Hodgesons South scrambling route

In contrast to the straightforward slog up it's northern counterpart, Hodgeson's South Peak has no obvious route through it's rocky tip. Viewed from the Giant's Cup, foreboding cliffs guard the summit. And at first glance things don't look that much better from the other side either.

However, a walk along the base of the cliffs on the southern side will at some stage bring you to a cairn. This marks the beginning of a grade B scramble, involving a zigzag through grass and rock ledges to a gully which brings you onto the ridge, from where one can walk to the summit. The cairn is situated at S29 37.444 E29 17.098 (WGS84). If you are starting from the Giant's Cup side you will need to first slog up to the obvious saddle between the peak and it's Lesotho neighbour in order to access this side.

For the more adventurous climbers, there is also a short C-D grade route. At an obvious gully, or recess of sorts, near the beginning of the summit ridge, traverse out left on the rock for several meters. The ridge is gained from there by a short awkward move involving boulders that may come loose at some point! Next is several meters of traversing on a knife ridge, heading right (the rock is crumbly). From there one walks to the B grade gully of the easier route mentioned above. It's a fairly easy manoeuvre into the gully from where the summit is easily accessible.

Currently don't have good pics of the routes.

The photo below shows the guarded northern flank. The positions of the two routes on the summit ridge are indicated, though these are climbed from the other side.


The following pic shows the southern flank. Though not very clear, the B grade gully is on the left edge of the photo.