Shortest route to top of escarpment

Hi
Please help a Punk. I need to know the shortest routes to the top of the escarpment from the following locations:
Breakfast Stream
Giants Castle Main Gate

If possible please supply GPS coords

No roped climbing but willing to scramble/solo up to grade 12/E3

Thanks
Punk

Haha - entered XBerg by any chance?

From Giant's Castle Main gate, the most direct way to the top is definitely Giant's Castle Pass: S29 20.923 E29 27.860

From Breakfast Stream, it's probably Gray's Pass: S29 04.299 E29 19.385

You might find the following GPS co-ords list useful: www.vertical-endeavour.com/blog/38-drakensberg/passes/40-gps-co-ordinates-passes-ukhahlamba-drakensberg-park.html

Good luck!

Hi Stijn

Spot on although I have not entered yet. I am fiercely averse to riding a pedal bike and don't have a wing, so I am confined to a pair of running shoes and this is from where my reservations about this enormous challenge stem. Pierre has most certainly set a sufferfest of note.

I am thinking of only doing the mini but as I have VERY limited experience in the Southern Berg, this makes it even more daunting.

Have you entered?
PS - is there a contour path that goes south along the foot of the escarpment and if so, how far does it go?
Is the GT kinda the best route to take or is there another? Please share...

Approx distances from Giants to the escarpment (from memory, not a map - so anyone with the exact distances is welcome to correct me):
- Giants Pass 12km
- South Jarding Pass 9km (no trail or GPS track)
- Central Jarding 8km (no trail)
- North Jarding 9km (no trail or GPS)
- Langalibalele Pass 9km
- South/North Hlubi 8km (no trail or GPS)
- Thumb Pass 8km (no trail, GPS and only 2 available photos)
- Bannerman 15km
- Gypaetus 14km (no trail)
- Judge 18km
- Corner 19km (might be a partial trail)

Well if you are willing to free solo E3's - then you can pretty much go anywhere from Breakfast Stream. As Stijn says - Grays is the most feasible, good trail, GPS tracks in the downloads section, plenty of writeups and photos of the site.

There are "shorter" routes that require C and D climbing, but they aren't much shorter than Grays anyway. And with the reputation of Berg rock I am not entirely sure that free soloing D's is a great idea.

If you don't have to get to the escarpment - Sterkhorn is a 17km return trip. About 2950m.

Southern Berg has the Giants Cup trail from Sani to Bushmans Nek, the "contour path" starts en route to Cathedral Peak and ends at Hlathimba Pass. It is usually between 2100-2400m, but hits 2500+ and 2000- at points, is vague and overgrown in places.

I was initially keen to enter the mini as a trail-runner, but the guys I was hoping to race with can't make it. Probably for the best as it might have thrown a spanner into my Comrades training. Maybe next year..

I did have a look at the route I would have taken - something like this would work pretty well:

- Contour Path from Monk's Cowl, down Shada Ridge to Injisuthi
- Contour Path from there to Giant's Castle Main Camp
- Up Giant's Castle Pass and along the escarpment to Sani Pass (using the highway paths in Lesotho for large parts of this section)
- Down Sani Pass, past the border control and all the way along the road to Underberg.

Comes out at about 140km.

The contour path is not very continuous South of Giant's Castle and there are many big valleys and ridges to get around - hence the more direct route being along the escarpment in that section methinks.

Some background for everybody else: This is a race between paragliders, MTBers and trail-runners. The mini version starts at the Monk's Cowl parking lot and ends in Underberg with compulsory checkpoints at the Giant's Castle Main Camp/Gate and the SA Border post at the bottom of Sani Pass. All other route choice is up to the competitors (except that MTBers may not use tar roads). Non-stop but you can have a support vehicle meet you wherever you like.

Should be fun to watch!

Hencefore known as "The Sufferfest"
Thanks Stijn. I need to rethink this

So definitely not Langalibalele Pass then

Sounds like a 4-5 day hike to me