hi all just to let you know that magnetic wall is no longer a safe place,today we were mugged at knife point by 5 guys,the whole event took about 5-10 min and they got away with all our cash,cards,shoes and cell phones,they made their escape across the river and into the township.i will say that the police were quick to respond and they were quite efficient,so be warned there were 5 of us which means very little from the other side of a knife

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meeeow

That is very sad news.
I hope everybody is alright.

I guess we have stepped back 5 years. I will look into going back to the system of hiring one of the reserver rangers each time we climb.

If you must go climbing leave all valuables behind.

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Feel the Qui

everyone was ok,the 1 girl with us was a bit shaken but good otherwise ,its been a bit of an expensive lesson.

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meeeow

It just shows you that it doesn't matter how many people or how many big guys you have with you....why did they take Jasmin's grigri???

for the same reason they took my evolves,to be a bunch of c#*ts

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meeeow

take a gun next time?

What a depressing end to the year...
Now they take climbing gear as well!
I was thinking of taking my family to Rumdoodle on new years day, but anywhere in sight of the less wealthy seems a poor idea at this time of year...
Maybe we should all stick to stealth climbing at 4am before the b*stards wake up?

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LCD SCUM

more 2c worth (I feel more than usually aggrieved as my son is best pals with Jasmin's (assuming Illona is talking about the same Jasmin) brother and I talk quite frequently to her mother who has the normal parents concerns about climbing...):
1. msinsi resorts uses climbing as part of their marketing
http://www.msinsi.co.za/adventure-sports.php
therefore they cannot dismiss climbing as being outside their area or not really their concern...
2. they charge a fairly substantial entry fee (I can't afford to take my whole family climbing there).
3. therefore, IMHO, to charge another substantial amount for armed guards for their climbing customers is not right?

Has Msinsi management produced any response to the previous mugging at wave cave?

Contrast this to the extremely pro-active approach to security taken by the conservator and his team at Kloof Gorge - where the entry is much less and usually not even paid by climbers... all he requires is that we sign the register...

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LCD SCUM

IMO that's dangerous and irresponsible advice!

Unless the person holding the gun is highly trained and prepared to use it to kill these guys, the only thing a gun will do is escalate the danger level of an already emotionally charged situation.

Losing your belongings sucks and is scary, but far better than losing your life (or that of a friend).

Bruce - The Mag wall is in the reserve, the Wave Cave is actually outside the reserve (we just use the reserve as a convenient and safe place to park - a guard watches over the cars during the weekend). That's where the charge for a guard to accompany climbers arose in the past.

You are right though that there are questions to be raised with Msinsi regarding their response to threats against visitors safety. At the same time we do need to avoid reacting subjectively and understand that it is not an easy problem for them to resolve. No matter how pissed off we may be..

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At the chaaaaains boet!!

Whatever. Shame.



And what were we doing with cash, cards and cell phones at the crags? Sorry to be pointing fingers here, but I thought it may be valuable to inform people about our history at the Coven & Flying is Fun (thank goodness muggings here have been very quiet, despite a fair amount of traffic at these crags).

The first party of climbers from Joburg to be mugged here had around R3500 in cash with them - the muggers came back again & again... it was good business for a while.

A solution is unfortunately a bit painful but simple: leave valuables at home or safely locked in the car boot, take one old cheap phone amongst the group in case of emergency and rather use a sticht plate to belay with - if the steal it, they deserve it! So keep the carrot as small as you possibly can?

Anybody climbing in/around Boven can drop valuables at our offices for safe keeping, I guess at Shongweni it may be more tricky to find such a solution...

Anyways, sorry to hear & good luck with getting new gear

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Gustav
Roc 'n Rope Adventures
Waterval Boven
013 257 0363
rocrope dot com

Yup Scot you are right (on both counts).
Point taken about the wave cave being outside the reserve and hence paying extra for the guard there (however I presume the Mag wall is in the reserve so should that be extra?).
On the other hand on the link I provided, the implication is that the wave cave is part of the "package"...
I hardly ever go to Shongweni so I should reduce my level of pissed off'edness...
The contrast between management response at Kloof and Shongweni is still marked though...

Totally off the topic, are all you poor b*stards also working or are you browsing at home?

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LCD SCUM

clinton, i have a spare pair of shoes you can borrow untill you get a new pair, no point in letting the "c*#@s" affect your climbing. contact me on nic@thecrag.co.za
bring pepper spray insted of a gun, blind the basterds, then take thier shoes.

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only the Half mad are truely alive

shot for the offer but is still got my gym shoes i just had resoled so im still kind of sorted,but the offer is much appreciated.we actually have a great circle in our climbing community ,everyone has been very supportive and helpful

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meeeow