Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 Corona Virus outbreak, we are forced to postpone our fundraising event indefinitely.
We will keep you updated. If and when Garvin feels up to starting his rigorous training program for this challenge again, we will let you know and appeal for your support for this good cause.
The primary beneficiary of the “100 routes in 1 day” event is The Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust. This trust is an independent non-profit Trust with BBBEE status, established to support the work of the Eastern Cape Paediatric Surgical Services based at the East London government hospitals.
The Paediatric Surgery department does amazing work for the underprivileged communities of the Eastern Cape and provides surgical care for newborns and infants with complex congenital problems; children with cancer; children with burns and others injuries. Sadly, funds are not always available for the specialised and expensive equipment required for performing these surgical procedures.
The paediatric surgical ward is old and in need of urgent refurbishing and some upgrades. The trust procures much-needed specialist equipment and supplies to enable doctors to provide the best possible service to their little patients. For more information, please visit the Eyabantwana website.
The climbers are raising funds for the Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust from individuals and corporates who they hope will sponsor them per route or with a lump sum donation. Donations will go to the designated beneficiary organisations and specifically to the purchase of a specialized mesher (instrument to perforate the harvested skin for burns) and the upgrade and refurbishing of the ward.
In addition, a portion of the funds raised will go towards a Waterval Boven based charity that supports the local community in the vicinity of the crag.
What is the event?
In April 2020 a group of rock climbing enthusiasts will tackle the challenge of climbing 100 routes each in a single day. This event will be held at the internationally renowned climbing crag at Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga.
A route is a measure of climbing from the bottom to the top of a section of cliff. It may be long and easy or short and very difficult. Either way, to climb one hundred routes in a day is going to take grit and determination!
Who are the Climbers?
The “100 routes in 1 day” challenge is my, Garvin Jacobs’s brainchild. I am an experienced climber from East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. A few years ago, in celebration of my fortieth birthday, I climbed forty routes in a day to raise support for the Eyabantwana Trust. The funds raised contributed to buying much needed equipment for the paediatric surgical unit that the charity supports. Read more about his story in the attached letter below
I have decided that I can do better, more routes, more climbers and, hopefully, more funds raised.
We need support in lots of areas. If you could be of assistance in any manner, please contact us via 100routesin1day@gmail.com or via FaceBook.
My Story
My name is Garvin Jacobs and I am part of a team of volunteers raising funds for the Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust, which supports the Paediatric Surgery Department at Cecilia Makiwane & Frere Hospitals in East London.
The Paediatric Surgery department does amazing work for the underprivileged communities of the Eastern Cape. They deal with various cases including burn injuries, birth defects and other pathologies. Sadly, funds are not always available for the specialised and expensive equipment required for performing these surgical procedures. The paediatric surgical ward is old and in need of urgent refurbishing and some upgrades.
In 2014, I celebrated my 40th birthday by climbing 40 rock-climbing routes around East London in aid of the Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust. We raised money that was used to acquire a dermatome (specialized instrument to harvest skin to treat burns) for the paediatric surgery department. After my success at climbing 40 routes in a day I have been challenged to try a little harder and dig deeper, once again for the benefit of Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust. For this upcoming challenge, I will attempt to climb 100 routes in 24 hours, and we will donate the funds raised towards the above mentioned refurbishment and upgrades.
Toying with the idea of doing a large number of routes in a day actually started in 2011, when I was climbing with Candice Bagley. At that stage, Candice was about 21 and climbing grades much higher than her age. Being in my late thirties, I remarked that such a feat was no longer possible for me. She responded with the idea of climbing a route for each year I’ve been around and later that year I tried unsuccessfully to climb 37 routes in a day. Now skip forward to November 2014 and I actually managed to do 40 routes in a day, by the skin on my teeth. I half-heartedly tried to prepare, but not really knowing what was needed, I very much underestimated the required effort and suffered the consequences. Two-thirds into the day I started cramping badly and had to rest for over an hour. Hard lessons were learnt, but luckily we pulled it off in the end.
So now you may ask, how do I go from just doing 40 routes to attempting 100? Well, I am a little older, a little wiser and I have some good experience to work with. I am in fairly good physical condition (for me, about 6kg over my fighting weight) at the moment and I have a few months in hand to prepare.
As I am not an elite climber, finding a venue with 100 routes that I can do is a big ask and after not much debate we headed to Waterval Boven and spoke to some locals. They were very excited about the idea, and so the venue was set. According to local knowledge, the best time of year for climbing is April, but because April can get a little crazy with school holidays and Easter, we decided on the first weekend of the month. And so, during 4-5 April 2020, I will (hopefully!) complete my own self-imposed Waterval Boven 100 Routes Challenge in 24 hours.
For this event, I have asked a few other climbers to take up the challenge with me. They will also be doing 100 routes each and hopefully we can all make the children of the Eastern Cape proud. As was the case with my previous challenge in 2014, the bulk of the funds will go to the Eyabantwana, For the Children Trust. We will also be making a once-off donation to a local institution to show our support to the area.
We will be adding more info as the months fly by. I need support in lots of areas, so if you feel you can be of assistance, please get in contact. Do it for the climbing, do it for the party or do it for the children, and we’ll have fun doing it all!
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