Xeni Pass - North Fork

This past weekend, a group of us explored several passes in the Cathedral Peak area: Didima, Tlanyaku, Xeni North, and Mlambonja.

We took a different line up Xeni North than most — one I believe is much kinder. At the Cockade/Xeni split, instead of staying right into Xeni, we turned left into Cockade for ~50–100 m, then cut right into a side gully that leads onto the grassy slopes of Xeni Pass. This avoids the steeper, more exposed sections lower down.

See the route we took (blue line) vs. the GPX currently on VE (yellow line):

 

After a short bushwhack, you enter a small riverbed (cross it), then climb alongside the prominent pinnacle (photo below):

 

At the top of this section, you’ll find the Hans Slaghuis plaque:

 

We were mostly in cloud, but it briefly parted to reveal our line and the massive peaks towering above:

 

Higher up, the pass narrows with a few tricky obstacles. Footholds are very loose — test everything.

 

We went through the wormhole (so cool!) and up the final section. Xeni North is a fun, varied, and epic pass!

Stats: Started just after 4am from Cathedral Peak Backpackers, up Xeni North, down Mlambonja, back by 13:30 — 9.5 hrs round trip. Celebrated with chips and milkshakes.

Full route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16333206942

Hi Hikingviking

That looks like a really cool alternative lower down the pass!

Tell me, with this variation, do you bypass the third waterfall? It's basically the biggest obstacle lower down the pass and quite scetchy at times.

I have to do this one again, for me it feels like one really gets into the mountains proper with this pass. I can also recommend Mlambonja South Buttress Pass if you're up for some more adventure. It is the gully that shoots out to your right as you stand at the start of Xeni North. It's probably not quite as exciting as Xeni North, but it has a steeper initial section and then a nice switchback as you basically gets cliffed out (turn right here and climb up to the left), before an easy (but steep) grass gully that leads to the top.

Regards

Hi Riaang

I believe you do as I don't remember any sort of waterfall obstacle. The only major obstacles were higher up in the pass where we had to manoeuvre a few small climbs. We stayed on the grass slopes pretty much the entire time until we entered the narrow gully higher up in the pass.

Keen to check out Mlambonja South Buttress Pass!