Hi All

This Sunday 22nd May we are adding the final touches to Chosspile's new look @ Harties. So for those of you who are not in Boven, going to weddings, children's parties or dancing, please come and assist.

We meet @ 8AM outside the Mount Amanzi Reception (across river from Choss Pile)

Bring :
• Water and snacks
• GLOVES (one for each hand- this could save you from blistering, itching and swearing)
• Tools - Spades, picks, hammers or sledge hammers and saws to cut and install path support poles, slashers/pangas
Bring food to braai and any other liquid to drink if you if you wish to stay behind after for a celebratory braai which will start at 3 pm.

Thanks

Neil

Perfect warm-up for all those beefy steep routes

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AndyDavies

CHOSS IS OPEN

Huge thanks to Peter and Jan for organising, the 20 to 25 climbers who came this weekend to make this happen, and also thanks to Neil, Bryan and the others who put in cash to hire the 7 labourers who came from the local community to help. The path is complete all the way up to Lord of the Rings cave, the bridge is solid and the path is supported all the way with poles etc. We have got all arrangements with Mount Amanzi ready, sign is up, and the guard is ready and will start this Saturday. His name is Given and comes from the local community. Just still need a more cash to buy him his radio.

So all who miss climbing there, make a plan to be there this Saturday (28 May 2011) and report to Mount Amanzi Reception, sign in, pay and go enjoy your day.

Thx Neil and crew, after these exams i'll be there:D

The bridge is now solid enough to get even the heaviest whinger accross with/without their stroller/zimmer frame/squeaky toys/unicycle/baggage/whatever.





It was kinda hard taking a photo without the proudest engineer (Stanford) on it.

Woot woot! That bridge looks frikkin' amazing! Awesome job!

Hi Neil. This is Benjamin.
I think it needs to be made clear that things have changed at choss. Mostly I'd like to bring attention to http://www.climb.co.za/2011/04/chosspile-rehab-project-phase-4/ where the new rules are up. It took me a bit searching to find these and they do not reflect on the wiki page. I think this needs to be rectified (and I for one don't know the rules of the wiki so I don't feel like its my place to get involved). This is not quite choss as it was, simply reopened. The new access needs to be respected and I and my friends intend to do that but I'm already caught off guard in that my membership of a club is in a state of flux. This violates the rule that you need to be a member of a mountain club. I'm banking now on the fact that my friends are wits climbers (I was but am not official at present). There is not a great sense of motivation among the sport climbing community (in my anecdotal experience) once you leave varsity to join a club. And yes I know there are going to be some hurt feelings when I make a statement like that. But I fear a lot of people who were regular climbers at choss will drive back there expecting to get in as they do when they go to bronkies and pretty much every other sport crag and they will not be pleased if they are turned away. No one wants to drive that distance to be turned away. In our excitement about the crag being reopened I feel we may have overlooked details like this. I certainly didn't know and I was at the work party last weekend.

The fact is there are a lot of sport climbers who leave varsity and then never get round to joining another organisation and while trad climbers have all sorts of nice benefits that come from joining the mcsa for sport climbers there are few beyond having a nice warm feeling about supporting the organisation that does enormous amounts of good for the community. And that is a very real thing. But it does not motivate people like an access restriction such as this one does. I, for one, have just had a fire lit under my behind to sort out my membership I suspect others will too. But people need to be told and how does one tell people who aren't part of a club?

I spoke to Neil this evening about a group of climbers who where at choss today after walking in without going to registration at the front desk and they may very well have not been members of any club and can we blame them for being misinformed. I can't personally. I certainly have started telling people that choss is open and that they simply pay the fee and go in. There's more to be said and I spose I'd better get to saying it.

Umm...MCSA has sponsored hardware for 100s of sport routes in the +-JHB area.

It's not always about benefits you can get out. It's about what you can put back in.

Please don't misunderstand me. And before you think I'm a lazy ass leech on the climbing community there was a reason I went to the work meet. I believe in giving back, but its not only a financial thing. I respect the mcsa and everything they do for the climbing community and I joined, I have just been slack about getting my card (long story) and paying this years subs so I'm feeling a little guilty and not sure I can claim to be a part of the mcsa at present at least not in any official sense. And I fully encourage people to join. What I was getting at was merely that I suspect you'll find a lot of regular sport climbers who are not members of the mcsa or another organisation. The fact is trad climbers have always had reasons of access and such to join. Where sport climbers haven't, I'm not saying that should change (a friend of mine expressed some concern that people might start making this law at other crags, I for one don't see that happening). I'm not saying the mcsa hasn't done anything for sport climbers. I know Neil has personally bolted hundreds of routes with mcsa bolts. I'm making an observation. I haven't got a problem personally with the rules I just think they're going to come as a shock to some people. My buddies were kind of shocked when I told them its no longer open to non club members without exception. Its one of very few crags that fall under this sort of ruling and as I said its going to take some getting used to. Neil is a good friend of mine and I know he has worked very hard to get us any access at all so I will be trying to spread the word about the new rules to all the people I know. I was merely making an observation because it occurred to me that people might not be aware of this little caveat.

The wiki is a community effort, all you need to edit it is a login to this forum, which you already have. If you mess it up totally, the wiki has a history that can be rolled back to. So feel free, give it a go.
Correct. New rules, follow them.
Getting to go climb at Choss should be a motivation.
They should just stay calm and process the shock and horror and then continue without too much wailing. Be brave type of thing
Incorrect. If you search you will find many crags that fall under this arrangement, for the very same reason that Choss requires a card flashed when entering.

Thank you for spreading the word, keep at it.

So I understand why we need to be a part of a Climbing Club to gain Access to the Cliffs. My only problem is that I often take new Climbers there to teach them how to climb or I have kids that come with me . Now if it is their first or second time climbing they don’t really want to be a part of a club. Is there a way that we can arrange that we can bring more than one Guest to the Cliff? I don’t mind being the one to take reasonability for my guests. Maybe even if they have to pay a little more as they are a once off user would be fine with me to

Hi

Yes, there is an option to take groups, MCSA meets, Varsity meet, you just have to contact Mount Amanzi at least 1 week before hand and let them know, their number is 012 253 0541. Working at getting a poster describing all the new access rules put up at the gyms, Bronkies, Kings Kloof, Boven and Strubans.

Cool thank you for the feedback

This can be tricky.

What about a 1 week "Aspirant" MCSA membership?

I am just thinking of the foreigners that would typically rock up on a Tuesday wanting to taste some mid-week choss. And what about foreign clubs that fall under the UIAA, will their cards be honoured in the same way that our MCSA cards work in Europe?

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

That would be very cool if we could get that right

Thanks Emile...

There is an update regarding procedure on how to access the Chosspile.

See this link for details: Chosspile New Access Arrangments

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Climb ZA - Administrator