, 26). When standing in the cave, Avalon is the striking yellow wall to the north east. To get to the bouldering, walk to the top pools. Head eastwards for a minute or two over the grassy meadow. The bouldering valley will open up on your right, with the Avalon wall forming the head of the valley.

Another good bouldering area is near the bottom pools. From the cave go down the little kloof. Stick on the true left of the river and find your way down to the bottom pools. About 150 m downstream of the big pot-hole pool, on the true left of the river is a 5 m high gently overhanging wall. The wall is maybe 50 m wide.

=Cave Area Climbs=

On the true right of the bouldering valley leading up to Avalon is a very nice 16 hand and finger crack, Grand Illusion, (about 30 m below Avalon) opened by Mike Cartwright in 1990. Theres a good 21 on the face just to the left of the crack as follows:

Start about 2 m left of Grand Illusion. Climb up then follow the grips up and leftwards to get gear on the arete. Finish up rightwards to top out. This was opened on pre-placed gear. Gear is minimal and not very good.
FA: Steve Crowe, April 2005

All the bolts on Avalon, except the top one which is still ok, were replaced in October 2005 with 10 mm stainless. This is a great route. It is fully bolted, but has no top anchors so take a friend 1.5, friend 2.5 and a few big wires and some slings for the top. It is easy to scramble off from the top of the route. The original route breaks left at the last bolt (26). Carry on up and right for the direct finish (28)

=Tips for Some of the Routes=

==Something of Value (21)==
The 2nd pitch after the grass ledge goes up to a rail, then rails left to a corner. The original route climbs the corner for 3 m then buggers off left across an unprotected slab. This is hard and scary 21. Intead of traversing left, continue climbing the corner to the small roof that caps it. Step up and right to a peg, then some slab moves to another peg until able to move up and right into the main corner feature. Follow the corner to the overhang and pull this to get into the corner of the 6th pitch of SOV. Climb the easy (15) corner to the jumbo ledge. This pitch is from Tequila Sunrise and gets ***** with very good gear and wild steep climbing. Its also about grade 21.

==Teddy Bears' Picnic (21)==
The 5th pitch after the grass ledge (the precious mettle pitch) has 2 bolts on it. These were replaced with new 10 mm stainless steel bolts in October 2005. This is a great, well protected route.

==Dreams of White Dogs (26) ==
[[Image:Dreams of White Dogs topo.JPG‎]]

File:Blouberg North Wall Limpopo Province, South Africa.jpg

2009-01-30T08:07:13Z

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