Black Mountain, Sani Top
September 2002
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Brent Coetsee trusting his board bases to the dreaded Black Mountain volcanic rock. A good day at Black Mountain.
Black Mountain, Sani Top
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Brandon Ribbink taking small air.
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Brent and Brandon trying the poetry in motion stuff.
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Coming off a lip on "First Chair". A 300m or so run which is interrupted by the road. This is the most accessible of the runs above the road that only fills after a good dump. Collect at the bottom and drive to the top; hence it's dubbed the first chairlift run.
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Jumps abound, intentional and otherwise. On this particular day some spectacular headplants and javelin re-entries indicated that the snow depth was over 1,5m and probably well over 2m deep in the pockets below the ledges.
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The main run on First Chair. Taken from about halfway down. The offload point is along a small service road at the summit of Black Mountain Pass right at the saddle. No rocks at all with this much snow, just the odd tall clump of grass.
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Second pic of the one above. If you know anything about skiing you should note the powder tracks and rooster tail. Fresh and deep. With extreme African conditions you get breakable crust (usually), frozen supportable crust (sometimes) and powder (occasionally). More than beginner/intermediate skills are needed here.
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A long N/E traverse over from First Chair brings you high into Second Gulley. You can also hike the ridge and then climb to the top of the run for the coloir jumps. Not for the faint of heart - speaking of which remember this is over 10 000 feet and breathing while climbing is another story. Black Mountain, Sani Top Sunday, 10 August 1997 |
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Huge, windblown banks at the top of Second Gulley. The "corrogated" shadowed snow is actually the concave underface of a 10 to 12 foot drop. Fracture (of the snow not legs) is unlikely due to the absence of a thin lip.
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Rock Drop, high to the left of Second Gulley. Another good dropoff jump. And if you aren't saving yourself for grandchildren around your knee you could try jumping this one at speed.
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..... and Maybe Just Have Fun. No high speed button lifts and limited uphill resources which require more coercion and persuasion to organise than simple lift loading skills.
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Don't always expect to make it up. Fresh snow that reaches down to the SA Police Post means that you'll get only to the first steep gradients before vehicles bomb out. Heavy with narrow rock/ice types get furtherest but when the snow comes over the hood you know this is where you'll play for the day.
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Watch the Weather Like in any mountains, the weather closes in fast. Leave the top by three to makes sure you hit the bottom before the gates are chained at 4:00pm. Lousy weather in the pass or a 10 tonner stuck on a hairpin could mean you're going to overnight up there.
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