Written by: MCSA PW Secretary – Riaan
The MCSA Paarl / Wellington Section is blessed with access to the upper Kromriver area in the Western Cape Du Toits Kloof mountains via the Kromriver Hut (built circa 1953). The area is surrounded by magnificent peaks and amazing valleys.
Across the river from the hut along the slopes of the Kromriver Dome is a bouldering field with about 8 sectors (A-H) identified in the mid-2000’s by Bruce Powrie and Ian Smuts. They made drawings of most of the sectors and did some initial route descriptions / grading. Despite their enormous effort there are still many undocumented routes.
During the weekend of the 26th to the 27th April 2025 the MCSA PW Section invited students from University of Stellenbosch [US] Rock Climbing association and the University of Cape Town [UCT] Mountain and Ski Clubs to join an exploratory meet at Kromrivier Hut. Our aim was to introduce members of the various clubs to each other and to attempt to climb and document as many of these boulders as possible. Eight students from UCT and Stellenbosch participated.
After the first day of climbing Sectors H,G,B,A (15 routes described) we had a great braai and kuier around the fire and games until everyone retired to sleep.
The next morning we were out early to tackle Sectors F,E and C, another 17 routes. At the end of the day we had a quick swim and snacks before closing off with a few spot prizes sponsored by CityROCK and Mountain Mail Order.
A total of 32 routes were climbed and described with grades from 4 to 6b+.
Spot prizes were awarded as follows:
- Highest FA:
- Benjamin Cloete [US] (6B+) Sandpaper Sundae
- Adam Isebeck [US] (6B+) Expansion
- First ascents:
- Harold Cohn [UCT] – 7
- Grace Kapelus [US] – 5
- Barend Groenewald [US] – 4
- Route Descriptions and Naming
- Harold Cohn [UCT] – 8
- Barend Groenewald [US] -5
- Kale Boys [UCT] – 5
- Leo Lund [UCT] – 5
- Chairmans Naming Choice:
- “Skull smasher” Harold Cohn [UCT]
- Organisers Naming Choice
- “Leo’s dad” Dylan Friedman [UCT]
All in all a fun-filled weekend and with a lot of enthusiasm we are looking forward to a follow up of this great event!
