Corner Pass / Judge Pass, Mafadi, Leslie's Pass Loop

I reckon you'd make the decision within a few minutes of entering the Corner pass gully - the general condition would probably be fairly apparent from near the start. It would take a while to reach the "scramble" section, so I wouldn't just push on hoping it'll be ok - you'd probably end up wasting a lot of time. But it it would an adventure.

So, if it looks sketch from start (I'm assuming "northern high approach" here, rather than the "traditional" Corner pass start from the contour) you'll probably just continue on to Around The Corner - which has a short, "tricky" section that might be interesting depending on how much snow/ice is around (general navigation of ATC might interesting with snow as I don't remember it being the most obvious line).

It's probably worth pointing out that the approach to both Corner and Around The Corner may be non-trivial in snow (or without - depending on your appetite for 'Berg shenanigans).

Hi Davidresink,

I've gone up Corner pass in snow and ice and yes it could get tricky, depending on how much snow and ice you find. If thick, avoid if you don't have snow gear.
Around the Corner pass is a good alternative, so if you do get stopped in Corner itself, it is a possible alternative. If you ascend the pass you would only lose about 250m or so of elevation, but if approaching fro the top as Tiska advises you don't lose any.

At this point in time it doesn't look like there is much snow left on top, and the amount of snowfall predicted is way less than what fell this pass weekend, so if things stay as is then I don't think Corner Pass will be problematic. However, keep in mind that mountains make their own weather, so be prepared and have an escape route or two if things turn south. Judges is of course the easiest of the 3 passes in that area, although a bit further on the contour path level.

Whichever passes you choose, enjoy the berg!!!

Hi Everyone - thanks for all the replies.

Doing final gear checks and drive down from JHB tomorrow. I’m convinced I’m going to have to do a gear cull at camp!

Have not decided which pass to do - I think we’ll take instruction from the ‘Berg as we go ( :

Cheers
David

I am plannign a 7-day trip for next year which would start at the Injasuthi camp and then  either go up Judges or Leslie's Pass, overnight in Injasuthi Summit Cave and then eventually carry on to Champagne Castle to descend Gray's Pass.

I know most of the area from many trips before, but it is the Injasuthi section I have never done before, and I am torn between which pass to ascend.

Group would be reasonably experienced I can assume at this point, but I would like to avoid the potential exposure that the Corner(s) has on offer.

FYI, if the group is 'reasonably experienced' I wouldn't avoid Corner pass... It doesn't really have exposure actually, it's just a short climb up a large boulder which isn't difficult unless it's icey but take a short piece of rope or cord if anyone needs a bit of a belay to steady themselves.

Is that section up Corner pass more technical than Ifidi pass? (I've done the latter a number of times).

I haven't done Ifidi, so can't offer a comparison on that. I've been up and down Corner a number of times and never really thought it too difficult. Here's a pic (from April 2015) of the technical section, hope it helps.
 

Infidi is a lot more difficult and as per Dillon's pic below, that's the most technical part so it's really not at the same level as Infidi I would say. I've done both and it felt like Corner pass was quite straightforward by comparison...

Hi Ysb33r,

I've done both and as ASL mentioned, the Corner pass scramble is easier. We've had to hoist packs up in relatively thick snow andice before, but even if wet the scramble is easy. The only part I've ever found difficult (in snow and ice) was the very first step, which was a bit high up for me. Normally there are lower steps but with it being iced up I had to get up quite high for the first step, which was literally a bit of a stretch.

Note that Corner pass has 3 scrambling sections. The pic above is the first one and the highest of the 3. The other 2 were about half the height and I found them much easier.

Regarding Ifidi, it's scrambles were also relatively easy, except the one where you have to sort of crawl under the overhanging rock to get over the scramble. Last time I did that also iced up, and we again had to hoist packs. It became a bit problematic storing all the packs above the obstacle as large parts of the rocks were iced up and slippery, so the packs didn't want to stay put! Fortunatey no such issues on Corner pass.