Ntshintshini Pass

I've been meaning to post more info on this route for a while.

We actually found a second cave at the top of the pass on the way to Manguan Pass the day before. The cave I had used on my previous attempt was very wet, but if you walk around the corner and go about 50m further you find this cave:


We did the pass in perfect weather from Kuala Cave. The cave is large and close to water, but the waterfall over the top is very noisy. We also couldn't find the trails marked on the maps at all. Occasionally we found something, but it usually died very fast.

Once we were in the correct river valley, we crossed the river and followed the north river bank. Standard Drakensberg grass slope - slow, but not impossible.
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What was scary was the fact that we were less than 2km in terms of distance from the top before we hit 2500m in altitude!

It was nice to see this valley in good weather, it is actually a spectacular spot


We eventually got to the cliff band we got stuck on last time. The only line that looked viable to scramble through it ended with a 2m high smooth and gently overhanging move, so that wasn't an option. Dave tried a few lines, but couldn't get through - we eventually agreed that it wasn't safe and looked for an alternative route.

I found a traverse back into the gully. In retrospect, it might be easier to stay in the gully till the waterfall, but I haven't done that section via the gully, so I can't comment on how bad it actually is.

The traverse into the gully was really hairy. I actually roped up for it, off a sketchy anchor above the traverse. We lowered our packs to the opposite side of the traverse (which Dave had already done there and back).


The photo above makes it look pretty tame, so here is a photo looking back at it:


Yes, I know - probably not actually too bad for many of you, but I find traverse ledges like this super scary.

This is the waterfall we got stuck above last time:


We then took a steep side slope up to get above the waterfall. The final move back into the gully was sketchy, but nowhere near as bad as the move to get into the gully lower down.


I have already posted a lot of detail about the section from the waterfall to the top, but it is fairly difficult:


Ntshintshini Spire - I believe it is still due a first ascent:


Nearing the top of the pass:


On reaching the top, that is every Geoseries map marked High Berg pass done.

Overall: I rate this pass is one of the sketchiest passes I have done. It isn't safe in wet conditions - unless you can find a better line through that waterfall, but I didn't see any other options - with hours spent looking at Google Earth, exploring from above and below, taking photos from various angles etc. It is also generally a very hard pass, definitely in the 8/10 difficulty range on Stijn's pass grading scale.

I did record a GPS, but my new GPS (this was its first trip) has decided that it won't turn on anymore. I will need to take it back to the shop after lockdown - but odds are I will lose the track. Very annoying on a brand new device.

Full story at this link .