 CLIMBING
Trad climbing on Table Mountain
©South African Tourism
South Africa is an absolutely awesome climbing destination with an enormous choice of great rock. Table Mountain has literally hundreds of sport and traditional routes – right in the middle of the city. So it’s hardly surprising that Cape Town is where the Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) started and where most serious South African climbers choose to live. And if you’re prepared to travel a few hours from the city, you’ll be overwhelmed by the choice. Montagu, about 4 hours east, is a sport climbers paradise, the Cederberg,
a couple of hours north of the city, is a great hiking destination, but it also has some wonderful trad climbing.
Trad climbing Namibia's Spitzkoppe
©GAIA
Not to be outdone, Durban is also up there with good climbing cities. OK – it doesn’t have a mountain in the middle of the city but there are some awesome sport climbing venues about an hour from town. The Wave Cave at Shongweni has a mind-blowing number of high grade sport climbs. Also in KwaZulu-Natal, the Drakensberg is a great trad climbing venue and, in winter, the frozen waterfalls offer South Africa’s only ice climbing. Waterval Boven's Restaurant at the end of the Universe at is another sport climbing mecca.
Hiking in the Cederberg
©South African Tourism
With hundreds of bolted routes ranging from a nice 12 to a hard-core 33, there is something for
everyone. For the hard-core trad climber, the Blouberg in Limpopo has some nice big walls in the middle of nowhere.
Beyond South Africa’s borders, Malawi’s Mount Mulanje has some really big walls – at 1,700m (which over a mile) it’s the longest route in Africa. Namibia’s Spitzkoppe, which is an enormous granite pluton rising up from the plains, has both natural and bolted routes ranging from about 14 to 24.
Trad climbing the route Moke - Upper Tonquani
©South African Tourism
If you’re not a climber and you’re wondering about the jargon, sport climbing involves climbing on existing routes, with permanent bolts into which you can clip, while traditional or naturally protected climbing consists of putting in temporary protection as you climb up the rock face, and then removing it. Bolting is only allowed in certain areas, and existing protocol must be adhered to.
Useful Links:
Mountain Club Of South Africa
Climb ZA
SA Mountain Magazine
Climbing grades are different in different parts of the world, so you may have no idea what, for example, a grade 20 climb is like. Well – now you do.
SA Old SA France USA UK UIAA*
9 C 3 5.4 Diff III
10 D 3+ 5.5 V Diff III+
11 E1 4- 5.6 Mild S VI
12 E2 4 5.6 Severe IV+
13 E3 4 5.7 Hard S IV+
14 F1 4+ 5.8 Hard S V-
15 F2 5a 5.8 VS V
16 5b 5.9 VS V
17 F3 5c 5.9 HVS V+
18 6a 5.10a HVS VI-
19 G1 6a 5.10b E1 VI
20 G2 6a+ 5.10c E2 V1+
21 6b 5.10d E2/3 VII-
22 G3 6b+ 5.11a E3 VII
23 H1 6c 5.11b E4 VII+
24 6c+ 5.11c E4/5 VII+
25 H2 7a 5.11d/12a E5 VIII-
26 H3 7a+ 5.12a/b E5 VIII
27 7b 5.12b/c E5/6 VIII+
28 7b+/7c 5.12c/d E6 IX-
29 7c+ 5.13a E6/7 IX
30 8a 5.13b E7 IX+
31 8a+ 5.13c/d E7 X-
32 8b 5.14a E8 X
33 8b+ 5.14a/b E8 X
34 8c 5.14b E9 X+
35 8c+ 5.14c E10 XI-
36 9a 5.14d E10/11 XI
*International Union of Alpine Associations.
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