Route 8 in my efforts to find Table Mountain's toughest ascent!
Kloof Buttress Arête is a fairly obscure route which gets very little traffic, making its way up the Camps Bay side of the buttress better known for the Kloof Corner Ridge and Pinnacle routes. Last year myself, Tess, Christy, John H and John B, Jono, Sbonelo and Emily set out to find and ascend it, as part of my continued efforts to tackle all of Table Mountain's toughest scrambling routes. Unlike most Table Mountain routes, this one truly has nothing close to a path whatsoever, and so the first part of the route was spent working our way through thick fynbos to the start of the sickle-shaped gulley. From there, we worked our way up through the gulley and then to the final climb of the route, which brought us up to the iconic Kloof Corner Pinnacle jump. We then joined the pinnacle/ridge route and continued via the top two chains to India Venster, which we used to descend.
It is easy to see why this route doesn't get a lot of traffic - it is steep, overgrown, technical and physically demanding, and the rock is a lot less secure than in other more popular c-grade routes. However, this sense of wilderness is exactly what makes it so enjoyable - just like Grotto-Fountain-Cairn nearby, one has the feeling of being somewhere really remote and untouched, while still being so close to the city. All in all, a very worthwhile alternative to Kloof Corner Ridge and Pinnacle.
Enjoyment Rating: 4/5
Difficulty Rating: 8/10
Challenges: while Kloof Corner Pinnacle has more sustained scrambling, Kloof Buttress Arête's challenge comes from its wilderness. The vegetation is thick and the ascent steep, making it a more physically demanding route, and several of those attempting the route have failed to find the sickle-shaped gulley altogether. The two c-grade pitches are fairly standard for the grade, but the rock is very loose and the exposure is non-negligible, adding a significant degree of danger
Music: Sun-El Musician - Ululate
Contact me: @daniel_johnson_pmbpk (instagram)
danjohnsonpeter@gmail.com