vertical-endeavour.com

I am new to this forum but have been attempting to get a few peaks in the berg completed before winter sets in. I have done a fair amount of hiking in the southern berg and loads of trad in the SC, but I would like to get into the mountaineering side of things. My aim is to do some of the higher non technical peaks this winter.

Some questions:
Which gear is required other than the standard winter hiking apparal.(ie four season tent, snow boots, gaitors, snow jacket, gloves, snow pants, trekking poles and thermals) Would snow axes be useful, are crampons required for the passes. Is it worth trying to protect the routes.

Secondly which peaks would be the best to start with?

Thirdly if one wanted to do some alpine climbing, are there snow gullys or the like suitible for this?.

Any help is much appreciated!

Frosty

for more serious climbing and ice climbing suggest contacting the Mountain Club of South Africa:

www.mcsa.org.za

Giants Castle area I know has some good ice climbing spots.

Frosty Ice wrote:
Which routes are you referring to exactly? The passes, or climbing routes up technical peaks?
You don't always need crampons and axes (though they would certainly help) - check out Serious Tribe's photo of an ascent of Corner Pass under heavy snow: www.vertical-endeavour.com/forums/11-drakensberg-passes/86-corner-pass.html?limit=6&start=6#306
I don't bother with technical gear for winter hikes, though axes are helpful particularly in icy conditions. Have heard of them being used on the Bell Traverse even. I've had to literally climb on smooth water ice on Ifidi Pass before and though I didn't have an axe, it sure would have helped!

Are you meaning non-technical peaks as first mentioned? Then Cathedral Peak, Sterkhorn, Twins, Intunja for starters - good scrambling peaks. Some classic hiking peaks would be Cleft Peak, Giants Castle, Champagne Castle, The Rhino, The Devils Knuckles etc. The list is endless.

After a good snow dump any pass can become a real "alpine" challenge, but you will have to catch it soon after the snowfall before most of it melts. Some of the more challenging passes with narrow gullys like Ifidi, Xeni, Injasuthi etc may provide even more challenge if they are full of snow, though I've never tried them at those times.

Some rock climbing classics like Giants Castle frontal and Cathkin South Gully become classic winter routes given enough snow.

There are some good ice climbing spots on Giants, as already mentioned, and around Sani Pass. Lesotho also offers some ice climbing around Oxbow and Mafika Lisiu / Bokong. The Mountain Club has an annual ice climbing meet in July that you could attend.

Check out the MCSA Winter Route Guide:
www.mcsa.org.za/kzn/ice/BergWinterMenu.html