Articles
On the Edge: “GOING-FOR-IT” ON SLANGOLIE FRONTAL
By Hans-Peter Bakker Featured in Issue 7 (December 2003) of SA Mountain. For me the best trips have always been the “let’s-go-for-it-anyway” kind. Francie Bührmann, Dirk Versfeld, Tessa Cousins and I were having a roof-wetting braai at my place. Whisky and wine flowed freely and someone suggested climbing Slangolie on TM the next day. Dirk …
On the Edge: Terror and heat exhaustion on a vertical wall can be fun!!
By Adele McCann Featured in Issue 5 (June 2003) of SA Mountain. Despite the dictionary definition, memory is not merely the recalling of facts. It is actually the discriminatory recall of experience and perception. Most of what I remember about the trad climbs I have done over the years have been washed with a feeling …
Ed’s Word: Complacency – No place in the climbing game
By Ed February Featured in Issue 1 (June 2002) of SA Mountain. Recently Dirk Versfeld and I were having a really high gravity day on the first pitch of Persona on Barrier Buttress on Table Mountain. First I went up and prated around for a while and then he did the same. After some time …
Le Petit Dru
A few kilometers beyond Chamonix on the road to Argentiere one passes through the Bois de Favre, a densely wooded forest of silver pines. Suddenly the trees end at a clearing: a rocky terminal moraine where the Mer de Glace had once carved its way slowly past under millions of tons of ice. If one …
An Instant of Joy
I took a deep breath as I passed the bronze plaques bolted to the wall just above the bergschrund. Dawn had just broken a thin crack of red on the horizon, and there was just enough murky light to look up at the five thousand feet of shattered limestone hanging above me. The enormity of …
Celebrate Sunflower Day 2019 and Help Save Lives
The Sunflower Fund’s annual Sunflower Day campaign will be commemorated on Friday 20 September 2019. The campaign which is anchored by the sale of the Tube of Hope (TOPE), a multi-purpose accessory, is aimed at raising funds for the recruitment of blood stem cell donors to give the hope of cure to patients diagnosed with …
The Sunflower Fund
The Sunflower Fund, a South African Non-Profit Company (NPC), is dedicated to creating awareness, educating the public and handling the registration process for people to join the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR). The Sunflower Fund pays for the test cost of people joining the SABMR. This is fundamental to saving the lives of thousands …
Cape Union Mart Father’s Day Finds For Under R300
While your dad may be one in a million to you, you don’t need to spend a million to spoil him this Father’s Day. These gifts from Cape Union Mart for under R300 will help you show your appreciation without breaking the bank. Tonglite Braai Tongs R299, available for purchase in all stores and online …
A man, a mountain – and a rhino suit
High altitude mountaineering in remote places has numerous challenges and risks, as John Black knows all too well. Having completed almost 30 high altitude expeditions globally, he is now preparing to summit Mount Vinson, the last of the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. At 4,892m, Mount Vinson is the tallest mountain in …
Interview with Grant Melville on Climb for K9
On the 25th of May, a team of four hikers: Grant Melville, Ian Shooter, Jeffery Mthabela and Robert Schmidt, set off for the 230 km trek known as the Drakensberg Grand Traverse (DGT). They launched from Witsieshoek in the Free State, venturing into the pristine but cold, wild, and untamed terrain that is the Drakensberg. …