Rock Falls
08 Sep 2012 08:48 #55179
by Clark
Rock Falls was created by Clark
Hi All
I was just wondering this morning if anybody has experienced a large rock fall in the Berg. Of course, ascending passes and the like, there are always a few smaller rocks that tumble back down the pass despite efforts to minimise this. I'm talking about grand rock falls, ones that sound like rolling thunder echoing up the valleys.
CK
I was just wondering this morning if anybody has experienced a large rock fall in the Berg. Of course, ascending passes and the like, there are always a few smaller rocks that tumble back down the pass despite efforts to minimise this. I'm talking about grand rock falls, ones that sound like rolling thunder echoing up the valleys.
CK
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10 Sep 2012 14:26 #55189
by dunmor
Replied by dunmor on topic Rock Falls
I was at Keithbush Camp on the 10th (Saturday night) and heard a massive rock fall.
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13 Sep 2012 13:39 - 13 Sep 2012 13:44 #55241
by intrepid
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
Replied by intrepid on topic Rock Falls
On Gray's Pass some years back, near the top, under the big cliffs, we once had several boulders/rocks from 20-40cm wide crash down about 20-30m in front of us, hurtling right across the trail. Sill not sure of the reason why. It was misty. It has snowed the day before, so may have had something to do with that, or it might have been baboons. It was not a feel-good situation.
Last year we got to watch a small/medium rock avalanche come down the "Little Rhino", the peaks in-front of The Rhino. It was from a safe distance (maybe 150m). A lot of rumbling, a lot of dust and boulders rolling down quite a ways. About 20 min later we had to walk right through the avalanche zone but it was fine.
The best and scariest encounter was on Cathkin Mountain Pass (Ships Prow North Fork). There is a considerable scree slope halfway up the pass which is very visible from far away. The whole pass is very steep and this part if just totally scree and big, unstable boulders...you have to walk in it and some point. I had just crossed one bad section and landed on more stable terrain. Three people were behind me, not far behind but due to the angle of the slope I couldn’t see them. I suddenly heard a terrible, sickening rumble that lasted several seconds, and a lot of shouting from my friends. One of them had loosed an avalanche onto the other two. In the nick of time they crouched behind a bigger rock and the avalanche parted around the rock on either side of them! I only heard it and did not see it....but that was quite enough! It was really sickening. I waited for them to appear over the edge where they came into view and we were all busy catching our breath and reliving what had happened, when the next boulder got loosed above us by someone else! Time really did go into slo-mo as I watched a micro-wave size boulder hurtle and spin wildly, missing me by about 10m, and then on towards my friend standing below me (who had just survived the avalanche). It would bounce and then spin wildly through the air, as it was lop-sided. It bounced across the slope at an angle. We all just froze and watched. My friend stood braced with hiking poles in each hand, and in the end it missed one of the poles by barely a meter!
Fun to talk about it afterwards...but pretty rattling at the time.
Last year we got to watch a small/medium rock avalanche come down the "Little Rhino", the peaks in-front of The Rhino. It was from a safe distance (maybe 150m). A lot of rumbling, a lot of dust and boulders rolling down quite a ways. About 20 min later we had to walk right through the avalanche zone but it was fine.
The best and scariest encounter was on Cathkin Mountain Pass (Ships Prow North Fork). There is a considerable scree slope halfway up the pass which is very visible from far away. The whole pass is very steep and this part if just totally scree and big, unstable boulders...you have to walk in it and some point. I had just crossed one bad section and landed on more stable terrain. Three people were behind me, not far behind but due to the angle of the slope I couldn’t see them. I suddenly heard a terrible, sickening rumble that lasted several seconds, and a lot of shouting from my friends. One of them had loosed an avalanche onto the other two. In the nick of time they crouched behind a bigger rock and the avalanche parted around the rock on either side of them! I only heard it and did not see it....but that was quite enough! It was really sickening. I waited for them to appear over the edge where they came into view and we were all busy catching our breath and reliving what had happened, when the next boulder got loosed above us by someone else! Time really did go into slo-mo as I watched a micro-wave size boulder hurtle and spin wildly, missing me by about 10m, and then on towards my friend standing below me (who had just survived the avalanche). It would bounce and then spin wildly through the air, as it was lop-sided. It bounced across the slope at an angle. We all just froze and watched. My friend stood braced with hiking poles in each hand, and in the end it missed one of the poles by barely a meter!
Fun to talk about it afterwards...but pretty rattling at the time.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
Last edit: 13 Sep 2012 13:44 by intrepid.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Clark
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