A bit of history. Dream Street Rose (27) wasn't opened entirely on trad. There was a bolt used by Andrew De Klerk upside down in the roof which protects the crux dyno, and is hidden from view in the picture. Back in 1990 when I did the 4th ascent (after Jono Fisher and Jeremy Samson) you only had to carry 2 cams and some quickdraws as the rest was protected by fixed wires and pitons. In the mid nineties Guy Holwill and myself replaced some of the existing bolts at Elsies, as well as some of the pegs with bolts. This is how Dream Street Rose got a bolt on the traverse after the crux layback and (if memory serves me correctly) another one at the junction with Wild Kingdom which was already bolted. Joe Mohle tells me he added an anchor at the end of the hard climbing on Dream Street Rose. You used to climb up to the same anchors as Wild Kingdom. Having climbed DSR a number of times on trad and then as a sport route I can't say it felt very different, the main fear allways being falling on to an upside down bolt into a roof, which was how the crux was originally protected. In hindsight what Guy and I should have done was replaced like gear for like as our mission was to make the routes safer, not to make a statement about retrobolting trad routes. The thinking was that Elsies would get a bit more traffic and the fixed gear would be maintained, this didn't happen. Given it's proximity to the sea I would say that we need to rely on as little fixed protection at Elsies as possible and replace fixed gear with the same gear that was used on the original ascent. In the case of Dream Street Rose that would be a mixture of pegs, a bolt and some fixed wires.

If anyone is interested there is a good story about how Mike Cartwright (IT Guru and Editor of Southern Rock) photoshopped a picture of himself on DSR inking out the rope and giving himself a new hairstyle. He then published the picture entitled: "Viisiting British climber Ian Anderson soloes Dream Streeet Rose" This was after certain Cape Climbers had wound him up whilst he was trying to do the second ascent by telling him that it had been soloed already by Ian Anderson.

- Jeremy Colenso.

Wow - Well done Gosia. Thats one tough route that has seen very few ascents and sent many a dejected climber (myself included) walking back down off the hill.

The Ian Anderson saga was a barrel of laughs - mainly because the Cape climbers (and most of RSA) swallowed the scam hook line and sinker. There was no photo shopping of the pictures.
We didn't even have computers in those days. Our houses didn't even have plugs! Mike Cartwright wore a harness underneath his pink tights and climbed the route. He periodically hung on a piece or two and dropped the ropes for the shot.
We then threw them up to him and he would carry on. Pretty dodgy at times as for a few of the pics he was on a single piece - the upside down bolt and the manky traverse peg to mention a few...

It was risky but we felt it was worth it - just to rub the Capies faces in it. (made me feel better anyway...)

The pics were published in the SA Climbers Club newsletter.
I have posted the pics from the newsletter in the Gallery under Elsies Peak and below:

I think it's considerably older. Assuming that another artist didn't reference the original in another song.

Any more (non googgle based) guesses?

Gordon Lightfoot - oh deary me, that's sad in so many ways.

Well done. Just had a google, and he released the album in 1980, so it makes sense; I thought it was earlier than that.
His 14th of 20 albums and still going at 74.

Great work Gosia!

Great story 'bout Ian Anderson. Thanks. Mike is behind many a legendary escapade!

Douw Steyn and Willem le Roux have also recently headpointed Dream Street Rose. As the route suites a small frame I think its particularly impressive that Willem got it.

The pic of Andy is a Dion Tromp shot. My guess would be it was taken when Andy was in first year at UCT - which was mid-80s. In those days Dion was a photographer at The Argus.

Dion was always keen to get different photos and many times mounted his camera on my hang-glider. In '89 he accompanied me to the world champs at Fiesch in Switzerland and afterwards he, Andi Dintheer (his wife) and I went off to the Piz Badile. Dion and Andi were sure that we would be doing the classic north ridge but this wasn't what I had in mind. After a beer at the picturesque village of Soglio we drove up the valley and hiked up to glacier-level where we spent the night - and I told them we would be doing the Cassin Route on the NE Face and that we would go fast and light, so no bivvy gear and paraphenalia. I heard some trepidation.
We made an early start and I led the first 20 or so pitches on the route. It would be quicker this way as we were a party of three. After 20-or-so pitches I was pretty poked and Dion took over. Dion led up a couple of pitches and was just short of the top when darkness descended and the final part turned into a little waterfall. After quite a bit of yakking and introspection we resigned ourselves to a night hanging in our harnesses and without bivvy gear. Fortunately for me I had carried my own little pack and I had a full goretex suit. Dion and Andi had brought one little pack between them, and no suits. I kakked that night (- in my list of 50 worst nights ever). Dion and Andi did far worse.
In the swirling, bitter dawn we did a hop-and-a-skip (with one incident) to get to the top. Then a long descent down the NE Ridge.
It was good. (And we made many other stories)

Gosia, well done lady. You always inspire.
Hilton, please write a book. I would buy it. I know Ian would too.

Ha ha Hector!

But you and Ian would be the only okes to take my lame book, and on top of that, because you're my best buddies I'd have to give them to you! My lack of success would extend to publishing!!

That 'incident' on summit day-
we'd had a bad, bad night and we made a creaking start in cold, swirling cloud and ice. Dion led the last pitch and while Andi and I were following, wearing everything we had (and me in my goretex suit), the clouds suddenly parted and we became instantly cooked. I was seconding a G1 pitch, heavily-dressed and carrying a pack when my thermostat could no longer cope and I went into meltdown and fainted. I didn't fall far and didn't get hurt. I came round a few seconds later with Dion and Andi panicking about me hanging upside down on the end of the rope over the three thousand foot face. All of us were a bit thirsty and I felt a bit whoozy for a bit, but it all came together at the top. (And we were able to lick ice-melt on the ridge descent)

I could tell another Dion-and Hilton-story but that would probably be a bit much

Thanks Hector Hilton I would buy your book too

I started climbing in 2003 and found out about the old UCT bouldering wall a short while after. This is where I met Gosia - an unassuming, friendly young lady who would traverse that wall for what seemed like an eternity, never using a single dynamic movement but climbing with amazing precision.

Well done Gosia!! It's all making sense now

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Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

I would definitely buy your book Hilton!

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Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

aah, Gosia and Arno you guys are too sweet and kind. I could call it 'Blunter Edges'??

I'll risk another D/H story at the risk of having some dude in Pretoria kak all over me for being a useless old has-been; or some dude in Constantia threaten me with a law suite. Maybe Justin will chop me off for using too much of his steam-power.

In the early 80s I was determined to do the first BASE jump in SA. I was highly experienced. I had done three static line jumps at Citrusdal on round chutes and although I klapped my head on the jump-step of the plane on my second jump, they had gone well. A few years later I did another few jumps at Stellenbosch, so I was good to go.
Only, my buddies Andy de Klerk and Neil Terry pulled one on me when they did the first BASE jump off Charity Buttress that looks on to de Pakuys campsite at Rocklands. I was really pissed. And what's more, they jumped Gourtiz Bridge near Mossel Bay!
I didn't have skydiving kit (I was into climbing, alpinism and hang-gliding) so I asked Neil if I could use his for a jump off Gourtiz.
Neil agreed but was concerned. Andy had a couple of hundred more jumps than me, and Neil had a couple of thousand more. They impressed upon me the dangers on exit (i.e. leaving the bridge).
So the guys took me to Andy and Chris Jackson's flat in Mowbray for some training. Dion was with us and we would head straight off to Gouritz where Dion would get photos of the jump.
In the bare lounge Andy placed a table in the centre on the carpetless floor. He put a chair on top of the table. Then he stacked two mattresses nearby. He climbed onto the chair and crouched under the ceiling. Like a ballet dancer he glided off and with back arched and arms outstretched he made a soft landing on the mattresses. Easy-peasy. My turn...
I glided off but no one had thought to tell me that my body will stop on the mattresses but that my outstretched arms won't. My hands and wrists crashed into the floor. Jeeeezzz.... Both wrists immediately ballooned into big blue sausages. The painnnn!! I insisted that we bugger off to Gouritz right away and avoid any more of this bullshit in Andy's flat.
At Gouritz we pulled out our sleeping bags and spent the night on the old road bridge. Neil kept saying that he will have to demo and that I will have to learn from that. I kept saying that's bollocks and that I will go first.
At first light we nearly had a punch-up but Neil went in the end. Yoh! that jump off the new road bridge - yowzer! The old square chute was barely inflated by the time he touched down 250 feet below. Damn that looked serious.
Dion had abbed down his 50m cord and got really good shots on high-speed motor drive as Neil went past.
Anyhow, I was amped. But Neil took about two hours to climb up the steep bank through the aloes and shite. By the time he got up the wind was blowing and there was no chance of a jump.
I had an idea though. We stretched Dion's rope along the bank and we were just able to reach the start of the two bridges. With two guys holding each end of the rope we walked it out into the middle of the valley. There I tied one end of the rope to the new bridge then ran round to the other end on the old bridge. I got into Dion's harness and while guys held the weight of the rope, I tied in.
I climbed over the railing of the old bridge while the super-heavy cantilevered rope was doing it's best to yank me over. Once over I clung onto the railing for dear life.
I began to have second thoughts. Would I hit the bottom? Would I break my back? Would the gear work? etc etc (I know, very lame...).
Eventually to prevent complete boredom for Dion and Neil (and to the screaming of the crowd now gathered), I leapt off. The fall was vertical for about 100 feet while I fell past the steel lattice-work, then the arc started. I shot hundreds of feet downstream and missed the bottom by forty or fifty feet.
I jumarred up - and so bridge-jumping began in South Africa. (And Dion got his pictures that were then splashed across Scope magazine)

[Sorry justin...]

Classic!! Thanks Hilton

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Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

So good , I'll buy the book too oom Hilton!