The Spitzkoppe (from German for "pointed dome"; also referred to as Spitzkop, Groot Spitzkop, or the
"Matterhorn of Namibia"), is a group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib
desert of Namibia. The granite is more than 120 million years old and
the highest outcrop rises about 1,784 metres (5,853 ft) above sea
level. The peaks stand out
dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The highest peak is about
700 m (2,300 ft) above the floor of the desert below. A minor peak –
the Little Spitzkoppe – lies nearby at an elevation of 1,584 m (5,197 ft).
Other prominences stretch out into a range known as the Pontok Mountains.
Many examples of Bushmen artwork can be seen painted on the rock in the
Spitzkoppe area. The Spitzkoppe Mountains were also the filming location
for 2001: A Space Odyssey in the "Dawn of Man" sequences.
History of ascent
Any ascent of the peak involves exposed and
delicate rock climbing of
a high grade. While the standard route up the peak is not severely difficult in
modern technical terms, it presented quite a formidable undertaking in the
earliest days, owing to the isolation of the peak, the heat of the desert and
the total lack of water.
Before the First World War what is
now Namibia was German South-West Africa. It is possible that the main peak was reached as
early as 1904, when a soldier of the Imperial Schutztruppesupposedly soloed the peak and made a fire on the
summit. What he may have burned remains a mystery, as there is absolutely no
natural fuel of any kind on the upper parts of the peak. The legend suggests
that he never returned and that his body was never recovered. Certainly, no
proof of his conquest is available today. The first documented conquest was
made by a team of climbers from Cape
Town, led by S. le Roux.
The next party – O'Neil, Shipley and Schaff – pioneered a route up the northern
extremes of the peak, after having failed on the southwest ridge. They gained
access to the gully now known as the "scramble" but ran out of time
to attempt the final faces. Four days later they made another attempt but
finally gave up. Some of the earliest climbers, defeated by an extraordinarily
smooth band of granite only about 3m high, resorted to carving steps into the
rock with a hammer and chisel.
A few months later Hans and Else Wong and Jannie de Villiers Graaff arrived and they reached the summit at noon, in
November 1946. For the next quarter of a century the mountain maintained its
reputation of presenting a two- or three-day struggle to potential climbers.
(There are accounts of these ascents in old volumes of the Journal of The Mountain Club of
South Africa – one of which can
be found at scanned extracts from MCSA Journal).
This era came to an end in 1971, when the peak was
climbed in four hours by a party led by J. W. Marchant from the University of
Cape Town Mountain and Ski Club. Included were the talented South African
climber Gabriel Athiros and Oliver Stansfield from England [2 June 1971]. This
team scaled all of the lower pitches without
ropes and got through the difficult band without using the artificial steps
hacked into the granite. They descended from the peak in two hours and as they
reached the base rain began to fall for the first time in over a year.
The modern era commenced. E. Haber, together with A.
Lombard, C. Ward and Holding completed the first direct ascent of the South
West Wall. They began their endeavours in 1977 but did not succeed in finishing
the route before 1982. M. Cartwright and
M. Hislop freed the route in 1988, giving it a grade of 22, which was later
revised to 24. C. Edelstein and G. Mallory left their mark in 1983 by
completing "Royale Flush", another monster route that was freed only
in 2000 by J. Wamsteker and S. Wallis. During 1991 M. Cartwright, K. Smith and
M. Seegers put up a difficult route named INXS graded 24 left of the South West
Wall route.
General development and history
In 1896, a trading post named Spitzkopje was built
below the mountain by the German Colonial Society, the centrepiece of a 120,000-hectare farm. The
Society built a five-room farmhouse and stables, storerooms and other
outbuildings. In 1899 the farm held 120 horses, 1,500 cattle and 4,000 sheep
and goats; its manager was a German settler named Carl Schlettwein. Later it
was transferred to the Farmer Jooste and a police station was built (the
foundation walls are still under Pontok 4 chroma noise).
In 1964, under the "Odendaal Plan" of
the Odendaal Commission for the creation of home territories (home lands) for the black
population, the farm was expropriated with compensation. In 1970 they moved
multiple Damara families
here, which were in fact a village with a church and school development. Since
1998, the municipal campsite and the area was declared as Gaingu Conservancy on
7 September 2003 around the Great Spitzkoppe. A Hollywood film
company erected a high game fence which cuts off the entire area between
the large Spitzkoppe and Spitzkoppe Pontoks. This represents about half of the
camping places which ceased to exist, access to many climbing rocks and also
the normal route to the Great Spitzkoppe barred. The popular Circumnavigation
of the Great Spitzkoppe (1–1.5 hours) is no longer possible.
"Bushman Paradise" made accessible through a
gate with chains, has lost its attractiveness, as almost all of the 2000- to
4000-year-old prehistoric rock paintings have been destroyed. Around the foot
of the Great Spitzkoppe you can still find good drawings, especially at
the "Rhino Rock".