Around The Corner Pass

Hi Guys. Was wondering if anyone has done the pass between Corner and Judges. As Elinda and myself were walking towards Judges we saw a well worn path going down the escarpment. On the contour path heading towards Corner we noticed this pass joined in at the bottom of Corner Pass. It seems it may be a quicker, easier and less eroded alternative pass to Corner and Judges.

Hi Richard. I think that this may be "Around The Corner Pass". Andrew P referenced it in his brief write up of the weekend trip, saying that he was keeping it in mind in case Corner got too crowded with the large group he was leading.

This one:


It is Around the Corner Pass, as a few others have said. It is one of the few passes I have left at Giants Castle (I say one of the few because there are also variations on Giants Pass that have been used that I haven't done) - AndrewP did it to get to the resupply point on my GT with Hobbit last year. I have also looked down the front of the route from Judge Peak, and it looks like you can also take a direct route up the front of it.

The trail goes up NHA, crosses Corner Pass gully and then goes up to the top between the 2 passes.

Yes, it's Around the Corner Pass, as it's come to be known. I've never done it, but we saw the path when I did Corner Pass NHA with you and elinda in December 2013, and Tish who was with us then had done it before and described it as a lot easier than Corner Pass.

That is indeed Around The Corner Pass. If you approach the main gully of Corner Pass from the NHA, you have to go up the main gully for about 20m before breaking out on the other side.

The path winds its way up grassy slopes and threads its way through the various rock bands. You get 1 minor scramble that is easier and less exposed than the one on NHA.

I rate it as quicker than Corner Pass, but less fun.

Good day all.

I'd like to check:
Our small hiking party intend on descending Judges (after ascending Leslies) come mid-April. Then onto Centenary Hut and Injisuthi camp. One of us is not too keen on scrambles, ledges, climbing and so forth; has a bit of vertigo. So, with this in mind, does Around the Corner offer another viable descent should we wish to shave off some kms?
In which case we'd not attempt the NHA with it's scramble, but enter the Corner Pass gully and find our way to C.Hut area.

Thanks.
c.

The hardest part of Corner Pass (if there's no snow/ice) is the scramble near the top, which, if memory serves, is a little way down the gully - see the smaller hiker in the white shirt in the pic below. I don't think this scramble would be too difficult to descend.


Around the Corner would avoid this, though it has its own scramble. Either way, the choice between Corner and Judge is essentially between rock gully and traditional pass. This is a scramble in the Corner gully:


This is the general terrain once the gully opens up:

Thank you @TheRealDave.
That Corner Pass doesn't look too bad, gnarly, but not insane.
I'll pass it on.

regards
c.

Carl,

Around the Corner pass has 3 large switchbacks where you pass smooth rock sections, kinda like on Grays pass's middle-upper section. I've only gone up it a couple of times, never down, and twice the up was in the wet and it was a bit dodgy. I don't have a fear of heights but going down this pass in the wet and sliding down and over some of those smooth rock plates while looking down the steep side slopes could possibly be a bit taxing for a person suffering from vertigo.

Corner pass itself has 3 scramble sections in the first 300m or so, and as can be seen from the photos are not too bad. The bottom one is the highest, but it has steps down all the way so easy. I've gone up this in snow and it was a bit slippery but with enough handholds it was fairly straightforward. Of the two passes, I'd take Corner pass over around the corner pass any day for a descent attempt, especially in the wet. The NHA rockband down will again be strenious for a vertigo sufferer. That rock section is fairly high and steep, and looking down into Natal those steep slopes could be tough for them. Of all the passes to take down, Judges is by far the easiest, but also the longest.