Mt Amery Pass (Unknown name)

16 Sep 2019 18:33 - 17 Sep 2019 08:21 #75326 by dirktalma
Good day everyone

My wife and I plan a Drakensberg motorcycle trip where the idea is to do single day ascents of peaks from the north to the south.
Our trip plan in short:
1. Metjhatijhane peak: Up Dagga nek pass and down via the Metjhatijhane Ridge.
2. Mt Amery from Busingata Valley
3. Outer Mnweni Needle
4. Sterkhorn
5 A: Erskine, Bond and Potterhil: Up Langalibalele and down Jarding North
5 B: Giants Castle via Giants pass. A longer day for sure. I still have to decide between 5a and 5b.
6: Rhino peak: Up Mashai pass and down Rhino pass from Garden Castle

I had a look at Mt Amery as a possibility. Does anyone know whether the pass that leads down from Mt Amery to the Busingata valley is passable?

I have found the info on the AmaZizi tribe's site regarding the Inner Tower gully's eastern access here:  www.maloti-drakensberg.co.za/treasure/amazizi/hiking/eastern-inner-tower-gully.html
They listed a very detailed description on using the Inner Tower gully. This looks like a brilliant route and I wondered if it would be possible to ascend via the Inner Tower gully and descend via the pass south of Mt Amery.

Here is a rough route showing the possible pass:


A map of this area. I encircled the possible pass in red:


From Barrier of Spears, all I could find is that Captain Amery most probably used a gulley close to the peak to descend.
Quoting from page 65: "He descended, however, down the sheer wall of the Drakensberg. Twenty years later he claimed that this was a point midway between Sentinel peak and Eastern Buttress, but this is even more difficult to accept than the military despatches! It is more likely to have been a point just south of the eastern buttress, and this exploit is commemorated to-day by Mt Amery, which where it is thought he made his descent."

I could not find any photos of the pass from below. Only these:
1. A picture taken from Mt Amery's summit to the south by HFc, which doesn't show anything:

This image is hidden for guests.



2. A photo by intrepid showing the "summits" of Mt Amery. Link is here:  www.vertical-endeavour.com/gallery/drakensberg/peaks/khulus-3100-to-3199m/613-mount-amery.html

Thanks for the help

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Last edit: 17 Sep 2019 08:21 by dirktalma.

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17 Sep 2019 09:49 - 17 Sep 2019 10:04 #75329 by TheRealDave
A write-up on the western approach is here , rated as "the hardest pass in the Berg" by a rather hardcore fellow, so if the eastern side is anything like it, please take care. There is a photo looking down the eastern side here .
Last edit: 17 Sep 2019 10:04 by TheRealDave.

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