Africa Face

5b
5b

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

|

|

|

Approach & Descent»
Description »
Gallery »

Approach

(click the GAIA icon for GPX)

Descent

Crag Descent:
Africa Ledge
Sector Descent:
Africa Ravine

Route Description

The route originally started from the top of Africa Ravine, however these days only the pitches above Africa Ledge are climbed and therefore only these are described below.

Start: 10m to the left of Africa Nose.

  1. 12m '11': Climb the face up to the ledge above to the left of a rock pillar.
  2. Traverse left and scramble through two short rock-bands to a ledge which ends under an overhang
  3. 12m '12': Climb up a short recess of red rock to below an overhang. Swing left and up to step onto a sloping ledge and continue to a good stance.
  4. Walk approximately two rope lengths to the left to the base of a very large chimney
  5. 25m '13': Bridge up the initial metre or two and then move into the chimney and continue up the crack on the left-hand wall to the stance.
  6. 25m '10': Climb up the back of the chimney, over a chockstone, and move out left towards a good rock platform.
  7. 40m '11': Move around to the left, level with the platform, onto the face. Continue traversing for about six metres, then move up using a bollard. Climb over a smooth sloping section to the top of a second bollard. Continue up for a short distance and then traverse diagonally right towards the chimney. Climb straight up on large holds for about ten metres on the left-hand edge of the chimney to stance under the overhangs.
  8. 45m '10': Traverse left to the end of the overhang, then move up and continue along to the extreme left hand-end of the ledge.
  9. 15m '12': Move up and left from below the small overhang and continue up the crack to a ledge. Walk to the left to the base of an easy crack.
  10. 18m '10': Follow the crack to the summit.

Alternate Description

The Nose Variation is described now from the end of pitch 6:


7. 15m 14: From the stance move out along the side of the nose on a spectacular traverse almost level with the stance. Near the top climb a short face to the stance.

8. Two or three easy rope-lengths up the centre of the nose lead to the top.

Tips & Tricks

Video

Drakensberg Grading
French / South African
YDS

D

E1

E2

E3

F1

F2

F3

G1

G2

G3

H1

3-

9

3

10

3+

11

4b

13

4a

12

4c
14
5a
15
5b

16

5c

17

6a

18

6a+

19

6b

20

6b+

21

6c

22

6c+

23

7a

24

7a+

25

7b

26

7b+

27

7c

28

7c+

29

8a

30

8a+

31

8b

32

8b+

33

8c+

35

8c

34

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

5.9

5.10a

5.10b

5.10c

5.10d

5.11a

5.11b

5.11c

5.11d

5.12a

5.12b

5.12c

5.12d

5.13a

5.13b

5.13c

5.13d

5.14a

5.14b

5.14c

No items found.

Interactive Icons

GAIA GPS
Click to see the GPX track.
Requires GAIA GPS App
Google Maps
Click to see the Parking Area . Requires
Google Maps

Icons and Symbols

AM Shade
Morning ; Afternoon ; All Day or NO Shade
10B | Ch
Equipped with x number of Bolts & Chains (lower off rings)
Alpine
Area's or routes located in mountainous regions and requiring multiple mountain skills (navigation ; extreme weather ; self sufficiency ; remote )
Ice
Area or Route requires Ice Climbing and associated Winter skills
Sport
Area or Route is fully equipped as a sport climb. Separate distinction for # of PITCHES
Sport & Trad
Area or Route is a mixture of SPORT & Trad climbing styles
Trad
Area or Route requires Traditional equipment and experties
2 Pitches
Indicates the typical # of pitches of the area or route
Special
Indicates that a specialised Rack or Traditional equipment is typically required and will be mentioned in the Route Description BETA
Standard
Indicates that typically a Standard Traditional Rack will suffice. Typically in ZA that is a 8-10 Cams + 10-15 wires/nuts.
50m
Indicates the minimum length rope needed to typically climb safely.
Double
Typically climbed using half ropes
Corner
Climbs or mostly climbs a corner system. This often requires stemming as a technique.
Crack Climb
Follows a crack-system predominantly and may require good jamming technique.
Overhang
Indicates the overall style. Face climbing is steeper than slab usually on small holds and edges, often feeling delicate / insecure.
Overhang
Overhanging, usually involving roofs.
Powerful
Powerful style is often in conjunction with another style but feeling more powerful than is common for the style.
Slab
Usually not quite vertical and requiring smearing and friction techniques.
Steep
Consistently steeper than Vertical but not overhanging / roof-y
Technical
Additional to general styles, requiring careful sequence and thoughtful climbing.
Vert
General vertical climbing with no other defining style.

Get In Touch

Topo Database

Useful info makes adventuring possible

While it is true that less information may make your adventure more, adventurous, the right information will help you grow your experience-jar to the point that you can confidently choose not to seek the info.

User feedback and community contributions are the fastest way to increase our database, so, if you have the time, inclination and resources to contribute, please hit us up!

Phone

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Office

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Contact Form

Do you have beta or other content to share with us to improve this route info?
We'd really appreciate your input!

Route Name
Africa Face
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.