Champagne Castle

Coordinates: 29°04′53″S 29°19′41″E / 29.08139°S 29.32806°E / -29.08139; 29.32806

Champagne Castle
A photo of Cathkin Peak in the foreground, and Champagne Castle on the left, enveloped in clouds in the background.
Elevation	3,377 m (11,079 ft)
Location
Location	KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Range	Drakensberg
Coordinates	29°05′S 29°19′E / 29.083°S 29.317°E / -29.083; 29.317
Geology
Type	Basalt
Climbing
First ascent	Early 20th century by Reverend Stocker
Easiest route	Scramble up Grey's Pass[1]

Champagne Castle is a mountain in the central Drakensberg range, and is the second highest peak in South Africa. It contains a series of subsidiary peaks, amongst them, Cathkin Peak (3149 m), Sterkhorn, Mount Memory, Monk's Cowl and Dragon's Back.

It is said that when two intrepid mountaineers, David Gray and Major Grantham, climbed the peaks directly in front of Cathkin, they were about to celebrate their long haul by popping a bottle of champagne. But as fate would have it, the guide dropped the bottle on a rock – and in that moment Champagne Castle in the heart of uKaHlamba (Barrier of Spears) was christened.

Cathkin Peak was named after the residence of a Lanarkshire immigrant, David Gray, who named his home after Cathkin Braes, a hill in Glasgow.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/drakensberg-hiking-trails.html
2. ^ Dodds, David A. (1975). A Cradle of Rivers, The Natal Drakensberg. Cape Town: Centaur. p. 43. ISBN 0-908379-43-9. 

External links

• Champagne Castle on Peakware