Dear Peak High customers

Life returns to normal after the World Cup! Here at Peak High most of the working time has been spent running courses or various types. There has also been the usual amount of social rock and ice climbing. Hannelie and I have been working on some hard sport routes in Umgeni Valley area and we also spent a great weekend Trad and Sport climbing at White Umfolozi.

Gavin leading Hallucination (22) at Monteseel

Colin McCoy has recently been made an Assistant Rescue Organiser for the rescue team operating in the Drakensberg.

Colin and I also spent a few days climbing some good ice at Bokong (Lesotho) and at Sani Pass recently.

Sani Pass:Simon Larson on Banana Split

In May, Colin guided the first ever commercial trip of the Drakensberg Grand Traverse. This is a 12 day hike from Monte-Aux-Sources in the North to Bushman’s Nek in the South. He had 3 doctors as clients, who were doing the hike as a fund raising expedition for the rural hospital they work in, in Limpopo Province. Colin was assisted by Adrian Clarke from the Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge. The trek went off with out a hitch and in almost perfect weather. It was the first time Colin or Adrian had walked the entire route.

Colin and party at Sani Pass with 3 days to go!

Scheduled Trips and Courses for the rest of 2010

• Single Pitch Assessments                  3 August 2010             Monteseel
• Basic Mountain Walking Course         23-26 August 2010       Cathedral Peak
• Basic Mountain Walking Course         8-11 November 2010    Cobham
• Advanced Mountain Walking Course   8-13 November 2010    Cobham

On the 18^th of September Peak High will be operating the belay systems for the Monte-Aux-Sources Challenge Ultra Marathon. This is the safety system used for getting runners up the chain-ladders at Monte-Aux-Sources. If you are running the race, we hope to see you and have good run.

If you want to see more of what has been going on and more information on courses and trips please visit out Blog: http://peakhigh.co.za/blog/

We hope you have a great second half of 2010.

Regards

Gavin, Colin and Hannelie

Peak High Mountaineering
Tel:   +27 (0) 33 343 3168
Fax:  +27 (0) 33 343 3168

Gavin Raubenheimer:

Cell: +27 (0) 82 990 5876

The good news is the world economy has stated it’s slow recovery and so we at Peak High have started to see a general increase in enquiries and business. In the past 8 months, two of our competitors in K-ZN have given up their businesses, which has also increased our amount of work.

The other good news is that after a long saga, Gavin has at long last received his updated guiding qualification. It took 10 years! This has lead to Peak High being able to offer National Qualification Network (NQF) assessments and training in the very near future. A few things still need to be put in place for this to come about, but all should be done soon. We will send out more info on this as soon as all the admin work is sorted out.

Aires, Pedro and Lars at "Slanghoek Afgronde"

Hannelie Morris took the plunge and went on her first guiding and instructing trip outside of KwaZulu-Natal. It was a great opportunity to take 3 European clients hiking in the Kromrivier mountains in the Western Cape. Perfect weather, great pools to swim in and the amazing Slanghoek “afgronde” made the trip very special. Two of these clients then continued with Hannelie to hike and climb in the Cederberg Mountains. The hike up to Tafelberg was quite tough with climbing equipment, ropes and three days of food, but the clients were most impressed with Spout cave and the sunset from the Spout cave veranda. The climbing was great, but unfortunately the weather came in and they had to come down a day early. The clients then had the opportunity to practise leading Trad on the very popular classic “Fraser’s Variation to Arrow Buttress” on Table Mountain in Cape Town.
In February Gavin and Hannelie guided Steve van Coller up the Angus-Leppan Route on Sentinel. They then traversed south (with the aid of two porters) along the escarpment to Ifidi Cave. Ifidi Cave was then the base-camp for climbing the north and south Ifidi Pinnicles. On the second day Steve’s sister and partner also joined the group at the cave.

On the day when the climbing was due to happen the clouds rolled in (typical summer weather) and caused the entire area to become very wet and soggy. The north pinnacle, which is far harder was not even contemplated. The party fixed a rope and abseil down to the start of the easier south pinnacle. Alas this was even too dangerous in the wet, and party returned home without bagging either of the “Ifidi Pins”.

The course which has proven very popular this year is the Advanced Mountain Walking Leader Course. This is a certified course for advanced hiking and easy mountaineering. Two courses have been held already with another scheduled for November. The course is over 6 days and entails advanced navigation and easy rope-work for scrambling and river-crossing along with a host of other skills.

Hannelie practising map reading skills.

Colin McCoy will be leading a 10 day guided hike of the famous Grand Traverse from the most northerly point of the Drakensberg to the it’s most southerly peak. This is probably the first time this trek has been guided commercially.

Courses for the rest of 2010:

• Ice Climbing Course: Peak High will be conducting our popular Beginner ice course on the 1-3 July and 1-3 August. This will be at Sani Pass and is a must for all people who want to get to grips with this fascinating type of climbing.
• Rock Climbing Leader & Rock Climbing Instructor Course and/or assessments: Venue Monteseel, KwaZulu-Natal from 6-10 September.
• Basic and Advanced Mountain Walking Leader. Course and/ or Assessments from 8-12 November.

AMWL course in the Southern Berg.

Peak High staff news:
Our congratulations to Hannelie, who in March was elected President of the Mountain Club SA, KwaZulu-Natal Section! The Club’s first female President!!

Lastly Hannelie and Gavin and another friend will be attempting to climb the North Peak of the Saddle on the last weekend in April. This is one of the Drakensberg’s more serious rock climbs.
Regards the Peak High Team

Peak High Mountaineering
Tel:   +27 (0) 33 343 3168
Fax:  +27 (0) 33 343 3168

Gavin Raubenheimer:
Cell: +27 (0) 82 990 5876

Dear Peak High customer

I hope that the past year has been good to you and that there are great prospects for 2010.

Recent Trips

2009 has been a very busy year, especially on the guided climbing front. Besides the usual climbs on Sentinel, Bell and Sani Pass ice, Peak High also did two trips overseas – Gavin spent 9 days with David Gemmell from Scotland, doing multi-pitch rock climbs in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. This was certainly the feature trip of the year. Great climbing, perfect rock and easy living!

David Gemmel in the Alps

Then came Jordan and the climbing at Wadi Rum with Alan McEwan from England.  “The Rum” is situated in the southern area of Jordan, close to the Red Sea. It consists of huge (400m) height sandstone mountains, which rise out of the desert. Unfortunately the rock is very soft, which makes for cautious and scary climbing. Jordan was also unfortunately a very dirty, characterless and brash country to travel in. We have placed some pictures on the Blog and Facebook.

Alan McEwan in Wadi Rum

Closer to home, Hannelie and I guided Andre Hefer up the Escarpment Arete of the Column in the northern Berg. We also took Belinda van der Riet and Trevor Longmore up the Bell and Ntonjalana Needle in the same area. These pictures can also be seen on the Peak High Blog and Facebook.

Andre Hefer early morning approach to the Column

Scheduled Trips and Courses

Basic Mountain Walking Course & Assessment: 1-3 December 2009

Advanced Mountain Walking Course: 11-15 January 2010

Beginner Mountaineering Course: 1-3 March 2010

Ice climbing Course, Sani Pass: 28-30 July 2010

Gavin Raubenheimer on the first pitch of the Column

Gear

Just a reminder that Peak High is an agent for the importers of a wide range of hiking and climbing equipment. These include the top manufacturers such as Black Diamond, Beal Ropes, Singing Rock, GSI Cookware and E3 Gear. If you need to know more about a certain product or where to get it, please feel free to contact me anytime.

We hope you have great 2010.

Regards

Gavin, Colin and Hannelie

Dear Peak High customer

The Peak High now has a Blog and we’re on Facebook! We would love it if you went to see what is news, to look at our photos or to send us a message. The Blog also includes trip reports, pictures and at present a weekly report on ice climbing conditions in the Drakensberg and Lesotho.

Recent Trips

In the last while Gavin’s feature trip was a week long road-trip with USA climber Elena Steiner from Colorado. Elena spent the first 2 days climbing with Hannelie and Colin at Howick Falls and Monteseel. Gavin and Elena then went on to climb Long Bolt to Freedom at Swinburne and Gavin taught her to lead on routes at Eagle Rock (previously known as Everest). Then it was to Sentinel Peak in the Drakensberg, and ending off with long Trad routes in the Magaliesberg. Seven days and six types of rock!

Abseiling with the beautiful Freestate in the background!

Colin has spent much time in the northern Drakensberg including 4 days in the northern area leading a trek with 4 teenagers from Inkwenkwezi adventures. He also lead a large group from the Johannesburg Hiking Club to the base of the Tugela Falls.

Hiking in the Drakensberg

Gavin and Hannelie had a great time guiding Belinda van der Riet and Trevor up rock climbing routes on Ntonjelaan Needle and the Bell, sleeping a night in Bell cave. But we can’t control the weather and were disappointed to have to walk out without climbing Ifidi pinnacles, in the Northern Berg with Steve van Coller – we will have to go back!

Hiking to the start of Ntonjelaan needle, near the Mitre, Drakensberg.

Scheduled Trips and Courses

19-21 July: Beginner Mountaineering Course.

29-31 July: Ice climbing Course, Sani Pass.

15-17 August: Gavin & Hannelie guiding the Column, Drakensberg.

1-10 September: Gavin guiding in southern Swiss Alps.

20-28 October: Gavin guiding climbs in the Wadi Rum, Jordan.

9-13 November: Advanced Mountain Walking Course.

Staff news

In April a group of local climbers including the Peak High guides formed the Dry Mouthed Guild (DMG) within the Mountain Club of SA. Now this is no ordinary group of climbers! The DMG meets on the last Sunday of every month at a local Trad climbing venue. The objective is to lead at least one route at the limit of your grade that will leave you dry in the mouth! So far 3 meets have been arranged with great success.

All 3 of us went on the 50-year anniversary ascent of the Angus Leppan route on the Sentinel, Northern Drakensberg. See the June-Aug issue of SA Mountain magazine.

Regards

Gavin, Colin and Hannelie

Tel: 082 990 5876 or 033 343 3168

gavin@peakhigh.co.za; www.peakhigh.co.za/blog; www.peakhigh.co.za

The Peak High Website has been completely revamped with more information on courses, guiding and also a Blog site. We have also added in two photo galleries and a section of Recent Trips. Take a look, many of you appear in it. Take a look at www.peakhigh.co.za.

There is a section for those who like facts. We put together a list of the Drakensberg’s and southern Africa’s highest peaks.

Please note our preferd email address is gavin@peakhigh.co.za

Mountaineering and Rock Climbing Instructors

Gavin along with other instructors will be presenting these two courses and assessments between the 22^nd and 28^th of May, based in KZ-N. The mountaineering course also has a winter component from the 28th- 31^st of July based at Sani Pass. These are top-level courses, which carry UIAA international status. Please feel free to ask for the full information sheet.

New staff

Hannelie Morris joined Peak High as an assistant guide and instructor. Hannelie has been climbing since 1999 and for the past 5 years has been Gavin’s regular climbing partner. She holds a NQF unit standard in Nature Guide and the MDT standard for Rock Climbing Leader. She is also teaches basic computers and has a degree in Botany and Zoology.

Gavin, Colin and Hannelie

www.peakhigh.co.za