Compassberg questions

[dirktalma]

Dagse

A couple of us Vaalies are planning a trip to Compassberg around 10-15 December. We plan on spending two or three full days climbing up there.

Questions:
1. I am struggling to contact the farmer, Mr Alf McCabe. I only have their landline number and it is just ringing. Any other ways of organising access?

2. if you walk up on day 1, spend 2 or 3 days on top and walk down the next day, is it too much time to spend up there? Sounds like a stupid question.

3. I read that there are some drips close to the bivi spot on the shoulder. How reliable are they in December? We would like to camp close to the face on the shoulder, but that would not be possible if there is no water available.

4. Which of the Bivi spots on the Google Earth image is the best spot to camp and where are the drips?

Compassberg.jpg (179.87 KiB) Viewed 1293 times

Thanks

[keith james]

You should be looking for Brenda James, the farmer. Alf is her journalist husband. He probably wouldn't appreciate being called Alf McCabe since "McCabe" is the surname of her previous, deceased husband . I know that they don't have that old landline number anymore, but I don't have their new number to hand

Lower shoulder is better to bivi at, but you're probably better off just camping on the vlakte below, if water is an issue (which it is right now). The whole area is in drought right now, but this may break by early December, in which case there is a drip just over the big fence below the west face...and it is a stunning place to bivi if the weather is stable. If it isn't , you're seriously exposed up there...

[Stijn]

You can contact Brenda on their new (satellite) line: oh eight 7 1 five 0 4 nine 2 two. This was as at March 2016.

[Marshall1]

there is a bit of a guide here http://www.easterncaperockclimbing.co.z ... ompassberg Not great, needs a lot of work.

Dirk, please send any new rout info & update info after your trip. I'll e mail some of the surrounding farmer details.

[dirktalma]

Thanks for the replies. They now have a satellite phone (number as per Stijn's message).

To try encouraging people not to camp there, the camping fee has gone up to R100 pp per night. This is quite steep, especially if you camp on the mountain. Brenda says campers have left their litter there on occasion. Individuals screwing it up for others!