Any South African adventurers/climbers/hikers (younger than 25 years on 31 December 2008) can apply for up to R15000 for their local or international ADVENTUROUS travels. Closing date for applying for the MCSA 'Supertramp Award' for 2009 is 31 December 2008. Go to www.mcsa.org.za/cent/g_youth/guidelines/guidelines.php for mor info or email supertramp@mcsa.org.za. Although sponsored by the Magaliesburg section of the MCSA, anyone with an adventurous spirit.

I'm not a big fan of club sponsorship. I don't think that our subs should go towards individual pursuits.

Individual sponsorships have few benefits to the vast majority of members.

A once off R15000 payment to a climber isn't going to make much difference to her/his climbing career.

Why not put the money towards access instead? I'm a huge fan of all the work the MCSA does for access, huts, bolting etc.

A fair viewpoint.

In this case I believe that the funds for the sponsorship come from a donation made explicitly for the purpose of awarding such a grant. The idea is to assist young climbers who do not typically have the financial resources to get to remote places, gain experience and skills which are useful to the climbing community at large. How much of what you know about how to avoid dying has come through shared knowledge? None of your fee's contribute to this grant.

A separate issue is that most (all?) of the sections and Cencom maintain expedition funds that are used to provide grants or purchase (re-useable) equipment that is not typically found in most of our "racks". Most of these funds use interest generated off capital investments to award grants and grow the capital further. Similar mechanisms are used to fund access and very little of your small annual fee actually goes into giving "individuals" money for a holiday

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You have an opinion, so do I. When these differ, please don't confuse your opinion with the truth, nothing is absolute.

Whilst I agree that the annual fee is small, my opinion is that even interest on capital amounts should only ever be spent on shared resources.

Unless of course a donor explicitly made a contribution towards expeditions, as you've pointed out is the case with the Supertramp award.

At risk of appearing like a total hypocrite (I actually got a small expedition grant, as well as borrowed gear whilst at the UCTM&SC), I would encourage organisations like the MCSA to focus on core activities that benefit the entire organisation, and avoid over-diversifying.

Just something I hope people will consider.

Although I've never actually been on one, I like the idea of the club funding expeditions, esp. sponsoring young'uns to do daring things they could never afford otherwise...

If money was allocated to shared resources mirroring the activities of the majority of its members, the club would be spending 90% of its budget on slideshows and maintaining "easy" trails. I for one, would rather the club took on an aspirational role closer to the cutting edge of the sport... The UCT MSC is a great model. Fringe members should subsidize active members...

(BTW MSC members if you're looking for where all your gear went, you can find Dave Glass in Melbourne Australia)

As for access, is there a list of unfunded projects? If so, they should be a priority. Can't see why we can't have expeditions and access...

Hi Guys and Girls.

Just to provide some clarity on the whole Supertramp Award.

First of all the generous amount of money that is sponsored does not actually come from the MCSA, but from a really great Anonymous sponsor which allocates the money to any individual under the age of 25 that wants to go and live there adventure, but because of financial strain could have not done this before . The MCSA Pretoria section under the supervision of Perto Grobler only manages the Supertramp award.

My brother and I won the Award in 2007 to go and climb in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union (check http://www.kazrat.com for Details). And I must say it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It has made a big difference in my climbing as a whole and the skills I acquired there is invaluable! After the expedition people knows who you are and starts recognizing your potential. Yea! The trip wasn’t extreme as pointed out in previous posts but I think for someone with little or no experience an opportunity like this is once in a life time.

Read the book Into the Wild or see the movie, which the award is based on. The Supertramp Award is not about climbing the most extreme thing you can find, or doing something that no one ever dared of doing before. It’s about getting out there and doing something not everyone has thought of before, and doing it in style!

Now lets see some applications this year please, there were no Applications last year which was an absolute shame! Come on guys what have you got to lose?

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Lifestyle = 5% life + 95% style
http://www.adventuremuis.com/

I agree with you. It's impossible to please everyone, and (IMO) foolish to try. Trick is deciding whose definition of core activities to use The stated objectives of the club can interpreted in many ways, depending on the interpreter's particular passion/focus/objective/interest.

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You have an opinion, so do I. When these differ, please don't confuse your opinion with the truth, nothing is absolute.

Steve has a great point - Is there a list of projects that need funding?

Oh and... if anyone from the UCTMSC needs a bouldering pad, I'm sure Steve can point you in the right direction (if you can find him in North Hollywood, California).

Sure Dave, 15 grand and the opportunity to go on some great climbing adventure aint gonna make make much difference to his/her climbing career.
It will make the world of difference to some young punk lucky enuff to get it.

Apparently you don't have to be that lucky, all you need to do is get your application in!
To be given R15'000 that you have to spend on a climbing trip - Awesome opportunity!!

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Climb ZA - Administrator

Yep, it's a no-brainer.

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You have an opinion, so do I. When these differ, please don't confuse your opinion with the truth, nothing is absolute.