by Sam Nightingale
pic by Tony Lourens
Setting an alarm for 3am feels uncommonly painful. It feels more like a late night than an early morning. Nevertheless, Tony had suggested meeting at first light, and that involved an early start. He probably had a point given the amount of climbing we had ahead of us. As it turned out, it was a wise decision.
Tony [Lourens] had persuaded me and Garrreth Bird to climb this huge backcountry route for his new book, Great Rock Climbs of the Western Cape.
It seemed Duiwel’s Direct is rarely climbed, so Tony had little photographic reference to illustrate it and little accurate information on which to base a topo. And I had never even heard of the climb before Tony’s message. The fact that yet another ~450m face of rock was to be found just an hour outside Cape Town is another win for a city famed for its bouldering, but with seemingly endless adventurous trad routes.
The existing topo (cobbled together by Tony) was fairly crude. We had asked around but couldn’t find anyone who had climbed it recently enough to have any useful memory of the route, so we would be onsighting relatively blind. The old G grade translated to ~19, so should be fairly straightforward, but we have experienced old-school 19 before and it is not to be sniffed at. It is fair to say we were a little intimidated by the day ahead. A feeling not improved by vague rumours of loose rock and a wandering line.
Camping in the Duiwel’s Kloof is no longer allowed, so sadly a bivy at the base was not an option. This is a shame, as it is a beautiful kloof with wonderful swimming pools and camp spots next to waterfalls. Instead, this was to be a Cape Town-to-Cape Town day mission. This approach suited Garrreth’s better half anyway, given new parental duties, and he was no longer a stranger to a 3am wake-up call.
Read the full article
