Rolands Cave

Great forum. I am planning a trip to Rolands Cave next month and was wondering where about on Map 2 is it located? I unfortunately don't have a GPS but I do own the Cathedral Topographic Map. Is it before or after Cleft Peak? Are there any cairns to indicate some direction to the cave? Any info would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Best advice I have is get a GPS, not only for position of caves and passes but as a part of basic emergency equipment.

Hi hamzahkhan,

As Rhinoandhedgehog said best get a GPS and the Slingsby map (usually available at the KZN office). I am a fan of the 1:50 000 Topo maps, but sometimes to much detail in mountains can lead to confusion.
Secondly I have learnt that in finding caves best you know and have a method to check your height above sea level. You may find yourself on the spot according to a GPS only 50m above the actual cave.
Roland's is an awesome cave and has a rather challenging approach path.
Most of what you need is in the download section on VE, also check out Roland's on YouTube.

Welcome to the forum..
When next month? I know MCSA is using Roland's on the 15th..

Thanks, I am currently in the process of acquiring a GPS at a reasonable price

Not sure as yet but now that I know that, I will not plan it on that weekend

On map 2 Rolands Cave is just south east of the top of Thuthumi Pass. If you look at Dillon's post on the previous page, the photo of the view of Rolands Cave from Cleft Peak with the blue arrow shows this very nicely. Rolands Cave is in the cliffs above Thuthumi Pass, and the top of Thuthumi Pass is at the centre of the photo, just to the foreground of Rolands Cave.

I thought about this last weekend with all the snow... It could make the traverse a bit more 'interesting' to say the least. So what length of rope do I need?

Hello everyone. Myself and 4 mates went up to rolands for saturday night. Was a last minute trip to feed our ongoing hunger for the drakensberg. We went up and down via camel and it was our first time sleeping in rolands and using camel. Was one of my favourite trips! We were treated to an amazing sunrise and sunset. Descending camel in the rain is alot of fun and required alot of concentration but we were still back at the hotel in 3 hours. Really great way to spend a weekend. Heres 1 or 2 pics of our rolands experience.

Hi all,

I am possibly looking at Rolands Cave for a night over on my trip in mid August.

1. How cold is it in the cave relative to the outside air?
2. Would a sleeping bag with a comfort rating of 5degrees and risk rating of -5 degrees be sufficient? If not, would adding +15 degree sleeping bag liner do the trick

Thanks for the help