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Sunday, 27 Jan 08
I do not think South Africa is a safer place after being there, but I have a different perspective on dangerous places. This is something our foreign policy could learn also. The hazards come from the select few extremists. Extremists are bred by extreme conditions. In South Africa, great oppression and heinous policies have created an extreme, but most people are kind. Most people are generous and caring. I was driving our local friend, David's ancient BMW to Du Toits Kloof where the other three were climbing. I got some stomach bug so had to catch up a day later. I was about one hour outside of Cape Town in a tiny rural area when the car just stopped. The battery went dead. I tried reconnecting it — nothing. It was getting dark fast. My apparent vulnerability had my heart pounding. I was young, white, female, and alone. Then a truck pulled up beside me. Two Asian men stepped out and let me use their cell phone. Then two Afrikaans boys pulled up and drove off in search of their mother's jumper cables. A black man stopped, pulled out his tools, tightened the bolts on the battery, and the car started. The man called me the next day just to make sure I had found my friends. We were high up on a wall. We all laughed at the marvelous kindness that came from this potentially freaky situation.
The climbing in South Africa is hard. We planned on warming up on “Armageddon Time,” a 10-pitch 23 (5.11c/d) at Du Toits Kloof. Our plan was to climb that one day then get on the harder route the next. I showed up after the first day: They had climbed half the route. We headed back up, leading all of the pitches again. We all were challenged, we all fell, and we all found the end of our calm facades. We finished just as it was getting dark to a windy whiteout. We had a complicated descent to complete. On our way, David told us about his friend who died on this descent not long ago. We got cliffed out twice. I forgot my headlamp. We discovered that steep grass is akin to steep snow — it would be nice with an ice ax — yet another similarity between country routes and the alpine.
After spending time at a couple kloofs in South Africa, I have full respect for “country routes.” Alpine routes do not really exist, as there are no glaciers and little snow in this region of the world. However, lack of crevasses are replaced with insane bushwhacking. The cold is replaced by the sticky layer of dirt coating your skin by the time you reach the base of the route. The lack of smells is replaced by a strange array of sweet and pungent living plants and poop and creatures. We do not travel in the middle of the day because of the heat either. Same, same. Most of all, the climbing is intriguing. It is steep and roofed with tons of discontinuous cracks that force you to climb horizontally hoping there will be a way just a bit further. It requires an intense confidence. This may be why the climbers here are so few. MORE TO COME ...
South Africa eye-opening climbing: Part 2
Comment on this Post
I do not think South Africa is a safer place after being there, but I have a different perspective on dangerous places. This is something our foreign policy could learn also. The hazards come from the select few extremists. Extremists are bred by extreme conditions. In South Africa, great oppression and heinous policies have created an extreme, but most people are kind. Most people are generous and caring. I was driving our local friend, David's ancient BMW to Du Toits Kloof where the other three were climbing. I got some stomach bug so had to catch up a day later. I was about one hour outside of Cape Town in a tiny rural area when the car just stopped. The battery went dead. I tried reconnecting it — nothing. It was getting dark fast. My apparent vulnerability had my heart pounding. I was young, white, female, and alone. Then a truck pulled up beside me. Two Asian men stepped out and let me use their cell phone. Then two Afrikaans boys pulled up and drove off in search of their mother's jumper cables. A black man stopped, pulled out his tools, tightened the bolts on the battery, and the car started. The man called me the next day just to make sure I had found my friends. We were high up on a wall. We all laughed at the marvelous kindness that came from this potentially freaky situation.
The climbing in South Africa is hard. We planned on warming up on “Armageddon Time,” a 10-pitch 23 (5.11c/d) at Du Toits Kloof. Our plan was to climb that one day then get on the harder route the next. I showed up after the first day: They had climbed half the route. We headed back up, leading all of the pitches again. We all were challenged, we all fell, and we all found the end of our calm facades. We finished just as it was getting dark to a windy whiteout. We had a complicated descent to complete. On our way, David told us about his friend who died on this descent not long ago. We got cliffed out twice. I forgot my headlamp. We discovered that steep grass is akin to steep snow — it would be nice with an ice ax — yet another similarity between country routes and the alpine.
After spending time at a couple kloofs in South Africa, I have full respect for “country routes.” Alpine routes do not really exist, as there are no glaciers and little snow in this region of the world. However, lack of crevasses are replaced with insane bushwhacking. The cold is replaced by the sticky layer of dirt coating your skin by the time you reach the base of the route. The lack of smells is replaced by a strange array of sweet and pungent living plants and poop and creatures. We do not travel in the middle of the day because of the heat either. Same, same. Most of all, the climbing is intriguing. It is steep and roofed with tons of discontinuous cracks that force you to climb horizontally hoping there will be a way just a bit further. It requires an intense confidence. This may be why the climbers here are so few. MORE TO COME ...
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