Blouberg beta for a couple of visiting climbers

[Yankindar]

My partner and I have a week in SA in June. Was planning to spend most of the time in Boven but I injured my wrist, so hard sport climbing is out and moderate trad is in. I’m very intrigued by Blouberg, specifically Moonshadow, and in the interest of avoiding epics:
1. Is route-finding fairly straightforward?
2. How stiff are grades 17-18? I find that British HVS (the equivalent according to the grade table I saw) can be a total breeze if it’s a steep jug haul, or a brutal struggle if it’s a wide crack…
3. Is the walk-off descent ok in the dark with a headlamp if necessary? Any additional beta/maps/etc for the descent?
4. It looks like it’s easy to bail from the ledge after pitch 3 as there is an adjacent rap route. Am I right that bailing from higher up would require leaving a fair bit of gear?

Cheers!

[AllisterFenton]

Starting with the stories in the back of the guide is a great way to get an idea of what you're getting into

1. Route finding starts about 15 minutes after leaving the parking lot there are legends of people spending their whole climbing trip without unpacking the rack. If you can convince a someone who's been before to join you you'll be in with a much better chance. Get a GPS track if you can. The rock can be quite tricky to read. Some pitches are simple, others are devious in nature. The descriptions of the pitches leave much to be discovered, adding to the adventurous nature of the climbing.

2. The grades can be a bit stiff, some of the mental gymnastics required could put some of the pitches in the low E grades. It is a big wall and requires a full bag of tricks.

3. The walk off is simple in the day, much trickier in the dark without landmarks. There are some (or many, depending on how lucky you are) cairns. A GPS track will go a long way here.

4. Bailing from the ledge is easy, look on the left edge for the chains. From higher up you will probably need to leave some gear. Having a good amount of tat will go a long way here.

Despite the serious nature of the big blue mountain, it's some of the best rock this side of the equator and definitely worth the trip. Plan a day for travel from Boven and hiking to the cave, a day to climb and a day for walking out and driving back to Boven or JHB. If you can spend an extra day do it, there are beautiful pools on the plateau and amazing mountain scenery.

[Yankindar]

Haha sounds like the stuff of epics! I guess it would at least be memorable. Do you know where I can get hold of these GPS tracks? Are they maps with the relevant trails like on, say, AllTrails?

[AllisterFenton]

https://www.climbing.co.za/gallery2/thu ... p?album=36

Definitely check out the gallery here on climbZA for some psych

[AllisterFenton]

I'll see if I can get hold of them tracks for ya.

Drop me an email allister.fenton at gmail dot com

[SNORT]

Get Allister or anothe local who know the place to go with you dude

[Rob P]

Get Snort to go with you.