Saddle Face (via Els Ravine) | Table Mountain's Toughest Scrambles

Route 12 in my efforts to find Table Mountain's toughest ascent!
The top pitch of Saddle Face is one of Table Mountain's most iconic scrambles, and since I first learnt about it, I knew it would be a must do for this challenge. As the route only starts quite high up the saddle, we chose to combine it with Els Ravine, an absolutely stunning watercourse to the south of Newlands Ravine with some very enjoyable c-grade scrambling. All in all, it made for one of my favourite routes up the mountain, with a perfect balance of wilderness and lush vegetation in Els Ravine, good technical challenges on the bottom pitch of Saddle Face, and stunning exposure for a great mental battle on the final pitch.
Enjoyment Rating: 5/5
Difficulty Rating: 8.5/10
Challenges: Els ravine is a straightforward enough C-grade scramble in Summer, with a couple slippery pitches, but becomes almost impossible in Winter, when some key scrambles turn into waterfalls. While it's the massive exposure on the top pitch of Saddle Face is the most notorious, the climbing here is actually pretty straightforward. The lower pitch, however, is what merits the 8.5 rating - the moves here are quite technical and very physical, and the exposure is still big enough to mean a fall could have serious consequences. Shouldn't be underestimated!
Introduction: 00:00
Approach via Els Ravine: 00:22
Saddle Face (lower pitch): 03:21
Saddle Face (main pitch): 06:19
The summit: 08:11
Outro: 08:33
Music: MorMor - Pass the Hours
Sun-El Musician ft. Msaki - Best Friend
Contact me: @daniel_johnson_pmbpk (instagram)
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[@mart9999999999999999]

Nail biting , almost as much tension as a world cup final . I vote this for number 1 , excellent work !!!

[@daniel_johnson_pmbpk]

It was definitely an intense route! I'd put it on a par with Silverstream Ravine and just behind Window Gorge of the ones I've published up to this point. The next three were a step above the rest though, so stay tuned for those 😉

[@EmilyThring]

An awesome route, thanks for the memory! I was feeling sick that day, so proud to have done it anyway. Nice music

[@kylesmythe8126]

Well done, lead the way like a trooper 👏 great video 👌

[@ruminmusic]

another great video mate. First comment on any video ever on youtube.

[@daniel_johnson_pmbpk]

Thanks!

[@zetristan4525]

And you were First😇

[@zetristan4525]

Is the part "in the middle" marked.? I've been up Els Ravine, and also that final ascent off the Ledges-Silverstream Traverse, but in between the only way up that I knew of was the Ledges route itself.

[@daniel_johnson_pmbpk]

There are actually a couple of different options up! This one is one of the toughest, but we followed it because it's listed as the official middle section of the route of Saddle Face. We found it following Tony Laurens' guidebook