Routes in Cape Town for selected grade

The benchmark 21. Opened at the grade as the consensus grade.

Video

Check out Bruce McD 's comments on this route from July 2022 if you are confused about the starting position or just want some more info.

Just to the right of My Precious

Challenging for the grade, with a solid crux before easy climbing to the top

Powerful moves through the first roof lead to easier climbing before another puzzling crux

Stand start, climb the slab to TO.

Sitstart on small hold just right of the sloper on the arete. bump LH to the sloper and pull up to the sloper directly above for the TO.

1. [19] 12m

2. [20] 20m

3. [16] 20m

4. [17] 25m

5. [22] 25m

Sitstart, climbing the left leaning arête to warmup.

The route has been re-bolted with glue-ins.

SS climb arete, keep going L to the same TO as for Hip Hip Chin Chin

Sit down start on the face, which faces the city. Traverse low to the right until you can break up the slopey rail on the face orientated towards Lions Head.

Start on 'Symphony in 3 movements' then move right to 'Diesel Dieter Does It' top out on the ledge. Continue to break through a small roof finish on 'Felching is fun'. Opened by J Samson on trad. Retro bolter unknown.

This sandbagged 5 is on a small boulder 5 metres down the hill from the Captain Boulder. Crouch or sit start with sidepulls and underclings, move out right to a crimp, then top out.

Climb the face to the right of Unknown 2

Sit start with LH on good sidepull and RH on lowest red edge/sloper. RH up to a crimp, LH up to sidepull in crack, TO.

Start as for Zep, but move right almost immediately to traverse around to the right, staying high above the final roof to TO.

MIght be harder if you are of average height.

Notes: Like When I'm 64, this route starts on the "D" traverse ledge, and as such there are several ways of approaching it, probably the most fitting would be veering right off the third pitch of Valkenism.

Start: From the left side of the "D" ledge, just before a bushy ramp.

1. Climb the thin groove in the smooth face.

2. Continue to the top of the buttress.

Sitstart and climb tending leftward to TO.

SS then match on slopey jug, then climb diag R to TO as for Scissor Fight

Start as Accidentally Overlooked and pull over the lip off the slopes as for Compression Session. No eliminations.

P1 chossy corner scramble, follow crack to the left and mantle on a ledge. Surprisingly fun pitch. P2, overhanging crack line to the top.

Climb the easy line on the R.

The hardest thing around.

Start: approximately 4m right of the Wafer Flake standing upright on the ledge.

1. Climb the face to a long ledge, move left to the blocks on the corner.

2. Climb the murky recessed corner, past a loose block. Move right at the first rail, then traverse out left on some rails (below the Halfway Ledge), until it is possible to move onto it. Walk right to the Staletto recess which has an old peg.

3. From the block perched out over space, traverse left on some rails and into a peapod crack, which is climbed easily to the ledge.

4. A short recess on Postern Nose route is used to gain the next big ledge.

5. Slightly right is a jam crack through a roof. Climb the roof, "hanging like a bat". The move around the lip into the recess above is thin. After that, things get harder until the ledge.

Single pitch just right of Simba Serendipity P2 (which follows the line to the left of the roof). Climb straight up to the middle on the long thin overhang (can stand on a ledge to the right). Pull through roof to thin rail (aliens useful) and up excellent crack. Climb the central of three columns stemming left at one stage to reach a rail.

Sitstart and climb straight through

Finishes at the first set of chains beneath the roof

stand start to right of grafiti

Sitstart. Follow the obvious seam and TO.

1. [16] 35m

   ???

2. [22] 36m

   ???

Excellent line that gets progressively more challenging. Start off a Ladies Tee towards the right corner of the crag: beneath an undercling at the bottom of a small left facing corner. Basically the line takes the big open book all the way to the top, however we strongly recommend stepping left about 5m up over the undercut to take the face above. Then reunite with the open book to the top. The line at the top avoids the feature taken by SO.

Stand start

Sit start, climb the prow, TO

Starts in the gap between the boulders at the base of pointed boulder.

Stand start in the middle of the slab and climb up.

Starts as per Political Solution. After 5m break diagonally left over the blank face to the far left rails. Follow the thin crack to the top. A committing lead as the first gear is about 10 metres up.

Climb Sickle Moon until the 5th bolt, then break up and left to finish on Jimmy and the Big Boys.

SS in the thin crack and move up to the jug to TO.

Stand start on the right hand side of the slab and climb up.

Hang-start with left hand on an edge on the lip and right hand on a crimp under the roof and head up the juggy arête. The crack to the left is off.

Hang-start on the jug. Needs a sit-start.

Sit-start next to a bush in the jug rails and move up to a layaway crack for left hand.

Sit-start on black underclings and climb the crack up a little and top out via jugs on the left of the face.

Sit start with the jug underneath the turtle's head and whale your way over it.

Sit-start and head up right to a sharp right hand pocket, and then up the little prow to finish.

Sit-start and cimb the arete.

Start on the ledge, TR L along the obvious rail to the arete, TO.

Sit-start with short rail and climb the crack feature.

Start: Right of 'Cool Cat', below the Elevator Roof.

1. [22] 15m

   Move up to the rail under the big roof. Rail strenuously left to the narrow ledge at the point where 'Cool Cat' pulls through the roof.

2. [15] 20m

   Climb the wall to the cave at the start of the Staircase traverse.

3. [20] 20m

   Climb the Aretḗ above the right hand side of the cave, moving right and finally joining the original last pitch of 'Myrrh'.

4. [19] 30m

   From a few meters up the gully, traverse out left onto the steep wall. Climb the center of the wall to the top.

Takes the crack a metre or two left of Deep Blue and goes straight up, parallel with that route.

A long, satisfying journey with demanding sections.

Start as for Fantasy Factory but tend slightly right though the low roof and straight to the ledge. Continue straight, passing the first roof on the left, and then directly up passing two horizontal breaks (in this section there are some ancient bolts to the right from an abandoned project). At the next ledge, continue straight up a wide recess and though a weakness at the next overlap on the left. Navigate the centre of the final face, tending right at the top to a final crank through a roof to a ledge. Abseil tat to the left.

RAP DOWN THIS ROUTE!!!

The superficially blank wall above 'Soul Commotion' The route has lower-off's.

Under cling start climb up.

SS and climb the r arete to TO.

The second pitch is excellent!

1. From a block, head up and left across the slab to a mantle onto the ledge.

2. Pull up and left to good holds through the roof (will feel much harder than 22 if you don’t find the sneaky beta). Head diagonally left across the expose face to the top.

Eliminate problem.

Climb the arete on the right side. Stay on the right at the top. A bit contrived but fun.

(Dangerous) Climb through the break in the roof. Very Scary.

Sit start on the right, do a long move left to the pocket on the lip, then climb directly up to the rail.

Start: The prominent feature of the Cobblestones Gendarme is the huge overhang and chamber beneath it. The left end of the huge overhang drops a plumbline to Fountain Ledge where La Vida (and Sweet Dreams) starts up the clean arete.

1. [19] 12m Use small vertical cracks slightly left of the arete to get established, then move onto the arete and head straight up to a ledge. Cobblestone Chamber is up on the right

2. [21] 17m Climb the short face above to a ledge and continue up the arete-which is under-protected - to a recess. (A grey Alien or equivalent Metolius master cam is critical placed in a slot on the right). The arete start can be avoided by walking left 3m and climbing the under-clings up and right to reach the recess. Continue up to the jumbo ledge above at the base of "The Dream" and "Last Tango". Walk left 7m.

3. [21] 10m Start as for Last Tango and do the crux. Continue up the easier ground diagonally left heading for the right-facing corner. Traverse right at the base of the corner to do a layback move into the deep recess at the end of "The Dream" first pitch. Move right by railing on the outside or dassie crawl to the stance at the start of the second pitch of "The Dream".

4. [22] 30m Climb the second pitch of "The Dream".

5. [14] 20m or [22X] Move Left 3m and climb the easy arete (or climb directly up the unprotected face for 5m) to scrambling ground and stance on a ledge system that takes you to the abseil chains or to the top out pitch.

6. [18] 20m Move 15m left on the ledge system under the overhang to an obvious break in the roof. Climb this starting with a strenuous cranking to easier ground and continue to the top, or traverse 60m left to the Magnetic Wall abseil station.