Steve: It is interesting to ponder what makes people tick. I don’t mean in the universal puzzle of the philosophy of life, I mean in simple terms – what makes us want to hike, scramble and climb? I say this in the mountaineering sense, as I just love being high. Apart from the fact being [...]
Sparked by the death of the renowned South African rally driver, Gugu Zulu, on 18 July 2016 on Mount Kilimanjaro, Dr Ross Hofmeyr and I decided to write an article on the risks, avoidance and treatment of high altitude illness (HAI). We have been approached on many occasions for advice on wilderness and expedition medicine [...]
Sunny Sunday was ideal for this relatively short, but surprisingly diversified walk and scramble. In spite of late announcement, a strong party of seven formed and started walking through a beautiful Kirstenbosch Garden, having a perfect view on the Buttress and the whole route. After initial short walk in a small ravine we were going [...]
The day started badly. Even in my sleep filled mind it seeped through that it was getting light outside, and my alarm hadn’t gone off at 06:00 as planned. I looked at my watch whose luminescence glowed weakly but enough to show it was 06:45. WHAT… 06:45…I was due to get to Brent’s place at [...]
This time it was a combined meet of the Cape Town and Hottentots Hollands Sections. Guess which section prevailed in number? The day was beautiful, sunny and warm. The only small inconvenience was darky water, due to Friday’s rain. Otherwise it was kloofing as usual – jumping and swimming, lots of joy! Rope was in [...]
Brent and I are both members of the MCSA, and Brent this crazy idea – so I loved it! A weekend up at the hut just before Christmas with our partners who had never stayed in a mountain hut before - one had never even camped before. The conversation went something like: “What do you [...]
We were only two, John and I. An ideal number for a relatively difficult hike! We started from the entrance gate, because driving any higher along the forest plantation is forbidden. Initially it was relatively cold, so we were advancing quickly, first on the forest road and from ca. 500m height straight up to the [...]
