Up the Ridge went a hearty group of eight first timers, including both familiar faces from more challenging scrambles who inexplicably hadn’t been up Kloof Corner yet and a newcomer on his first Club outing. Another three of us played guide. It was fun to note that we had an age span of well over 50 years; the three youth members who took part should give us all confidence in the next generation of leadership for the Club. Everyone being in good shape and good cheer, we took the Pinnacle variation for its lovely long scramble, with our first tea stop at the cave with its wormhole. From there the second and third chains went smoothly. We were rewarded at our second tea break on top of the ridge with our first clear view of Lions Head. Everyone opted to take the India Venster route down, with skies progressively opening the view over the City Bowl along the way. From the steps up to Fountain Ledge was about five hours with two breaks, a bit longer than predicted by the novice meet leader. Thanks to all for a lovely day out!
TECHNICAL NOTES ON THE ROUTE:
The large links of the new chains invite scramblers to stick fingers or thumbs in them, risking severe injury with even a minor slip. Despite warnings, one in our group nicked a digit, luckily not seriously. The third chain is now firmly lodged in the chockstone. This both makes it harder for those who are more vertically challenged to grab it; and means that it can no longer be swung around to provide a more convenient handhold from the intermediate, exposed ledge to the top. As it is too heavy in any case to use (as we did the old one) to pull up packs, it was helpful to have a rope along for that purpose.
Photos by Brian Ganson, Jacob Pietersen, Carol Gobler, and Marc Pietersen.
