This is a mega pass by any standards. It's very long at 32 km and displays an altitude variance of 1066m. With a summit height of 3242m ASL, headaches and nose bleeds might be experienced by travellers from the coast who have not had time to acclimatise. It is the second highest pass in Lesotho and is also commonly referred to as the Black Mountain Pass.
Packed into that length is a total of 139 bends, corners and curves of which 8 have angles in excess of 90 degrees and of those, 6 are hairpin bends, all of which occur on the south-eastern side of the pass. The pass is subject to lots of snow in winter and ice on the roadway will make things highly dangerous, even for 4WD vehicles.
The pass is virtually and extension of the Sani Pass, separated only by a short 6 km plateau. It connects South Africa (KZN specifically) with the main southern town of Mokhotlong. It was recently tarred which makes this a relatively comfortable drive compared to the rough two spoor track prior to 2004.
Cautionaries: Snow, Ice, Livestock, Herdsmen, Altitude sickness.
