Angus-Leppan
Monk's Cowl is king of the freestanders - it's over 3200m.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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gollum wrote: \m/ WHOOOO HOOOOO ! ! ! \m/
Some hints and info for those of you awaiting awesomeness:
- Route finding is extremely easy (but we had good weather).
- The rock quality is dubious throughout the climb and rotten on pitches 2 and 3.
- 1 out of 3 placements are bomber, don't fall!
- The belay stations at the start of pitches 3 and 4 are bolted
- The "good peg" in the cubbyhole on pitch 6 is no longer there, but there is a good cam placement.
- Our rack was 1 set of nuts (BD #4 - #13), one set of hexes (BD #1 - #11), and 4 cams (BD Camalot #0.75 - #3), and it was more than sufficient, although we could have used more and smaller cams.
@Gollum: Thanks for the info. I see you used quite a lot of small gear by Berg standards. Thinking of trying the Angus-Leppan some time soon.
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One note to add: the south gully approach to the start of the route - at the nek between the peak and gendarme - was choked with snow and ice. It took us 6 hours. We used walking axes and crampons which we then carried on the rest of the route, luckily, as they came in useful on our descent of the standard route. The snow was chest deep in many places in the gully above the 'first blockage'. Pic attached shows how, in a desperate attempt to get out of the snow, we even attempted to anchor on the wall of the gendarme. Pic taken from the nek.
IMO: if you encounter a covering snow in the gully, do something else for the day and come back some other time for the route!
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Stijn, May 2010 posting on this thread wrote: "Bolted belay stations??? Since when has the berg trad-climbing fraternity lowered itself to European standards? Thought that was serious no-no, regardless of the convenience offered. How long til the Via Ferrata arrive?"
and the answer was: about 18 months.....
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On bolting in the Berg, reading Encounters with the Dragon recently, I see that Mr Peckham himself placed bolts on the Icidi Pencil to protect the crux of the 4th pitch. This is why the gray area of "fair means" doesn't really work for me. Whose fair means? Either you ban bolts from the Berg entirely, or they will start popping up everywhere - somebody will always find a justification.
Whether it be protecting a belay station on Angus Leppan to make a guide's job safer, deciding that a pitch is "unsafe" enough to justify bolts, or constructing an entire via ferrata to open the vertical world to the "masses", there will always be a justification.
And yes, I am a sport climber, but I have accepted that I would need to learn the trad game and grow a pair if I would like to summit some of the berg classics. If you can't climb something in the Berg wihout bolts, leave it for someone who can.
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RobD wrote: Hoopers Route on the Bell also has some excellent chains for the abseil stations.
I'm interested to hear that -
The abseil off the Bell that is really nice to do is not down Hooper's but over the Wong route - so LH face of Bell when looking at the Bell from Bell Cave. One and a half rope lengths drops you onto the big ledge above the first scramble pitches. It is a fantastic rapp - nice and steep and long and cuts off the arble along the ledge from the start of Hooper's proper.
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@Stijn, I get your point that this may appear hypocritical in the light of the current via ferrata debate. And yes you could see it as a grey area. I think the big difference is within protocol / permission vs out of protocol / without permission. Its the same on Table Mountain: recently one of the climbing guides got crucified for placing belay bolts on Arrow Final and they were chopped. But there are in fact several legal abseil bolts on Table Mountain which have been placed there within protocol, even though its strictly a trad venue. Even this weekend we were climbing on Lions Head and I was surprised to see well maintained abseil stations.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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mnt_tiska wrote: The abseil off the Bell that is really nice to do is not down Hooper's but over the Wong route
You are absolutely right - those are the chains we used after doing Hooper's route.
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With regards to the Angus-leppan. How hard is the route finding, and any other info will help.
Thanks guys this is a great site, and the more I read about this route I find myself with sweaty palms and a slight bit of nervousness ha ha but just cant wait for Saturday.
TO MR CHRIS ( AKA INTREPID ) YOU SHOULD HAVE BEING TYING INTO THE SHARP END WITH ME.
By the way climbers, get your hands on the new REEL ROCK FILM TOUR. EXCELLENT.........
Cheers Greg.
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