Butterfly Ridge / South West Ridge of the Witch
17 Feb 2016 18:33 #67064
by intrepid
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
Butterfly Ridge / South West Ridge of the Witch was created by intrepid
Posting this on behalf of Neil Margetts:
The Butterfly Ridge, or so named on the Slingsby map of the Witsieshoek area of the KZN Drakensberg, is the ridge which is clearly visible from the view “piont” (as misspelt on the stone sign), at the top of the zig zags on the way up to the chain ladders. This is the south west ridge of the east most Witch, and runs parallel to the south west ridge of the Sentinel. Late last year I spotted this line from the summit of the Sentinel, so set a date to open it, the weekend 13 and 14th February.
I had the privilege to climb with the legendary Paul Fatti, and we had a fantastic day out. We started early, up the zig zags and down the gully next to the ridge and below the view “Piont”. We had to go some way down before we caught an easy grass ledge left onto the ridge. We climbed 2 long pitches, 17 and 15, typical berg climbing, picking a line up the ridge with the occasional loose block paired with a decent big tuft of grass to grab onto. Then a long scramble/walk leads one up to the final pillar of the Witch. This necessitated a grade 13 pitch up a recess and a grade 14 traverse right across to a small stance below a steep crack. The third and final pitch out right and up looked daunting at first, reminding me of the traverse pitch on The Tooth. I belayed Paul up and got set for a 15m run out scary pitch, but as I committed it revealed itself as I went, with surprisingly easy (13) climbing and ample good cam placements along the way. This last pitch turned out to be a very fine finish to a fun climb.
The Butterfly ridge is an easy day out from the Sentinel Car park, and an easy scramble and 20 min walk gets one back to the cars, no abseiling required, which is a big bonus for the Berg, as this is often the most dangerous part of a Berg climb. The Witsieshoek area has still a lot more potential for new climbs, and with the logistics provided by the hotel and at the car park, it is a good place to get started with the adventure climbing unique to the area.
The Butterfly Ridge, or so named on the Slingsby map of the Witsieshoek area of the KZN Drakensberg, is the ridge which is clearly visible from the view “piont” (as misspelt on the stone sign), at the top of the zig zags on the way up to the chain ladders. This is the south west ridge of the east most Witch, and runs parallel to the south west ridge of the Sentinel. Late last year I spotted this line from the summit of the Sentinel, so set a date to open it, the weekend 13 and 14th February.
I had the privilege to climb with the legendary Paul Fatti, and we had a fantastic day out. We started early, up the zig zags and down the gully next to the ridge and below the view “Piont”. We had to go some way down before we caught an easy grass ledge left onto the ridge. We climbed 2 long pitches, 17 and 15, typical berg climbing, picking a line up the ridge with the occasional loose block paired with a decent big tuft of grass to grab onto. Then a long scramble/walk leads one up to the final pillar of the Witch. This necessitated a grade 13 pitch up a recess and a grade 14 traverse right across to a small stance below a steep crack. The third and final pitch out right and up looked daunting at first, reminding me of the traverse pitch on The Tooth. I belayed Paul up and got set for a 15m run out scary pitch, but as I committed it revealed itself as I went, with surprisingly easy (13) climbing and ample good cam placements along the way. This last pitch turned out to be a very fine finish to a fun climb.
The Butterfly ridge is an easy day out from the Sentinel Car park, and an easy scramble and 20 min walk gets one back to the cars, no abseiling required, which is a big bonus for the Berg, as this is often the most dangerous part of a Berg climb. The Witsieshoek area has still a lot more potential for new climbs, and with the logistics provided by the hotel and at the car park, it is a good place to get started with the adventure climbing unique to the area.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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