Open Category 2018

This is the official thread for the for the 2018 Open Category of the Essence of the Dragon photo competition.

Criteria:
This is an open category, but it must be related to the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains.

General rules and criteria that govern the competition should also be noted. This is an annual round, rather than a quarterly one. Up to three entries are allowed by the same person.

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Album for submissions: www.vertical-endeavour.com/gallery/drakensberg/essence-of-the-dragon/open-category-2018.html (entries must be posted on this thread and in the gallery with a proper title and description)
Start date: 01 January 2018
Last submission date: 14 January 2019
Last voting date: 11 February 2019
Prize: Looking for sponsorship

As the year is drawing to a close a reminder for more submissions!

I don't image my entry is going to be the winning shot because I find the other entries really impressive, but I wanted to enter this to build on my own fascination (a mix of fear and awe) of the Mnweni Pinnacles. Last year I submitted an entry of one of my favourite views of the Pinnacles, titled Of Dreams And Dragons . Since that time I had the priviledge to successfully climb the Inner Mnweni Pinnacle with AndrewP. The experience truly was "of dreams and dragons"! To date there is only one established route (and we have looked for new possibilities). The part of the route that I want to highlight here is Pitch 7 as described in the MCSA RD. It is not the hardest part by any means, but it is a critical ledge system that connects two key chimneys. Without this connecting link, goodness knows what would have been involved in getting up this peak, as it is daunting enough already. I have included a view from the lower parts of Rwanqa Pass, with the yellow line very roughly showing this ledge (please don't take this as an exact topo).


Most of this ledge is not hard climbing, you can even carefully walk parts of it, leaning in against the rock (this section is unprotected however). It does have one short section which has very high exposure across a sequence of hand and footholds, where if you look down you don't see much rock under your feet, just a lot of fresh air between you and the valleys far below! This ledge is truly a Staircase Among Spears, as my entry is called. The shot is taken at the terminal end of this staircase where you then ascend another chimney (the shaded gully in the first photo). You can see the last bit of the ledge which is just grassy at this point in the bottom right of the photo.


www.vertical-endeavour.com/gallery/drakensberg/essence-of-the-dragon/open-category-2018/staircase-among-spears-1625.html

I experimented with a Sepia filter in this photo. Admittedly I struggled with the colours and contrast of the dark face of the Outer Mnweni Pinnacle in the unfiltered image. This filter seemed to bring out the details of the Outer Pinnacle nicely and it also highlights the clouds in the background. I enjoy the puff of "smoke" emerging from Mponjwane in the distance.