Super Traverse

Hello. I'm suffering badly from pass-fever at the moment. Stijn & co did an impressive effort with their supertraverse and I must say I am surprised that it did not grab more people's attention and awe. What is really remarkable is that it is an effort that requires a lot of dedication and time, whereas even an amateur can complete the GT in a week.

A fully comprehensive Supertraverse that envolves all the named and unnamed passes. That is a mammoth undertaking. In traverse ethics it should be unsupported as well.

Can anybody who has some information supply me with any information (prefereably as much info, co-ordinates etc as possible) about un-named passes other than those already discussed in different threads?

Any arguments as to why it is worthwile to undertake such an epic journey is also very welcome here.

Awesome stuff

That will be a mammoth undertaking indeed - do you intend to push on all the way to Bushman's Nek?

And by unsupported, are you excluding resupplies at resorts? You're going to have to go fast if that's the case!

I have a list of 69 named berg passes with some details mostly from "A Field Guide to the Drakensberg". Take the ratings with a pinch of salt though... and some of the info is quite dated, e.g. Judge Pass. I'll try to attach it here:

Nope, I think we need to define unsupported. If you need to resupply, you need to do it from an established supply point, ie a camp run by the parks board. No buried/stashed supply-points en-route. This way there is an immediate time penalty for resupplying and a incentive for the fast & light traveller. I think unsupported should also refer to the companion aspect. You start with your companions. If you lose one along the way, he (or anybody else) can't join further along. Even though it is only moral and pshycological, it is support. Anything You carry up from the start can be left at the top to be utilised after an down/up leg. as you carried it in as part of the journey it should be acceptable?

I hear what you say about including un-named passes. That is exactly what I am trying to establish, how many are there and how many of these are in use? Maybe we should limit the un-named passes included in the super traverse to those that are known to be frequented by fell-walkers/mountaineers/berg-fundi's.

I think it is important to include all the named rock passes, as this will help to keep the amateur in bussiness, it will prevent organised sponsered full-time AR athletes to come and shred records beyond the realm of us serving an office sentence.

I guess one won't get by without carrying along some form of tent/bivvy?

WOW! thanks for that sheet!

If thats how many passes there are then it will certainly entail a resignation and re-applying effort, annual leave will be no good...

However, if the idea of the super traverse is to go down the one pass and up the next, then it is bound to take time and then I see very little point in illiminating existing passes from the trip. But it now make sense to follow only named routes.

Cool - agreed on the resupplies at established berg resorts/campsites only.

One comment - these "organised sponsered full-time AR athletes" don't really exist in SA. Andrew Porter, who just smashed our GT record, has a full time job and is one of the more active trad climbers around. So a rock pass is unlikely to deter him (or slow him down for that matter) What you'll find is that there are simply some very fast (and experienced) "amateurs" out there.

As for a bivvy - we carried a light tent flysheet only but a much lighter option would be a bivvy bag/light sleeping bag combo.

So what kind of schedule would you be aiming to keep up? At a first stab, I'd guess Chain Ladder, Beacon Buttress Gully, Ifidi & Icidi would be doable on the first day? Then Mbundini, Fangs & Rwanqua followed by a double knee transplant on day 2 Madness - I love it!

Thanks for the feedback!

@ intrepid; Yes, it will be essential to make it as easy as possible That said, I do foster a sentiment that you should kind of respect the framework along which the first guys did it (Stijn & co)

@ Stijn; Thanks for the flying start schedule, but I think I'll rather shut up and go do some investigation beforehand. After uni I spend four years in europe (where I learned to climb and not to be scared of real winter conditions) and returned only 18 months ago, this recent trip to the berg was only my third and first onto the escarpment of UDP. Done some more trekking & hiking and passes (amongst others Pondo pass) in the Eastern Cape Drakensberg.

This project will most likely take a year to plan (not to mention accumilating leave & funds).

@domsmooth: Well now that the record has come down to 2-and-a-half days, it's essentially a weekend trip and your leave problem has been solved