Sterkhorn FKT

Hi everyone

In light of Andrew Porter's awesome DGT recently, and being in the area of Champagne Castle a few times, I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to set up some type of out and back FKT up Sterkhorn, starting and ending at Monk's Cowl.

I know some people will scowl at the idea, and after talking to some people with endless knowledge of the Berg and a few DGT's under their belt, they felt that one can then choose any peak in the Berg and term it a FKT - thus making it a bit of a cheap term.

I understand the sentiment, however some of the FKT's will never be accessible for the normal man in a day, and my thinking is that we can set up "smaller" and easier FKT's for people to get a bit more involved. Would this not contribute to draw some more people to the Drakensberg? It will still not be something to take lightly, however people might just discover why we love the Berg so much.

I however would love to hear some thoughts from you guys, as you are the people who do care about the mountain range, as well as it's well being, with way more knowledge than what I would ever hope to accumulate. As stated, this is just my humble opinion, and any suggestions would be appreciated.

@Stijn: didn't you do Sterkhorn in about 5 hours a few years ago?

Thanks for the positive response!

I do agree with @ghaznavid that setting up some more records could be huge fun. It might serve as additional motivation for people to come out. This is not however an effort to make the Berg look easy - caution still needs to be taken, however if the weather is good, and you are confident in your abilities, I say go for it.

We are first going to scout the route up Sterkhorn again before the attempt will be on Monday morning. Will take photos on the scout and give feedback on the exact starting/ending point, as well as the exact turnaround point. The route and distance will be measured by a Garmin GPS watch. As this is the first attempt, I was thinking at starting right by the Guard house where you sign the mountain register, run all the way up past the Sfinx over Breakfast stream, summit where the cross used to be, and go back down. Any other suggestions?

I will probably not be able to run as I do have an injury, but my brother will do the attempt.

KZN Trailrunning has set up a new feature (kzntrailrunning.co.za/blog/drakensberg-fkt-s), so maybe that can be incorporated here somewhere.

CornelvHeerden wrote: We are first going to scout the route up Sterkhorn again before the attempt will be on Monday morning.

As it turns out, I'm actually going to be camping up at Monk's Cowl from tomorrow evening until Tuesday. Might see you guys up there and shout some encouragement!

Cornel, enjoy the weekend, hope the weather plays along!

Hi all,

So on Sunday we went out to scout Sterkhorn. What an absolute peach of a day. Lovely weather, great company and some scrambling to the top. I took it easy, and we were back at Monk's Cowl after about 6 and a half hours. Two of our group took a jog down, and managed to finish in about 4 hours and 45 minutes.

On Monday 15 June 2015, Johardt van Heerden set out from the Mountain register at Monk's Cowl, past the Sphinx, up Sterkhorn, and the same way back in a time of 02:18:15, with the total distance being 16.73 km.

Will upload some pictures and more details later on.

CornelvHeerden wrote: On Monday 15 June 2015, Johardt van Heerden set out from the Mountain register at Monk's Cowl, past the Sphinx, up Sterkhorn, and the same way back in a time of 02:18:15, with the total distance being 16.73 km.

Wow, what an effort! I always say that a record needs to be an impressive time to be worth recognising - I would say that this meets that criteria!

Wow, that's fast! Is this the same Johardt that recently caused an upset at the SA long distance trail champs by trouncing all the favourites?