Pins Pass

Those pointy things are the Mnweni Pinnacles (Pins), although there is a likelihood that the names of the Pinnacles and Needles were accidently swopped around on early maps.

In the photo with the red line, the top of Pins Pass is not visible, but detours left of the western Pinnacle and tops out at the same height as Manxome Pass, quite close to the top of Manxome Pass and behind the top of Manxome Pass in the photo.

The right hand gully doesn't access the escarpment, (neither does the bit you can see of the left hand one), but drops down between the Pinnacles on the other side, see the last photo of the write up for the view of the other side grass slope between the Pinnacles. It's worth also noting in the last photo that Pins Pass tops out on the high escarpment ridge to the right of the picture (quite a distance out of the picture), and is not the right foreground gully. The Mnweni Needles are seen in the background centre left of the last photo, while the Mnweni Pinnacles are at the right foreground of the photo.

Yes, it's certainly possible some more of the passes traditionally regarded as rock passes have alternative non rock routes; Judge, Nguza, Pins, quite likely some others too. intrepid has some ideas on an alternative route for Hilton Pass, but I am not knowledgeable on Hilton Pass, having only looked down from the top years ago, and can't provide insight into this.

tonymarshall wrote: and intrepid and tony experiencing a special moment of each having completed all of the official named Mnweni area Passes.

This is legendary stuff, congrats to Tony Marshall and Chris Sommer (intrepid).

Nice work on all those passes gentlemen. I'm still short on Ntonjelane and Ranqwa. It was very encouraging to read how scenic Ntonj is from the earlier report by Tony. I'd always written that one off as a tedious trade route but that view seems wrong.

I think it must be harder to crack Pins Pass from the bottom up rather than the top down. I've only descended, but prior to descent we spent an hour or so on the top of the south side of the pass looking over the steep drops into the throat of the pass and managed from that to work out what to avoid. The recce allowed what seemed to be a perfect route for us. That's harder to do when looking at the foreshortened pass and the steep sections from the bottom up - so well navigated!

I am planning a hike which includes Pins pass. The current plan is to hike up Rockeries and descent with Mnweni. I have done both these passes before, in the opposite direction. Being right at the beginning of Pins we are looking at ascending Pins and then hike north to go down Fangs. 
The current itinerary includes camping at Chi Chi after descending Mnweni. We will most likely reach Chi Chi early on that specific day as we are planning to sleep near the top of Mnweni the previous night, perhaps Ledges cave.
If we reach Chi Chi early and there are any possible camping spots in the lower half of Pins we could possibly decide to start Pins on the same day we go down Mnweni in order to make the following day up Pins a bit easier. Can anyone please advise regarding camping spots lower down in Pins pass. Any recommendations regarding the route as described here would be most welcome.

I don't remember seeing anything even close to useable below 3000m on the pass. Pins Pass is probably the longest sustained steep grass slope I've ever done. You might be able to find something usable once the route turns left into the gully - but if you are going that far, you would just use one of the caves (there are at least 2 of them around 3000m).

Pins Pass is a really cool route - I rate it as the hardest non-rock pass in the Drakensberg, but the views from it are really great. With around 1.2km elevation gain on the pass, it has more vertical than most other Drakensberg passes. Well worth the effort, though.

Hi Drakie1,

Ther's pretty much no flat areas on Pins. What you could do though, if you want a bit of adventure, is to head up Manxcome (immediately south of Pins) and hike up to the flat rock section on the ridge at around 2700m asl. Then find a spot to hop over into Pins pass. You might have to descend a bit to find a suitable crossover spot, unless you are a climber of some sorts as the ridge section is rocky with (in places)steep and high sections.

I'd sleep over at ChiChi and start early the next morning, as you will be in the sunlight the entire time.

Pins is a beautiful pass and offers amazing views towards the south. Mancome tops out at about the same height but is easier as it is smooth and grassy to the top. Note that as you approach the needles on Pins pass, there are numerous little (like 3 - 5m high) gullies you will need to cross, which could be a bit dodgy when wet. I had a number of slides down these. The views north of the needles are also really super. Pins cave is ot too far after the needles, so you can also aim for this cave if you have time/energy/light left if you want to do it in one day. The cave is quite small, sleeping maybe 4 people? And not super deep, so a bit exposed. Also, note that you are far from water here, so should you aim for the cave it is best to bring water along.

Whatever route you decide upon, enjoy the Berg!!!

Lol, Riaan doesn't mention that we took the most vertical/ direct route possible up pins!! I was on all fours holding on so as not to fall backwards a lot of the way up!

That said I agree there don't seem to be any campsites, especially lower down as it quite steep from the bottom. I also recommend the foot of the pass as a good option..

Thank to everyone for your input, much appreciated....... Chi Chi it will be, with an early start heading for Pins cave.
I downloaded Tony Marshall's GPS track for pins, any other tracks available?
Thanks for all the effort you guys put into this website,. 

There's pretty much two route options up Pins pass.

High or low.

If you go low you follow the river all the way upstream. Bushy, possibly wet, in and out of the riverbed the entire time. You will eventually get cliffed out so unless you are a climber you can't follow this route till the end. Rather, before you get to the climbing section simply turn left and up and ascend via the grassy section, and then vector in from the top to the needles.

We followed a path on the lower route but it pretty quickly disappeared, and it became a bit of a bushwacking exercise. We then simply went vertical immediately, and contoured near the cliff section to the needles. You in any case have to go vertical, so if you do it now or when you get closer to the needles, it's pretty much the same scenario. Difference is that you don't have to fight through riverine vegetation if you go vertical sooner.

Be warned though, this section is really steep as ASL alluded to in his email. When I say really steep, I would say there's probably no other pass that I've ascended that is so steep for so long. Not even Corner pass has this steep. I think probably Xeni pass's upper section, just before the real pass itself, has a similar type of steepness. It will give you a proper workout, trust me on this one

When I do it next time, I would not go up in a straight vertical manner, but rather at a bit of an angle. You will see a section of rocky outcrops near the cliffs above you, and if you go up straight you have to go through them. We had a number of dodgy sections to go through here, so I would rather suggest that you pass under them (i.e. taking an angle) rather than attempt to go over or through them. If you do slip here, it's a long way down to the riverbed below.

Enjoy the Berg!!!