South Africa is blessed with a climate that is ideal for outdoor activities, and an abundance of largely untapped rock. The relatively small climbing community naturally concentrates its activities on the easily accessible rock resources near the larger urban centres. The local climbers are spoilt by the ready availability of excellent rock on their doorstep, and often write off superb crags, as piles of choss. Essentially, there are many stunning, world-class routes, and enormous potential for new routing.

The majority of routes are found on excellent quality sandstone or quartzite, with many horizontal breaks. There are also a few granite and dolerite areas, as well as one developed limestone crag. The Drakensberg crags are basalt, with some low altitude Cave Sandstone crags.