The Felixberg is located in the Klein Drakenstein Mountains, to the south east of Paarl. It has a couple of very interesting features. The western cliff face is slashed in two by an extraordinary diagonal ledge. An impressive knife-edge leads into the lower northern side of the ledge, from the saddle with the Drostersberg. What more could you want?
Our chance to do it came around, thanks to the Paarl-Wellington section of the Mountain Club, and the hospitality of Avril and Bruce Powrie of Olive Glen.
Our approach was from the horseshoe bend on the Du Toitskloof Pass. Gaining the saddle is an honest bit of work. It is amply rewarded though. Both the knife-edge and the ledge look like such unlikely lines, from any vantage point. The fact that there can be a B grade line through them seems very lucky, and makes for an exciting and impressive route.
There is some debate as to whether the last climb up from the end of the knife-edge onto the ledge is B or C grade. It went readily, so we rated it B. However there are at least two other variations on the line we opted for, which look more challenging. The crux of the route comes about half way along the traverse, at an “open book” (vertical crack) which spans the height of the western face. The challenge here is more in terms of which line to take, exposure to height, and crumbly rock quality, and less in terms of technical difficulty of the scrambling. Thankfully, we found the right line, and it went smoothly.
After a visit to the summit, we headed for a well-earned picnic at some lovely rock pools.
Ezan, it was so pleasant, and such an honour, to spend these hours with you. We can’t wait until we can take you up the Felixberg again.
