Andre's Knob

Has anyone climbed Andre's Knob at Garden Castle before?

I have seen it from the escarpment on GT, but was really sick at the time and got no photos. I got some shots of the reverse angle from Thaba Ngwangwe and am still not sure if it is climbable without rock climbing. According to Murch's list it is, but the same list says that Thaba Ngwangwe is only doable by rock climbing, so I don't want to rely on that.

The reverse angle of the land bridge looks like this:


From Thamathu Ridge


From Thaba Ngwangwe

I'll take that as none of you out there have tried Andre's Knob?

Its a named peak, so somebody in history must have climbed it (maybe someone named Andre ). MCSA has no route description for a rock route up it (or anything south of Mzimude for that matter, not even Knuckles which should have some good climbing routes), and a Google search only brings up VE and sites about people named Andre.

I don't see any cairn on the summit in any of my photos, so its probably a tiny cairn like Lithabolong, or one needs to be built...

intrepid wrote: I've often wondered about it too. The approach is possibly from the Isicatula Pass side, at least that is where I would start looking. Given the grading and that there is no climbing RD, there must be some easy way up but it's hidden from view. I haven't spotted anything from Isicatula side that seemed obvious.

I can see a way onto the grassy ledge between the 2 rock faces on both sides, but I don't have an angle to see how to get from this ledge to the summit. On GT I remember looking at it and wondering why Murch didn't classify it as a rock climbing khulu, but due to feeling like I was half dead at that point in time, I didn't get any photos.

intrepid wrote: It must be the worst-named peak in the Berg.

I think Titty and Sheba's Breast are its closest rivals, but Andre really takes the cake From Thamathu ridge it looks a lot like a Byzantine style outbuilding, I prefer that to what it looks like from the top of Thamathu Pass - especially in light of the name

Then there's "Peckham's Peaklette", which also lead to "Hone's Horn".

I'm sure Andre's Knob was named in similar vein.

(Refer to p151-153 in 'Encounters' for the story).

Ok - new development.

The Singsby Map doesn't have Andre's Knob on it, neither does Murch's khulu list. That means its one of the 20 or so peaks added by me and hence the fact that its a climbing peak is an assumption made by me. I am now looking at it as a rock climbing peak.

Based on zooming in on photos I don't even see a cairn on top - so it may have been a joke or something like that.

On the note of the route, I imagine heading down Isicutula Pass and following the base of the rock band to a descent climbing route (probably C-D grade). Something like this:

Isicutula Peak also isn't on his list and its just over 1km from Walkers. Andre's is a further 1km from Isicutula:


My guess as to why it was missing would be the old "south inferiority complex" - so many people don't think of the southern berg as part of the range, or maybe he didn't go through the south as thoroughly as he did the north and central Berg.

I assume it has been climbed - what are the odds of a peak of such prominence (and with a name on the maps) having never been climbed? Probably just like Tseke peak, nobody bothered to build a cairn (before me that is ), maybe its a 4 rock cairn like Lithabalong and you have to be there to see it, or like Thumb Spur its cairn could be covered in vegetation (I didn't see the cairn on Thumb Spur until just before I thought about building one and noticed this pile of rocks covered in some moss like growth).

I thought there was a thread around somewhere on Andre's Knob, but I can't find it. This seems close enough...

Anyway, I have studied photos from varios angles and I think I have a line or 2 that may result in the khulu being bagged. The long weekend at the beginning of May has been earmarked for exploration and hopefully conquest of this poorly named peak...

I have studied this photo in detail and I cannot see signs of a summit cairn. Is it possible that a Berg khulu may actually be short of a first ascent?