Bond Pass
Looks like a fairly straightforward route to the top.
It seems that there are tons of unmarked passes at Giants Castle - between Giants Pass and South Jarding there is a promising gully, there are 2 possibilities between North Jarding and Langies (the only one I have got a proper pic of is the northern one of these). North Hlubi still needs checking, but I am sure its easily doable (just very steep). Thereafter there is Gypaetus Pass (which should be confirmed in just over 5 weeks time) and Auditor Pass.
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Possible line for the route (not 100% sure about the gaps in the final short rock band):
All items marked with an arrow are areas I have identified as possible passes.
Its always fun trying to open new passes, hoping to hit at least 1 prospective new pass this winter.
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Fitness wrote: maybe we won't have to camp on a 10degree angle at 2500m to hide from the hail.
That would be a first

I want to camp at the bottom and again at the top for this pass - it looks harder than Gypaetus and doesn't seem to have a nice cave half way up.
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This is from quite close to the real Bond Peak looking down the gully one would follow to ascend this pass:
The top of the pass
Looking down the pass
I didn't have a proper chance to check out the actually summit section, but this is about 2m down where I would hope to top out.
If there proved to be any obstacles obstructing the summit - there were also 3 easy scrambles of about 1m high through the top rock bands within 300m south of the proposed top.
I plan to try for this pass later this year - equipped with bivy bags and the intention of camping on the route if necessary. But I am not one to think I own a route I have my eye on, so I won't be offended if someone steels the first ascent (I'm pretty sure such an obvious gully has been used before anyway).
From a distance it looks like this:
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No there isn'tghaznavid wrote: It seems that there are tons of unmarked passes at Giants Castle - between Giants Pass and South Jarding there is a promising gully

One is 007 which I think warrants a go, the other has a massive cliff at the top and can be written off. I believe there is actually a climbing route up the gully between Potterill and Bond already.ghaznavid wrote: There are 2 possibilities between North Jarding and Langies (the only one I have got a proper pic of is the northern one of these).
North Hlubi - not very steep, little ugly bit in the middle that should be ok if dry.ghaznavid wrote: North Hlubi still needs checking, but I am sure its easily doable (just very steep). Thereafter there is Gypaetus Pass (which should be confirmed in just over 5 weeks time) and Auditor Pass.
Gypaetus Pass - awesome route
Auditor Pass - more research is required before setting out
Add to the list:
- Katana Pass (immediately south of Katana), see above
- Thumb Pass south approach route, a possible (but probably too steep) line to summit Thumb Pass from the south side of the Thumb
- Gypaetus Pass north variation, an almost definitely possible route that tops out north of the summit of Gypaetus Point. It may be possible to approach it from an entirely different gully in order to qualify it as "Popple Pass", but if the same bottom gully is required it will only be a variation gully, not a separate pass. A bit more research is required.
At this point in time I am not aware of any more possible pass lines at Giant's Castle. So that 12 definites (counting the 3 Corner Pass lines as 1), 5 possible additions - although the Thumb variation would use the same summit gully as Thumb Pass main line and therefore would not be a new pass, only a new approach.
Not bad considering the map only shows 6 passes...
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ghaznavid wrote: Add to the list:
- Katana Pass (immediately south of Katana)
Ok, I really don't know a whole lot about passes in the Giant's Castle area, but how about a possible pass topping out just to the west of Katana? Or is this already an established route that has been left off the map?
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I'm sure ghaz has a photo of this somewhere from the bottom, and has checked it out.
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Dillon wrote: Ok, I really don't know a whole lot about passes in the Giant's Castle area, but how about a possible pass topping out just to the west of Katana? Or is this already an established route that has been left off the map?
I had my eye on that as a possible route, but there is a narrow ledge leading to a cliff in that gully. Couldn't see a way through and the top will be very exposed if there is one. From below it looks pretty clear that there isn't a pass in this gully.
Discussion and pics on this one at www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakenberg-passes-giants-castle/55389-jarateng-pass-middle.html
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