peakhigh.co.za

Dear Peak High customers

It’s the end of another year and not a bad year from the point of view of Peak High. Much has been done and the effects of the recession have mainly been overcome. This year has seen a steady increase in people taking the various MDT certified courses and assessments. 2012 looks to be even better on this front, with schools such as Hilton College starting to get their teachers qualified to take children into the Drakensberg.

Some of the highlights this year were:

• We held 3 very successful snow and alpine climbing courses.
• Colin summitted Thaba Ntlenyana 3482m, southern Africa’s highest point.
• Gavin summitted The Pyramid …………twice.
• Hannelie received the first ever Brian Goldbold Award for mountaineering in the Berg.
• Gavin was also elected chairman of the MDT national committee and mandated to get the organisation on a better footing.

  

Peak High staff out there:

Colin is stuck in the Middle East doing rope access work over the festive season, and then leaves to go to Scotland on the BMC Winter Climbing Meet.

In November, Gavin was as an expert witness in the Grahamstown High Court, in a civil case, where a woman was injured when she fell out of a home-made chest harness.

Recent Trips:

In November Gavin guided Belinda van der Riet up The Pyramid. This peak lies in the Cathedral Peak area and consists of 3 moderate pitches and a fair amount of scrambling. It is a hard day out, due to much time spent walking and scrambling over steep grass slopes. The actual rock climbing involves some of the better rock in the Berg.

Four Gauteng based sport climbers came to KZ-N to learn the art of Trad climbing and Gavin spent two great days showing them the ropes.

Hannelie and Gavin lead 4 Treverton Post Matrics up the East Ridge route of Rhino Peak. Due to the large party they opted to just climb the first pitch and then take the walk-off option around to the summit, instead of doing the usual two other sections.

Scheduled Trips and Courses 2012:

• 9 – 10 Jan: Beginner Climbing Course at Monteseel
• 11 – 12 Jan: Intermediate Climbing Course at Monteseel
• 23 – 24 Jan: Single Pitch Supervisor Award (SPSA) at Monteseel
• 25 – 26 Jan: Rock Climbing Leader (RCL) course
• 6 – 9 Feb: Beginner Mountain Walking Leader (BMWL) course in     PMB and the Southern Berg
• 13 – 14 Feb: Abseil Supervisor Award (ASA) at Monteseel
• 21 – 24 May: Advanced Mountain Walking Leader (AMWL) in PMB      and the Southern Berg
• 30 Jul – 1 Aug: Beginner Ice Climbing Course in the Southern Berg

Hope you have great time in the hills in 2012!

Regards

Gavin, Colin and Hannelie

• 9 – 10 Jan: Beginner Climbing Course at Monteseel
• 11 – 12 Jan: Intermediate Climbing Course at Monteseel
• 23 – 24 Jan: Single Pitch Supervisor Award (SPSA) at Monteseel
• 25 – 26 Jan: Rock Climbing Leader (RCL) course
• 6 – 9 Feb: Beginner Mountain Walking Leader (BMWL) course in PMB and the Southern Berg
• 13 – 14 Feb: Abseil Supervisor Award (ASA) at Monteseel
• 21 – 24 May: Advanced Mountain Walking Leader (AMWL) in PMB    and the Southern Berg
• 30 Jul – 1 Aug: Beginner Ice Climbing Course in the Southern Berg

For more information on these courses visit www.peakhigh.co.za or contact Gavin Raubenheimer on gavin@peakhigh.co.za.

We schedule more courses throughout the year. If these dates don’t suit you, please contact us.

Last weeks MDT, Single Pitch Supervisor course went very well. We had 4 participants from Gauteng area, who came down to lean the art of leading single pitch Trad climbs and also how to supervise beginners in this environment.

The course was held at Monteseel and at Umgeni Valley. All the participants hasd some previous climbing knowledge and we were able to spend timing honing the finer skills.

Gavin Raubenheimer

For more info on guided climbing in South Africa, please have a look on the Peak High Website: http://www.peakhigh.co.za/rockclimb.php or contact Gavin on gavin@peakhigh.co.za

Gavin and I took a group of Treverton Post Matrics for a three day hike in the Southern Drakensberg. Four of the students were doing a Mountain Walking leader assessment. We split the rest of the students into two groups, and each set off with 2 leaders. They had to find their way cross country – in the Drakensberg that means navigating your way through cliffs, bundu bashing etc. But these two groups had the mist and darkness to contend with as well.

The first group arrived at Pillar cave annexe at around 6:30 in the evening. The other group gave up at around 8 and went back to the campsite – which was definitely the best thing to do, since they did not carry tents.

Luckily they found their way to the cave early the next morning! So we managed to climb the Rhino via the Eastern Arête route. It was such a beautiful sunny day! The students did very well – hiking fast and climbing well, we got to the top of Rhino well before lunch time… After a bit of a nap, we walked down Mashai pass.

After a very windy night in the cave the students had to find their own way back again. They had many adventures to talk about on the way home!

Hannelie Morris

For more information on hiking and climbing in the Drakensberg, visit the Peak High website on: www.peakhigh.co.za

Zipline strap was ‘accident waiting to happen’ – expert

Published in: Legalbrief Today
Date: Thu 24 November 2011
Category: In Court
Issue No: 2932A

Daily Dispatch report says this was the opinion of Gavin Raubenheimer, an instructor, guide and head of mountain rescue in KZN. Duffield had been participating in the annual Lilyfontein Adventure Race in 2005 when she plunged 6m from the zipline – also known as a foefie slide. She broke both her wrists, dislocated her elbow and shattered her fifth cervical vertebra – which left her a tetraplegic with very little motor function below the injury site. Duffield is suing Lilyfontein School as well as the provincial Education Department for R7m damages. She has claimed they did not put in place the ‘stringent’ safety measures promised in the indemnity form she had signed. Raubenheimer told the Eastern Cape High Court (Grahamstown) that the chest strap used was like no other harness he had ever seen before. He described the design of the chest strap as problematic, adding that anyone of slight build with smaller shoulders – such as himself or Duffield – could easily slip through the band. He said it was simply luck that an accident had not happened before.

I have just got back from guiding a client up the Pyramid, a small rock peak in the northern Drakensberg. The Pyramid is 4 pitch moderate climb and one of the Berg Classics. Although the climbing is never hard, the approach to the start of the roped climbing is hard going. Then once the final abseil is done, the hard hiking starts again. Only for the fit…

We based ourselves from the Tsekeseke Hut and then did the route and walked out on the same day. A long hike!

Gavin Raubenheimer

For more info on guided climbing in South Africa, please have a look on the Peak High Website: http://www.peakhigh.co.za/rockclimb.php or contact Gavin on gavin@peakhigh.co.za

Peak High ran an MDT Advanced Mountain Walking Course and assessment from 7 to 10 November 2011. It all took place at Garden Castle in the southern Drakensberg. One person also did the final assessment for the award.

The program included night navigation, simple rope work, river crossing and emergency procedures, map work and group management. The first night we arrived at the road head after dark, to force participants into navigation at night. This we did by hiking in and locating Cod’s Eye Cave in the dark.

The photo attached shows the cave early the next morning.

For more information on hiking in the Drakensberg, visit the Peak High website on: www.peakhigh.co.za

Gavin guided Carl Scully from Australia on the Monte-Aux-Sources traverse hike. This is one of the more popular routes that visitors like to walk when in the Drakensberg. The two main features are the Tugela Falls and standing on top of the Amphitheater Wall and looking down into the Tugela Gorge more that 1000m below. They slept the night in Crow’s Nest Cave, overlooking the Tugela River and then also summitted Monte Aux Sources Peak at 3282m.

For more information on hiking in the Drakensberg, visit the Peak High website on: www.peakhigh.co.za

We spent a weekend climbing at White Umfolozi. It is a most amazing setting where you climb on the cliffs carved out by the river. During the day there is shade on either of the two sides, so you just have to move across the river to stay cool. Wading through the water is obligatory, and very refreshing! Another great thing is that there are easy and hard routes next to each other, so everyone can be climbing in the same area – which is way more sociable!

Hannelie Morris

For more info on guided climbing in South Africa, please have a look on the Peak High Website: http://www.peakhigh.co.za/rockclimb.php or contact Gavin on gavin@peakhigh.co.za

Howick Falls has some amazing sport-climbing. The crag is situated right next to the 110m water fall, making for some of the best climbing in the KwaZulu Natal midlands.

In this group of pictures are the two Peak High guides, Colin and Gavin out on a Saturday morning climb in October 2011.

Gavin Raubenheimer

For more info on guided climbing in South Africa, please have a look on the Peak High Website: http://www.peakhigh.co.za/rockclimb.php or contact Gavin on gavin@peakhigh.co.za