Yellowwood Amphitheatre

From South Africa Rock Climbing Routes Wiki

Contents 1 Getting There 2 Existing Routes 2.1 Blood is Sweeter than Honey (22) *** 2.2 Time Warp (20) ** 2.3 The Second Coming (23) ** 2.4 Armageddon Time (23) ***** 2.5 Smalblaar Ridge *** Grade F2 3 New Routes 3.1 New Born 29 3.2 Prime Time Direct 24 3.3 Your Mother His Face 3.4 Episode I - Fight Against The Dark Side Of Gravity

Getting There

Yellowwood Amphitheatre is in Du Toit's Kloof on the Worcester side of the Hugenot Tunnel, approximately an hour's drive from Cape Town. The amphitheatre is on the south side of the road (the N1). (It's on the right hand side if you are coming from Cape Town.) A path winds up the right-hand side of Yellowood Ravine to reach the foot of the Amphitheatre. The walk-in is steep and takes about two hours. There is no source of water along the way, so you must bring water up with you

Descent: Either Rappell down Smalblaar ridge (the right-hand skyline), or better, walk right(looking in) to reach a system of gullies beyond the ridge. Scrambling and two rappells over short vertical sections gives access to a traverse line that leads back left to the bottom of the amphitheatre.

PLEASE NOTE TOPO PIC IS WRONG "Your Mother His face" is route number 7 AND route 4 is "Episode I - Fight against the dark side of gravity"

Existing Routes

Blood is Sweeter than Honey (22) ***

Start in the middle of the Amphitheatre, just right of a prominent big block. The route follows the break up to the first set of big roofs 120m above.

• Pitch 1 : (17) Follow the fracture system to a small roof. Keep going to a block belay.
• Pitch 2 : (17) Step left and follow the break, occasionally moving out right, to a belay ledge on the left.
• Pitch 3 : (20) From the right of the ledge climb up past an open book and go right to a hanging stance below the roof.
• Pitch 4 : (19) Traverse right to a break in the roof. Climb through & up the wall to stance on the right.
• Pitch 5: (16) Climb up & traverse left under the small roof. Keep going to a recessed corner with an arete on the left.
• Pitch 6 : (18) Step up & out left onto the arete. Climb to the big halfway ledge.
• Pitch 7 : (11) Scramble up and left into the recess. Stance on a blocky ledge on the left.
• Pitch 8 : (20) Climb the face above, moving slightly left onto the arete. Keep going to a small stance on the right.
• Pitch 9 : (22) Traverse left to a break in the roof. Climb the break until forced to move right & up (crux). Keep railing right to a break and up to a small stance.
• Pitch 10 : (19) Climb the book above & move left into the recess below a large roof. Move up & rail left under the roof. Belay around the corner.
• Pitch 11 : (16) Climb the recess above to a roof. Go left & up. Scramble off.

FA: P. Schlotfeldt & D. Shewell 1988 (See Topo Diagram )

FA: A. Dick & D. Davies 1988

Time Warp (20) **

Start: The line is up the middle of the amphitheatre, crack systems above the left-hand end of three clumps of trees at the foot of the wall. This break is gained by starting 50m left of the trees and traversing back at 65m.

• Pitch 1 : (13) Climb broken grey rock tending slightly right.
• Pitch 2 : (15) Up a face, up the corner on the right to a roof.
• Pitch 3 : (17) Sneak right, through the roof & up the to a good stance at the start of an obvious traverse line right.
• Pitch 4 : (17) Traverse right on steep slabs as far as a thin handrail.
• Pitch 5 : (20) Traverse right for 15m then continue at a low level to reach a block in the main crack-line.
• Pitch 6: (17) Climb the crack, passing a protruding nose directly above the left-hand clump of trees.
• Pitch 7 : (15) Climb the crack using the left-hand edge.
• Pitch 8 :(13) Continue to the halfway ledge.
• Pitch 9 & 10 : (17,19) Carry on up the crack.
• Pitch 11 : (20) Up the crack to the roof. Go right on a rail and continue right for 10m.
• Pitch 12 : (20/21) Climb the crack above to the roof, traverse right and onto large flakes above.
• Pitch 13 : (15) Follow the flakes & cracks diagonally left, finishing up a chimney.
• Pitch 14 : Walk 30m left and finish up an easy ramp.

FA: D. Cheesemond & A. Dick 1977 FFA: C. Lomax & K. Smith 1982

The Second Coming (23) **

Start at the easy break right of Armageddon Time (ie: just left of the last clump of trees.) Scramble up 10m.

• Pitch 1 : (17) Continue up the break to a crack leading on to a large block & narrow ledge. Traverse 10m left.
• Pitch 2 : (20) Climb the middle of the clean grey face to stance on a block under a small roof where the rock colours orange.
• Pitch 3 : (23) Above, pull through into the left-hand recess. Go right onto the face & layback moves lead onto grey rock again. Step Back left at 20m.
• Pitch 4 : (16) Use the Armageddon Time pitch up to the Halfway ledge.
• Pitch 5 : (19) 10m left and climb the easy loose big gully to an ancient peg. Move out left onto good rock & a semi-hanging belay around the first corner.
• Pitch 6 : (22) Step left around the nose. Cross the gap to a sharp rail, which is followed easily to the ledge below a hidden recess.
• Pitch 7 : (22,A1) Climb the recess, out left and back on a grey flake. Layback the recess, using 3 RP's to reach a finger rail. Go left and up to a ledge.
• Pitch 8 : (21) From the left of the ledge, follow a low rail across to the old pendulum pitch on Time Warp. Finish easily up that route.

Armageddon Time (23) *****

Start roughly 200m right of Time Warp (ie. 75m right of the clump of trees). Below & right of the prominent understepped overhangs is a slightly raised ledge. The climb starts up a shallow open book that leads up to the left-hand extreme of a narrow band of overhangs.

• Pitch 1 : (19) Ascend the book, sneak left around a roof. Move back right into the break & up to a ledge.
• Pitch 2 : (19) Walk 12m left and climb a shallow recess to a sharp ledge. Stance below a corner on the left.
• Pitch 3 : (20) Climb the right-facing book to the base of the roofs. Traverse right and up (15m) until able to move up on pockets to a blank open book. Balance left into the easy break left through the roof to a large ledge.
• Pitch 4 : (21) Turn the roof to climb the left-facing corner. Traverse right to a sloping stance beneath another corner.
• Pitch 5 : (21) Step down & rail right across the void. Climb the flake system above to a ledge on the right. Climb the corner above to a higher ledge.
• Pitch 6 : (16) Climb up to the big half-way ledge.

[ The Route continues on the headwall to the right of the huge broken recess/corner. Walk 80m right to a small corner with a flake at it's base. 5m to the right, just before a higher ledge is a short layback corner.]

• Pitch 7 : (23) Climb the crack & move left over onto the ramp (thin). Continue diagonally left to a short, steep, left-facing corner. Climb this to a ledge.
• Pitch 8 : (19) Step down and climb left & up to a short layback flake. At the top move left under the roof past a small blocky ledge to a stance 4m higher.
• Pitch 9 : (20) Move up right & climb the break. Climb left through a small juggy overhang past a ledge to a roof. Rail right to a crack, and climb it to a ledge on the left.
• Pitch 10 : (19) Ascend a crack to a ledge. Avoid a gully by tending right on good grey rock to a ledge. Pull through the bulge 3m left of a chossy crack. Follow a short crack to the summit.

FA: Pitch 1-8 R. Suter, G. Morton & J. Fisher Pitch 9-10 R. Suter & G. Morton

FA: J. Fisher & P. Schlotfeldt 1987 (See Topo Diagram )

The Thin Crack above the stance after pitch 2 is graded 24. FA: J. Colenso, K. Smith & S. Middlemiss 1988

Smalblaar Ridge *** Grade F2

R Davies, J de Villiers-Graaf, M P Mamacos and F Villa 1953

A Klein Winterhoek clone, with genetic pitch aberrations on a sensational knife edge.

Start Approach either via Yellowwood Ravine or scramble up the ridge itself to a gendarme below the final knife edge. Skirt this on the left and start from the nek behind it.

Description

• 22m “E2”. Climb up a prominent fault to the left of the crest.
• 25m “F2”. The smooth grey face is climbed using the left-hand of the two prominent cracks.
• 15m “D”. Continue up the crest of the rib.
• 12m “E2”. Move up to an overhang, straddle around the rib to the left and continue to the foot of a abottomless crack.
• 12m “F1”. Climb up the bottomless crack to a stance at the foot of a chimney.
• 25m “E2”. Ascend the chimney past a large chockstone and scramble to a stance at the top of the climb.

Descend either by slogging across the ridges and go down De la Bat Ravine or down via the “B”route back into Yellowwood Ravine.

New Routes

New Born 29

New Born is the only sport route at Yellowwood (as of 2009). It was originally bolted by Sean Maasch in the nineties. Jeremy Samson added more bolts in 2007 and opened the route.

The route goes up the centre of the amphitheatre. There are approximately 14 pitches. The grades to the halfway ledge are 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 26, 27. After the halfway ledge there are two 29 pitches.

Prime Time Direct 24

Start

The best way to find the start is to have a good look at the photograph. It starts almost directly below the rectangular overhang in the middle of the Amphitheatre. Above at about 5m is a shallow left facing corner.

Pitch 1: 25m 21

Climb up the corner until it gets to a tenuous stemming move. Continue up to a ledge on blocks. Or move left across the slab on good holds to a crack system and continue to the rail. Move back right to the blocks and then from the right side continue up the overlap above. Diagonal up left and do a tricky move into the short right facing corner to a good belay.

Pitch 2: 35m 24

This is sustained and varied and exciting pitch as good as any on Yellow Wood. Climb up to the rectangular overhang and then swing out left onto a thin rail. Have some tiny cams ready. Crank up and then do a tenuous stemming move to get to the easier ground below the large left facing corner. Continue up the corner with some funky moves to a rail under the overhang and rail right onto the exposed arete. Climb straight up from the edge to a rail about 4m above. Move right a couple of meters and then head diagonally up right on a low angle slab. Belay on a good ledge on the left.

First Ascent: Charles Edelstein and Dave Vallet December 2008

Your Mother His Face

(6c,5c,6c,7a+,7b,6c,6a,6a+,6a+). No RD.

Episode I - Fight Against The Dark Side Of Gravity

Start Head to the extreme upper right part of the amphitheatre where there is a large clump of old Yellowwood trees. Second Coming starts here. Ten metres to the left is a solitary Yellowwood. Another five metres left a ledge begins and goes out horizontally left towards Armageddon Times while the land drops away. Five metres along this ledge is the start of the route marked by a small beacon and a piton one metre off the ledge.

• P1. 25m 22: Head up a steep crack in a shallow break. At 10m reach a piton. Break through overlaps up to the right to reach easier vertical ground. Then climb easily up and left to a standing-room ledge with good natural gear. There are two bolts.
• P2. 25m 19: Heads up right to a big obvious crack, up this crack then right and up to a big ledge more than a metre wide and very long. The stance has one bolt and one piton about 75cm apart. They are joined together by cord. There is a clip-gate biner on the bolt. There is good natural gear.
• P3. 35m 24: Head up a steep white-grey face then into a very thin orange crack. Ten metres up a one-finger, single-digit tenuous crank with trick footwork gets a long reach beyond a pinched out section of crack to tips-only into the tiny opening of the crack. A piton is a little higher. Then climb up another metre to an overlap then rail out right for 3 or 4 metres on a clean and exposed face. It’s a little tricky getting up. The route then converges with Second Coming and shares the next 10 metres to the original end of the Second Coming 2nd pitch below a roof with a standing ledge. At the stance there are two bolts close together and joined by black rope. There is a locking biner with a brass screwgate on one bolt. There is good natural gear.
• P4. 30m 26: This pitch shares the first 3 or 4 metres with Second Coming before that route traverses out right while Fighting continues straight up. The pitch starts with a pull through a small roof. Before committing to the crank you reach through and clip a piton. When hanging out you reach 30 cm higher and clip a bolt. (David Davies and Tony Dick had been much braver in 1988 when they led this ground-up without ironware!). It's then straight up on edges where hammers have been used to knock flaky stuff off and to create small edges. Three or four metres above the bolt there is another one. Jam the undercling crack and crank up to get onto easier ground. Head up and slightly right then leftwards with some tenuous but easy climbing on minimal protection. Here the route has converged with Second Coming. The stance is on easy ground with good natural protection.
• P5. 35m 16: This is the same pitch as for Second Coming. It heads up and left on easy ground to the jumbo ledge. A belay bolt has been placed a metre off the ground on the immaculate steep white face of Armageddon Direct presumably as a belay. It is doubtful that the bolt will remain there for long. There is good natural protection.

First Ascent: Martin “Wusel” Schendele and Daniel Gebel, September 2009. Note: This route description was written by Hilton Davies (second ascentionist, with Bruce Daniel, 3 Dec 2009) and it is therefore possible that the first ascentionists could have taken different lines between the bolts and pitons with different grades.