by Sam Nightingale
I geared up at the base as Richard ‘Squeaks’ Halsey packed his hernia, holding back his abdominal contents with a folded buff and finger tape. Above us stood 350 metres of rock and the prospect of an unclimbed route through the prominent roof system above.
Fernwood Precipice is a huge wall standing imposingly above the southern suburbs of Cape Town. The first half is vertical and the upper section overhung above stepped roofs; just steep enough, in fact, that it has been adopted by a different group of outdoor enthusiasts. On a scouting trip a few weeks before, we had heard the roar of bodies falling past us, followed by an explosion of chutes opening, so close that it felt like we could’ve high-fived them on the way past.
The Precipice is the first cliff I saw when I arrived in Cape Town six years ago. From my airport taxi I looked up at the huge wall forming the left side of the steep gully [Fernwood Gorge – ed] and was excited for the long routes it must contain. I was disappointed to learn that the rock quality was poor and only one route had been established in modern times. From the write up in a previous issue of SA Mountain, The Prodigal, opened by Marijus Šmigelskis and Donavan Burls sounds like a scary undertaking, involving a pitch of aid with pitons hammered into crumbing rock, and bold free climbing. To their knowledge it has not been repeated. I put Fernwood to the back of my mind.
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