Khulus

intrepid wrote: Xeni Peak is actually a large free-standing pinnacle which only becomes apparent if you hug the escarpment from Xeni Pass towards The Elephant.

Would the peak marked with the triangle be Xeni? Based on the MCSA route description it seems to fit the description.

That is the Elephant indeed. Ok - that would make sense.

And would it be one of those freestanders in one of these?




The second pic above being the view from Mahout, the ridge on the right being the back of the Elephant.

I assume that based on a 30m abseil followed by 85m of rock climbing in 3 pitches, it should be easier to spot than this - it must stick out from some angle?

Ok, that makes sence. It's a bit odd to have a massive D-grade climb that looks like an island in the middle of the escarpment.

Ok - this one may be quite funny to those who know the Garden Castle area fairly well.

I was looking for something online and found a link to accommodation near Drakensberg Gardens .

and for the fit further on to Rhino's Horn the third highest peak in the southern Drakensberg Mountain's region

Ok - lets put aside the angle where many of us don't agree as to where the Southern Berg becomes the Central Berg. I am an advocate of Giants as a logical split, but I know most say somewhere around Vergelegen/Lotheni. Its semantics and not important where the one starts and the other ends. Even if we say just Garden Castle and only distinct peaks on the escarpment edge count, there are still many more than that which are higher - according to my khulu list Rhino is the lowest khulu at Garden Castle. It amazes me how incorrect facts online can be...

At risk of raising a topic that many people don't like - back on the old khulu debate. Anyone who doesn't like the topic of khulus is welcome to ignore this post

Any way - Verkyker is the topic on this one. The main Verkyker peak is naturally a khulu, comfortably higher than anything near to it, comfortably meeting the definition at 3164m. And unlike the vast majority of khulus, its one of the ones I have actually bagged as of this date.

It has 2 subsidiary peaks - one north of Verkyker Pass which is fairly close to the main peak. Its classification as not a khulu may be argued but lets not go there - its within 1km of Verkyker, so it doesn't meet the definition.

The one I'm interested is the one I refer to as Verkyker Buttress. The photo is from the main Verkyker peak:


And from near the top of Rhino (excuse the quality - this photo was taken on a camera phone on my first overnight hike):


It is 3101m and I have always excluded it as being about 850m from the main Verkyker Peak. However, from the north looking south you can see that a walk in a straight line from the other one would require a bit of paragliding, it looks like you would have to take quite a bit of a detour from the one to the other. Thus it appears to be a khulu.

It should have a phenomenal view - so I like the idea of its inclusion. It is officially added to my ever-growing list. Any thoughts?

intrepid wrote:
I'm pleased that there has been a little more awareness and recognition of our top 25-odd "high points". This is already progress. Even in that list I think some, like Ships Prow, are more of a "Khulu Top" than a clear-cut Khulu.

Regardless of what decisions are made, the point is we can study, classify and climb what is out there, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Agree whole heartedly with the sentiment as well as Ghaz's.

The pure definition is not really that important to me. I have stood on top of several Khulus and many of them, which can be clearly classified as such, are not necessarily worth any effort. However in terms of the Ship's Prow example you provide, yes its borderline due to its proximity to the Champagne Castle dome, however its sheer presence from below the escarpment, and even from the top (Lithabong side), makes it a magnificant Khulu in my mind without any doubt.

I further agree that we realize there are different approaches to this. Pure Khulu bagging for some, perhaps requires a strict(er) approach to the rules. For others like myself is perhaps a combination of a particular peak being a khulu combined with the prominence, effort to get there, view etc etc, strict application of rules is perhaps over-ridden more easily here.

Different strokes for different folks, and that's cool by me.