By Tony Lourens
It was early on a grey and rainy Monday morning.
I switched on my computer and checked my email.
The usual spam came through with a few other semi-interesting mails. Then I spotted one from Antonie which had some attachments and the subject header of Desert Rock. I grabbed the mouse and double clicked on this mail.
As it opened I was immediately absorbed by the first picture. It was a photo of a winding gravel track twisting through a tortured barren landscape of teetering dolorite pillars and buttresses set in a landscape of unspeakable beauty.
A landscape of true desert proportions that has been practically untouched for a billion years or more.
I pulled my chair closer and took a long swig of tea, then scrolled through the other three or four pics. They were similar shots of other buttresses and towers in the same area.
I was intrigued and fascinated by what I saw and sent a mail back to Antonie filled with questions.
For those of you who don't know, Antonie van Heerden was a school teacher in De Doorns in the Western Cape a few years back and was instrumental in the introduction of climbing to the school children of the area.
He later made a career change to farming which led him to a table grape farm just north of the Orange River called Aussenkehr, where he holds a managerial position. And this was where the e-mail originated from.
I first laid eyes on the farm of Aussenkehr in 1989 during an exploratory trip through the Richtersveld. I saw it from the flood ravaged southern bank of the Orange and would never have guessed that in near 20 years there would be plans to develop sport climbing there.
I sent the pics off to my mate Keith James in Grahamstown. He took one look and sent a return mail which simply read. "Well when are we going China?"
So without much more ado arrangements were made and in August of 2005 Keith and I set off to check out this desert "wonderland".
We arrived at Antonie's house with two Hilti machines and enough stainless steel to build a battleship.
The Norotshama River Lodge, which is where the campsite, bungalows and restaurant/bar is situated, lies right on the banks of the Orange River and is a mere few hundred metres from Antonie's house.
Not being in the mood to slum it with the other visitors to the lodge, Keith and I opted to rough it and asked if we could wild camp among the crags in the canyon.
This is not strictly allowed, but as we were developing the area, they made an exception.
We set up camp in a deserted side canyon under a lone thorn tree and that was our home for five days. The following day we went about the business of sniffing out the boltable lines.
Let it be said now that the canyon is made up largely of teetering pillars and tons of loose blocks and rubble, but between all this chaos there are awesome pillars and bigger walls of impeccable stone, which offer brilliant crack and face routes with good friction.
The first buttress to fall was the "The Block House", an 18-metre-high crag right on the road, with probably the best layback crack of its grade in Africa. Crack a go-go goes at solid grade 16 all the way.
To the right of that we put up three other routes including the outstanding White Doves in Lavender (21) which follows the central pillar from thin rail to thin rail, forcing one to pull the most exquisite moves. The extreme right-hand route is the testy little Not Another Koo-Foot (22), with the thin and slightly runout crux high up.
Further right we discovered the
"Excavation Sector", which after some cleaning yielded three more impeccable routes.
"Kings Throne Canyon" is a unique and exceptionally wild place to climb. Anyone looking for a different climbing experience should not miss a trip to this very special corner of Africa. Once you've touched desert rock you will be back for more. I guarantee it.
How to get there:
Drive to the Noordoewer border post between Namibia and South Africa (Don't forget to take your passport). Almost immediately after the border take a left then a right and travel on the C13 for about 50km to reach Aussenkehr. At the Norotshama sign turn left and drive down to the Orange River and the reception office and campsite.
From the turn-off the C 13 to Norotshama River Lodge, carry on straight for about 3,6km. Turn right here and follow the track for about 6km to where the canyon narrows. This is where the action starts.
NB. You do not need a 4X4 to get to the crags. This is definitely an autumn to spring destination (April to September), as temperatures can climb to over 400C in mid summer.
Accommodation and food: There is a campsite near the reception office, but a new campsite is opening soon a bit further downriver. There are also bungalows for hire. Bring all your own food if you are camping or self-catering. There is also a bar and restaurant.
- This article was originally published on page 16 of The Cape Times on November 03, 2006
