Tag Archives: climbing
December 2021 Cape Trip day 5: Blesberg
I woke up to a beautiful morning in the Kammanassie Mountains. Looking back up the mountain I had climbed the day before, I could clearly see that my route choice had been the right one. Sometimes a quick look at a mountain from below can answer a lot of questions – which is why the […]
December 2021 Cape Trip day 3: Mannetjiesberg
Mannetjiesberg, at 1955m, is the highest point in the Kammanassie Mountains. It has 1114m prominence, thus making it one of the more prominent peaks in South Africa. I had never heard of the Kammanassie Mountains before I identified the list, and could find very little information on this peak online. When I found there was […]
December 2021 Cape Trip day 1 part 1: Compassberg
In December 2020 I had planned to do a road trip to climb Compassberg and Murch Point – but when lockdown restrictions were increased to exclude inter-provincial travel, I had to put the plans on hold. For December 2021, I had hoped to make a similar trip, with looping around to Cockscombe, Groot Winterberg and […]
Cape Trip day 12: Simonsberg
When I booked my Cape trip, I had considered flying home on the Monday. When I saw the price of tickets for that day, I opted to stay an additional day and have a go at one of the easiest peaks on the 1km prominence list – Simonsberg. I first noticed Simonsberg as I came […]
Cape Trip days 9 to 11: Hex Mountains
I have found comparisons between mountains in the Cape and the Drakensberg to be unfair. The appeal of both is very different – the Drakensberg is always going to win on scale and altitude, while the Cape has better quality rock for climbing, as well as the peaks being more separate and thus generally more […]
Cape Trip days 5 and 6: Tulbagh and Saronsberg
When I decided to attempt to climb all 24 mountains with at least 1000m topographic prominence in South Africa, the main objective was to come up with a way of ensuring I get to visit some obscure mountains that are rarely climbed. Some won’t be particularly interesting, but some will be real gems – this […]
Cape Trip day 4: Tafelberg (Cederberg)
Sunday had been the reserve day for Sneeuberg, but with the summit completed on Saturday, my first bonus peak of the trip would be Tafelberg. At 1969m, it is generally listed as the second highest summit of the Cederberg – a statistic that my data is in consensus with. And with approximately 950m topographic prominence, […]
Sani Supertraverse
I have always considered Vergelegen to be very appropriately named. A region of the Drakensberg tucked between Lotheni and Sani Pass – with no campsite and a poor quality jeep track as the most common access, it is most certainly not the most inviting region of the Drakensberg. I first visited Vergelegen in 2017 and […]
Namahadi Pass Loop
The Free State Drakensberg remains one of the least hiked regions of the range. I have always found this odd – the area is spectacular and reasonably accessible. Rising above the rather large town of Phuthaditjhaba, it is home to some properly hard passes. So on a Friday afternoon, Ross and I found ourselves at […]
Mbundini Abbey Spire in a day
When I was asked to relocate for work purposes, I knew my era of being in the Drakensberg on roughly every second weekend would be coming to an end. The symmetry of the era starting and ending on the summit of Rhino exactly 10 years apart added a bit of poetry to it all. But […]
Ghaznavid Hiking 
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