Rock climbing in Namibia

Climbing in Namibia is all about adventure and exploration, where you will immerse yourself in a desert lifestyle. Spitzkoppe is the best place to go rock climbing in Namibia, though there are other excellent climbing areas at places such as Pontoks, Erongo Mountains (Erongo Rock and Omandumba), Aussenkehr (Kings Throne Canyon), Branberg Massif, and Sesriem.

The heart of Namibian rock climbing is undoubtfully the Great Spitzkoppe that is often called the "Matterhorn of Namibia". It is an impressive granite pyramid dramatically rising out of the surrounding desert, ending in a tiny, slender summit.

The Great Spitzkoppe with its huge southwest wall, surrounding buttresses, towers, slabs, and neighbouring Pontok Spitze, with its four subsidiary domes, offer unlimited climbing options. These range from single pitch sport climbing to 400m high big walls with a wealth of multi-pitch routes of all lengths and grades, bolted, trad and mixed.

Many of the longer routes follow long water dyke runnels yielding clean, solid granite rock which are often linked together by crack and flake systems. These long routes are often mixed, with bolted sections on the slabs, and trad sections up the cracks and flakes. Double 60m ropes are strongly recommended along with full double trad rack including big cams.

Spitzkoppe and Pontoks rock climbing Guidebook – The Namibian Rock Climbing Guidebook is the comprehensive rock climbing guidebook for Spitzkoppe and Pontoks.

Spitzkoppe and Pontoks climbing season – The best time to visit Spitzkoppe and Pontoks for rock climbing is during the African winter from May to September. The best months are June, July and August when the huge south facing walls of the Spitzkoppe and Pontoks enjoy practically all-day shade. As well as being the coolest months of the year, winter in Namibia is also the driest time of the year, making it ideal for rock climbing.

The Erongo Mountains are located around 100km northeast of Spitzkoppe and offer mainly single pitch sport climbing on granite rock. However, there are some occasional trad routes and also some long multi-pitch routes. Most of the climbing is in valleys offering a wide variety of climbing styles, with the texture, features and angles of the granite rock changing from crag to crag. To combine some time at Spitzkoppe with a stop over at the Erongo Mountains, would make an ideal and unforgettable climbing road trip.

The Namibian Rock Climbing Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook covering all the routes in the Erongo Mountains. The two climbing areas of Erongo Rock and Omandumba are owned by two separate private companies who both offer a variety of accommodation options.

Aussenkehr, on the banks of the Orange River, gives excellent well-bolted sport climbing on dolerite pillars in a unique and surreal setting. Most of the crags in the canyon get lots of shade during the day. The Namibian Rock Climbing Guidebook is the comprehensive guidebook covering all the routes at Aussenkehr.