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Here is another classic Berg mystery that I've been meaning to get onto the forums.

Most hikers and several illustrations that I've seen in various books refer to the prominent, pointy peak, distinctly visible from the Ampitheatre, as Mount Amery. It is the one on the left in the image below. Yet the maps (Government survey, Slingsby, new hiking maps and Garmin topographic) refer to the less impressive buttress on the right as Mount Amery (the hiking maps probably simply follow the survey map). So which is peak is the true Mount Amery, and where did the confusion come from? Did the survey maps get it wrong from the start, whereas tradition maintained that it was the peak on the left? It certainly is attractive and a fun grade B scramble, with some lofty views. The buttress on the right is much bigger in size however, and gives some good views into the Mnweni. Their heights are almost identical, I measured the one on the left to be 3140m and the one of the right, 3151m, which for a hand-held GPS is pretty much the same, except that last time I measured both on the same day, leaving my unit on in between, so the buttress on the right is probably slightly higher.



Note: the list of peaks at the back of Barrier of Spears records the height of Mt Amery as 3143m, and confirms that the approach from the escarpment is a grade B scramble (the buttress is a grade A). Furthermore it mentions the frontal route, which, if I remember correctly, was opened up by guys that were mentored and introduced to the Berg by Pearse. All of this indicates that in Pearse's tradition Mt Amery was the one on the left.

2 quote a member of this forum with over 1000 posts on a thread about Khulu's - just to be safe climb both of them...

Here is some info, perhaps all of which Intrepid has actually seen but it must shed some light on the situation, or confuse the mystery even more.

The images 1&3 from Cradle of Rivers pub 1975 seems to indicate the wedge shaped peak on the left, whereas Camera in Quathlamba image 4 pub 1980 indicates that it is the peak on the right. I have always thought it was this pointy wedge shaped peak on the left.

I may be missing something, but it seems to be as if all those book sources ST attached confirm the steep wedge-shaped peak as Mount Amery?

I've also always thought it was that one - it's one of the more striking escarpment peaks. Still haven't summited unfortunately. I've only been nearby once and I was the only person keen to head up and the motivation died shortly thereafter when the close-up view made me realise that it's a little more than a quick dash away from the group.

Yes Stijn, you are correct. I was mistaking the far right peak as higher, but in fact this is closer to the camera than the other two mentioned by Intrepid. So all the evidence points to Mt Amery being the wedge shaped pointy peak, which is as i initially thought.

Now that i have grabbed the 'new' map out of its house, it does appear to me though, in contradiction to what Intrepid said, that Mt Amery is correctly marked on this map, whereas on the old Slingsby map it definitely is the peak on the right, ie closer to the Singati Wall.

Indeed, the first edition of the new hiking maps (No 1) had Mt Amery marked as the left (northerly) one. The height was not indicated. In the second edition of the same map, they changed this to the buttress on the right and included the spot height of 3143m, exactly as it appears in Slingsby's map. See image below (Edition 2 on left).



So, I think its fairly safe to say Mount Amery is the wedge-shaped, northerly peak. Either the survey people or Slingsby got it confused, and in turn influenced the other party. First edition of the new hiking maps seems to have been influenced by a consultation with someone that actually knew, but subsequently someone else must have compared with the survey map and Slingsby's map and thought "Hmmm...". Garmin topographic map is simply based on the survey map and repeats the error.