This route has long been under-rated, perhaps on account of the small band of dodgy rock at the start of the third pitch where Peter de Tolly and his climbing partner were lucky to escape with their lives when a large block crashed down. Despite this, the route offers good climbing especially now the most of the bad rock has been cleared.

Naughty but Nice:

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Approach & Descent»
Description »
Gallery »

Approach

(click the GAIA icon for GPX)

20m to the left of the tea-cave area is a recessed face with a semi-circular slab of rock against it. The route begins 2-3m left of this, just to the right of Mane Lion's diagonal crack/fault.

Descent

Crag Descent:
Lionshead Sandstone
Sector Descent:
The Clifton Sector

Route Description

P1 - 25m, 5a: Climb the vague recess just to the left of the corner to the ledge above. Climb the steep face above using the prominent vertical crack with grass tufts. Cross the vegetated band moving left to a vertical white face about 30m left of the gendarme (ie left of Mane Lion's recess).

P2 - 12m, 5b: Climb the vertical face for 7m before moving diagonally left and up to a wide ledge.

P3 - 20m, 5a: Near the left edge of the ledge is an undercut recess capped by an overhang. Pull into the recess and climb up and diagonally left under overhangs (beware: loose rock). Follow the breaks until easier rock leads up to a stance on the right.

P4 - 15m, 3+: Climb the short wall at the left end of the stance to a ledge on the left. Continue up on the right just left of the edge of the face to another ledge. A short blocky wall leads to a large, sloping grass ledge. Scrambling leads to the summit.

Alternate Description

Tips & Tricks

Video

Drakensberg Grading
French / South African
YDS

D

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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.

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