Noordhoek Peak Gully

The winter of 2023 was a very wet one in Cape Town. In August, with fully-saturated mountains, a storm moved in and the deluge was biblical. The Cape Mountains were sodden and heavy, and then became lubricated enough to let loose hundreds upon hundreds of landslides. One of these landslides began high on Noorhoek Minor, and released a torrent of earth and rock down the gully between Noordhoek Peak and Noordhoek Minor. 

Up to the moment of the landslide the gully had been choked with vegetation. Within minutes, 1,000m of gully had been scoured clean, down to bedrock. The pipes that usually carried the stream under the tarmac of the Chapman's Peak Drive were filled with debris resulting in a mountain of soil, rock and vegetation being deposited on the road. The pass became closed for weeks.

Hilton Davies, a resident and climber from Hout Bay, explored and then pioneered this route up first granite scrambling then the pink siltstone and finally the Table Mountain Sandstone section which has a beautiful 'Cederberg-like' kloof. As there was still a lot of mud and debris on the cliffs, Hilton returned with Austrian climbing friends Felix Poppenberger and Katrin Fesel. Loaded with trad climbing gear, and armed with a spade, a fork and a broom, they covered themselves in mud but left a clean route. The three made the first clean, solo-climbing ascent of the gully on 12 April 2024. However the climb is not for novices and needs great care and climbing ability. At a subsequent stage persons unknown equipped the waterfall pitches with bolted anchors with ropes or chains attached to assist the leader who should be a competent rock climber who can give the party roped protection on the climbing pitches.

The gully can be followed above the contour path to the summit of the Noordhoek Peak escarpment, but the upper half is not as interesting as the lower half.

(The above is an edited version of the information supplied by Hilton Davies)