Port St Johns | Mount Thesiger

Legal Note: All climbing is very dangerous & always at your own risk. Nobody is forcing you to climb. You choose to climb, so choose to go home before the risks become too high. Remember even small injuries can take 6 weeks to heal. No responsibility for inaccurate or incomplete information will be accepted by the scribe. The landowner accepts no liability at all. Climbers take full responsibility for themselves at all times. Fixed protection will become unreliable, loose rock is common, solid rock becomes loose & RD writers make up most of the information, with a beer, at the computer. This RD is only a guide & is no substitute for experience, training, common sense & a touch of caution. So, you are on your own…take care!

Eastern Cape Climbing Venues

Port Elizabeth 30 Coombs Gorge 37 EL urban crags & boulders Toorberg Swartberg 1 Lady's Slipper Amatolas 38 Yellowsands & Inkwenkwezi 44 Graff-Reinet 49 Toverkop 2 Van Stadens 31 Fort Fordyce 39 Lalapanzi 45 Compassberg 50 Oudtshoorn 3 PE urban crags & boulders 32 Hogsback 40 Morgan Bay Transkei 51 Gamkaskloof Bouldering 4 Sleepy Hollow 33 Stutterheim 41 Bola 46 Hole in the Wall 52 Swartberg Pass 5 Elands River Langkloof Winterberg 47 Hill of Execution 6 Kirkwood 19 Nguniland 42 Mary & Martha 48 Port St Johns 7 Cape St Francis 20 Kouga Wildernes 43 Hangklip Groot Winterhoek 21 Uniondale Pass 8 Tygerhoek Garden Route Aliwal North 9 Naga's Kloof 22 Titzikama N2 10 Eagle Gorge 23 Groot Rivier 11 Momentum Gorge 24 Piesang Valley 12 Pinnacle Gorge East London Mthatha 13 Cockscomb 34 NSA Middelburg 14 Grootbos & Kleinbos 35 Windmill Hole 47 48 Port St Johns 15 Nivera 36 Buffalo River N10 43 45 Queenstown Coffee Bay Baviaans Tarkastud 42 46 Nieu Bathesda 16 Grips Cradock N6 17 Kudu Kaya 41 Stutterheim 44 Graff-Reinet 33 18 Waterkloof 32 39 Hogsback Grahamstown 40 31 38 25 Alicedale N9 R63 King Williams Town 26 Howison's Poort Fort Beaufort N2 34-37 15 East London 27 Moodie's Alicedale R67 25 30 28 Bouldering Willowmore Steytlerville 29 R329 Grahamstown 28 29 Thornkloof 26-27 18 8-14 52 R75 51 6 49 50 R322 17 16 N2 Uniondale Hankey Uitenhage R62 21 20 Patensie Ladismith R62 19 4 2 1 Oudtshoorn 3 Port Elizabeth 23 24 22 5 More route guides can be found on N2 Plettenberg Bay 7 Jeffreys Bay www.easterncaperockclimbing.co.za

Note from the Scribe: It took consistent effort, time, work & organization to get this guide ready for your pleasure...for free! Thus, please respect that all the information & photographs are strictly Copy Righted. You are more than welcome to print out, e-mail or link to a web page this guide in its unchanged format, with logos & all information intact. As this is a web-based guide it can be considered a continual work in progress. It is easy to change. So please send missing details, corrections, additions & adjustments to [email protected] . All information will be greatly appreciated.

1 Updated 04/07/2018 © Derek Marshall

History: The recorded routes are from the 1980 Mountain Club of South Africa Journal article written by Carless Freer. This guide is a paraphrase of this journal article. The article mentions Roy Gooden opening a route on a small crag called Eagles Nest.

Please let me know if you have climbed here or can provide any pictures or information.

Access: No restrictions.

General: There are only 3 recorded trad routes, but plenty of potential remains for new routes. Rock is Dolorite.

The following routes are on the The Pulpit Buttress, 90m R of Eagles Nest.

Heaven Can Wait – 20 Charl Brümmer & Carless Freer 1980 (T) Walk up from the road to the RHS of the crag. Traverse low to the L below the rock bands, past a big white overhangs. P1 – 14 Climb an easy break to a ledge. P2 – 17 Follow one of the breaks to a dassie ledge. Good climbing. P3 – Traverse R on the dassie ledge until the face starts to open up & a corner topped by overhangs appears. P4 – 20 A0 Start off the dassie ledge with some entertainment, climb the overhangs with one point of aid. Up an odd water chute crack, with rounded holds & step into a corner (a 9-hex should still be in the corner). Up to the roof & rail L. Up to a stance on a big block. P5 – 14 P6 – 16

Tyre – 20 Charl Brümmer & Carless Freer 1980 (T) Walk up from the road to the RHS of the crag. Scramble up below some obvious white overhangs at the base & then traverse L. P1 – 17 Up a prominent break through the overhangs. The start has some peculiar moves. Climb straight up past a large ledge to the dassie ledge, which can be clearly seen from the road. P2 Traverse R almost to the RH edge of the crag to twin cracks. P3 – 20 Start up the LH of the twin cracks, then step R into the RH crack. P4 Up easy break to the top.

The following route is on Mount Thesiger, directly behind the petrol station near the pont/bridge.

Babylon – 20 Charl Brümmer & Carless Freer 1980 (T) Walk up to the base of the crag. Facing the crag at the center, look R & you will see a grass ramp that comes at least halfway down the crag. Aim for the base of this. Start is at the base of this. P1 – 16 Follow a break to the R that brings you to a ledge. P2 Climb up on excellent rock (good climbing) to a definite ledge to avoid the hanging gardens. This is about 8m from the mail crack that leads to the grass ramp. P3 - 13 Traverse L to the base of the crack. P4 – 20 – 36m Up the off-width crack that becomes a flared chimney, P5 – 14 Easy climbing to the grass ramp. Scramble up the grass ramp to the top.