Hanging Valleys Pass

ghaznavid wrote: That would be one sure way of annoying lots of people - if I was to lead a group on a trip opening up a new pass at Mnweni

Pardon me for asking but why would people be annoyed and who would they be?
Is there some protocol in discovering \ naming new routes?

Coeta wrote:

ghaznavid wrote: That would be one sure way of annoying lots of people - if I was to lead a group on a trip opening up a new pass at Mnweni

Pardon me for asking but why would people be annoyed and who would they be?
Is there some protocol in discovering \ naming new routes?

Now there's a can of worms

The joke I am making is this - it is no secret that Mnweni is very special to lots of people, and that I am very far from being one of them. So remarks about how Garden Castle and Didima are more spectacular to me than Mnweni, or about how I enjoy hiking in certain other areas more than Mnweni (for the record, not saying I don't like Mnweni) have resulted in me annoying plenty of people over time. Opening a new route (or doing a repeat of a route that everyone has forgotten about - there's no real difference between a first ascent and repeating a route that you know nothing about and don't know if it goes) is always something special. So for me to claim one of the unclaimed gullies at Mnweni will no doubt annoy some people - but that's not my problem.

It is similar to how some people get annoyed when people do a GT in 2 or 3 days or suggest that a GT can be finished via Saddle Nek Pass. Some people have this odd sense of what is "respectful" to a mountain. To me, mountains are a place to explore and enjoy. As long as it is done safely and responsibly, I fail to see a problem.

What I found most remarkable about this is that we were only certain it would go when really close to the top. It is quite something to be in the dark all that way, not knowing if you will make it or might have to go all the back down.

The gully opposite this pass is very likely to go. Maybe a bit tricky near bottom with plenty of escape routes and variations towards the top.

The gully heading into the far back of the cutback looks very steep and dark. I also suspect trad gear will be needed.

Hanging Valley Pass works for me.

From Ghaz's GT report, here's a good photo showing the pass from the other side of the Mnweni Cutback. Linking it here for reference, to have everything in one thread.

ghaznavid wrote:

The patch in the sun is indeed the pass.

Stijn wrote: From Ghaz's GT report, here's a good photo showing the pass from the other side of the Mnweni Cutback. Linking it here for reference, to have everything in one thread.

ghaznavid wrote: ...attached pic removed...

Honestly I don't see any path up that slope... well, not for sane people anyway.
Anyone care to indicate with photoshop and a line where the route would be?

...unless the silent implication of climbing gear is a missed assumption from my side?

Coeta wrote: Honestly I don't see any path up that slope... well, not for sane people anyway.

Sanity and paths are overrated

ghaznavid wrote:

Coeta wrote: Honestly I don't see any path up that slope... well, not for sane people anyway.

Sanity and paths are overrated

ya, before i joined this forum i also used to think of a pass as a "well used path over a mountain", now i take the term to potentially mean "terrifying and possibly life threatening scramble up a bare rock face"

firephish wrote: ya, before i joined this forum i also used to think of a pass as a "well used path over a mountain", now i take the term to potentially mean "terrifying and possibly life threatening scramble up a bare rock face"

To paraphrase AndrewP "mild with a chance of death"...

Edit: for clarity - this wasn't a reference to this particular pass.

Maybe we should suggest to Andrew P to change the name of this thread to "New" "pass" up the Hanging Valleys! But hey, a pass is a pass; even if it is a "pass".