Climb up Table Mountain

underneath the cable car

It seems to have been a week of India Venster. Its funny how sometimes I may not do this route for a month, and then suddenly I do it four times in one week. This is the route that you sometimes see people on from the cable car as for much of the way the path is directly below the car. It is an exciting route with a little bit of scrambling but nothing really scary. The route takes its name from from the triangle of green you can see above you. This is India Ravine and viewed from below takes the outline of the map of India. The venster part of the name describes a window (venster) created by a fallen boulder.

You start off directly behind the cable car and head up the steep stairs to the contour path. From here you follow the small unsigned path that leads straight up the mountain. An important word of warning here. Don’t follow this path uness you are with someone who knows the route. There are other paths leading off to climbing routes the whole way up so you need to know where you are going.  

The window on the India Venster route up Table Mountain

For the first half hour the path leads you around the right of Venster Butress. The window is found after about 15 minutes. You need to take a small detour off the left which is well worth the effort. Back on the path continue up to top of the buttress. Here the path takes a right and leads you to the top of India Ravine.

The Path leads accross the top of India Ravine

 Here the path is clear and leads you diagonally up to the left hand corner. Here the real scrambling begins. You carry on going up and to the left until reaching a series of staples in the rock face. These take you up almost to the bottom of the final sheer cliffs that lead to the cable car itself. Follow the path to the right and you will find yourself almost directly below the cable car.

One of the scrambles

Take a moment to break here and enjoy the views of the city before following Fountain Ledge around the side of Table Mountain above Camps Bay.

Almost directly under the cable car

 This is a straight forward path but beware of the drop off on your right! One more short scramble up and then the path continues around the mountain. Eventually you get right around this section of the mountain and into Fountain Ravine. Follow this path to where it pops up almost directly opposite Platteklip Gorge.

The view from Fountain Ledge