Although most of the north face consisted of vertical sweeps of granite split up by wide cracks, the last few hundred feet to the summit were just a little less steep than the rest. Their attempt on the north face is best described in O'Neill's own words:

As no alternative remained we planned an assault on the north side. This proved to be more successful than had been anticipated and it was difficult to appreciate that the grassy gullies in which we climbed were the hideous-looking cracks that had been regarded with such apprehension from below. The structure of the rock had in most places camouflaged the line of attack and backing and footing up concealed shafts we gradually worked upwards. A sloping chimney jammed with chockstones ended in a winding passage, and working through almost complete darkness the party arrived on a large platform on a pinnacle which appeared to be about 80 feet from the top. From here it was impossible to advance any higher, but a grassy chute sloping down to the left offered an opening. Sixty feet lower a ledge we had noted on our reconnaissance, leading to the easier slope on the western corner, could be seen. A grassy shoulder on the way up had suggested a comfortable place to bivouac, and it was decided to wait until the morrow before making the descent to the ledge below. The following morning, after fixing the rope to a large boulder at the foot of the chute, we slid down to the ledge and walked round to examine the remaining few hundred feet to the summit. Our estimate of the angle leading to the summit had been correct, but an unclimable belt of about 30 feet at its narrowest divided the ledge from the upper section. Nowhere could a break be found and yet with tantalising nearness lay the key to success. With the summit so near it was with a feeling of bitterness that we realised that all our hopes were to be frustrated by so small an obstacle. If the mountain would not yield to ordinary methods we would violate the rules of mountaineering and cut our way to the top.

Four days later, armed with a chisel and hammer and a three-day supply of food and water, we repeated our previous line of ascent. It was the second attempt that was nearly to end in disaster. Descending the 60-foot section to the ledge below the impossible happened. Half way down the rope snapped, sending the leader hurtling down the remaining 30 feet to fall heavily on the ledge below. A patch of soft grass prevented a serious accident, but above hung the grim warning of the condition of our equipment. As the only line of retreat off the peak necessitated climbing back up the fixed rope, it required little imagination to realise the fate of the party had the rope broken when the last member was making the descent. The party was now weakend by the loss of one climbing member, but having come thus far the remaining two decided to continue with the step cutting, while Ship watched from the comfort of a sleeping bag.

"This step cutting proved a slow and delicate task, especially as one experienced a fair amount of difficulty in maintaining one's balance in the small foot grips while wielding the hammer. After about two hours of chipping and hammering 15 feet still remained to be covered and we decided to resume our efforts the next day. For the first time heavy black clouds sweeping in from the north-west were noticed. We could think of no worse place to experience a storm. To attempt a retreat in the dark would have been suicidal, so we lay and waited. Far below a harmony of wild dogs and hyenas echoing through the krantzes accentuated the serious nature of our perch. A gale sweeping over the rocks awakened the party from a restless sleep and at the first signs of dawn we prepared for an immediate descent."

Thus, in spite of being so near to victory, the valiant seven days' battle by Shipley's party to reach the top was ultimately defeated by the weather. But although their efforts had not been crowned with complete success, they had at least found a chink in the Great Spitzkop's armour and thus made the way easier for later attempts. Events now moved quickly, and four months later Jannie de Villiers Graaf (the youngest brother of the present leader of the United Party) and Hans and Else Wond (Wongtschowski) arrived at the foot of the Great Spitzkop in the moonlight. When dawn broke the party was well along the line of beacons laid by Le Roux's party in 1940. Before reaching the gendarme they worked over towards the north face on their right. They were now following the route pioneered by Shipley's party. The north wall was reached at the level of a double-pointed pinnacle which they promptly christened "The Policemen".

"Viewing the peak from the east the "policemen" appear to be about half way up the north wall. Behind them is what might be described as a nek. It is the last gently sloping section on the north wall before it rises in one continuous sweep of about I 500 feet to the summit. From this nek there ascend two gullies. A
couple of hundred feet up, a corridor connects them. By scrambling up the left-hand gully all serious obstacles can be avoided, and one can walk up the corridor. We, ignorant of this, entered the corridor from the other end, having come to the right-hand gully, which provides 70 feet of difficult climbing. Once in the corridor one walks to the highest point and climbs out on to a platform on the north side of it. From this point the route is easy to follow. One joins the right-hand gully and follows it to a small nek 300 feet below the summit. In the gully itself numerous pitches of 'D' and 'E' standard are encountered. Some of them are quite awkward, but none can be described as difficult. The final hundred feet leading up to the nek is completely closed in, and very narrow. We bivouacked a short distance - one pitch, in fact - below the closed-in portion, and rested in the shade from about midday until three o'clock, when we left our packs and continued, carrying climbing equipment only."