vertical-endeavour.com

Hi Guys,

Tried searching Xeni Pass but could'nt find any threads on it. I've done Cockade down twice, up once, and always wonder how Xeni looks, as the map indicate a steep section, and that ropes may be required. Does anybody have any info regarding the difficulty/grading, as its the only Pass I've not hiked in the cathedral area, and may consider it for this years winter.

Many thanks.

Great site!

Jan-Harm

What is cockade like.

I've also always wanted to do Xeni myself - looks like the perfect rock pass.

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forums/11-drakensberg-passes/212-qrockq-passes-vs-rock-passes.html

Intrepid's post, 2nd from the top, sums it up quite well. Photos too!

Hi Anthony,

Just a correction, after checking my picture archive, I realised I've only been up, and down once on different occations in 2006(up)& 2007(down), and not down twice as stated earlier

From the junction where you turn left out of Xeni, a clear path moves over on the right grass slopes of the pass, with the river down on the left. About halfway the path makes a slow left into the river, where it becomes a scramble over rock into a narrow gully with near vertical rock faces both sides for +/-100m, after which it opens up a little, with the last section being a steep grass slope, with a worn out path with small loose gravel, I found this top section tiring when coming down, as the loose gravel makes it difficult to descend, I lost my footing with the heayvy pack here in 2007 fell over forward, got some bruises, broke the nail on my thumb. However the pass is quite unique as ones view when in then pass is limited to the towering rock faces, right round and close by. If I recall corectly you pass the "elephant" about 2/3 up, on your right.

We did Cockade in one day from the Cathedral Hotel, but only arrived at the top at around 17h45.

Here's some pics of cockade, excuse the black circle around the edges, the guy taking the pictures played around with the lens hood on his camera.

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Jan-Harm

Hi Stijn,

Many thanks, for the link to Inteprids post, it provides all the info needed. Nice to know it took them 8Hrs to complete, from Cockade camp, as I would've compared it to cockade and try do it one day from the Hotel and most propably run into trouble as climbing it in the dark would be dangerous ! Also would be best to do it with a smaller experienced group [3persons]

Regards,

Jan-Harm

Hi Jan
Thanks for the info i will definitely put in my to do list.