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Home‎ > ‎Table Mountain‎ > ‎Atlantic (West)‎ > ‎

Spring Buttress


Location: Spring Buttress lies between Wood Buttress and Slangolie.  The start is 200m along the pipe track from Wood Ravine, sharing the same route as Three Firs for the first 100m.

Overview: An interesting route following an intricate zig-zag through the rock bands with a spectacular, exposed (but easy) traverse. The scrambles can be tricky if wet.

Spring Buttress - Key Statistics
Grade: 4 ****  3 rock scrambles 3-5m each; very exposed
Height gain: 560mfrom 180m at Theresa Ave to 740m
Time: 3-4 hrs up, 1-2 down depending on route
Route Description: 

Numbers in [x] refer to corresponding slide

 

From Theresa Avenue, ascend to the Pipe Track and walk 1.6km south. The start up the buttress is 200m along the pipe track from Wood Ravine, sharing the same route as Three Firs for the first 100m. The take off is marked with a cairn.

 

From the pipe track ascend to the first rock band at 425m. The Three Firs path goes right at this point.  Traverse left for 100m and then ascend to the next rock band at 440m. Traverse left again [1] on a ledge that narrows and make an awkward slide across a block [2] (or squeeze behind if you are thin enough!).  Ascend to a cave at the next rock band at 495m [3]. Traverse 50m left and then ascend a long broken slope with a variety of routes possible either in the gullies or on the ridges until reaching the main rock band at 560m [4].

 

Climb the 5m pitch in the corner to a narrow ledge [5] [6]. Traverse 200m right on this ledge [7] through a cave - a good tea spot [8]. From the cave step around the exposed corner onto a block cantilevered over Camps Bay below [9]. Ascend diagonally right to a 2m crack [10]. Go up the crack and then traverse back left and then up to a recess [11].  Climb the recess in two 3m steps to an exposed block [12].  Step down the other side of this block and traverse left onto easy ground [13].  Go up the grass slope into an open gully and ascend this to the top of the buttress [14].  

 

 For an interesting and whimsical finish, traverse 50m right about 100m from the top of the gully to the base of a 30m chimney [15]. Scramble up the chimney to the top of the buttress (Grade 3). The main Apostles Path is 200m east. 


Descent: Wood Ravine is the closest, but chose any number of routes off the Back Table.


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Tony Heher,
Apr 16, 2009 12:29 PM

Comments

Laurence Lombard - May 4, 2009 3:02 AM

I took Karen Watkin's "Adventure Walks & Scrambles in the Cape Peninsula" along on a hike up Spring Buttress on 13 April 2009 as hers is the only book I had at hand that descibes this route. The out of print MCSA "Table Mountain Guide" does not cover this walk and the (also out of print) Tony Lourens book describes some hairy traverses, definitely not for the faint hearted, but not this route either. I had some difficulty following Karen's description but with more thought and discussion, the route described here corresponds to her Route C: "Rock scramble on the buttress", but incorrectly describes the location of the photo on page 80, which is is actually a photo the famous "photo opportunity" ledge ("exposed corner" - picture [9] in the main description) shown on page 82 taken from the other side.

It is worth taking a copy of picture 12 (as referenced in the main section above) and some of the pictures before and after it along on this walk, for it was over that section that I doubted the details. The route was very well marked with cairns up to just before that point. It would be useful to have a cairn on top of that "exposed block", or even a paint mark on the rock (although that might be sacriledge), to guide one. The rest of the route is also quite clear.

I imagine her Route A is a traverse on a level a bit lower that the "photo opportunity" ledge, but I have not explored it.

Note by Laurence Lombard with help from Trevor Rennison (who is actually far more familiar with the route than I am). 15 April 2009