There have been a number of muggings in the Black Hill area recently.
These have been getting steadily worse and more frequent.
It is my belief that as fewer people have access to, or use the mountain, the easier it is for these criminals.
Then ironically the people that are prepared to take the risk are probably more prepared and armed with pepper spray etc which means that the muggings become more violent.

So in reverse, the more people that are on the mountain the safer it is.
This should be part of the approach in combating these crimes.

These areas should be re-opened as soon as possible but carefully managed to avoid the erosion problems associated with Bouldering.

Thank you so much for the information about the muggings and I will definitely bring this to SANP's attention when next we meet.

We are definitely working as hard and as fast as we can to get the bouldering EMP finalised and Redhill and Blackhill areas re-opened.

Hey, I am just down the road from Back Hill and frequent the area for runs/walks. Where did you hear about thee muggings? I am always recommending Black Hill to friends for adventures without warning and have never really felt unsafe there.

_________________
Boulder for strength
Trad for life

Neighbourhood watch emails.
This is quoted from one of them:

Saturday, 9th February: Glencairn Expressway Parking Area
My partner took my dogs for a walk there yesterday and 3 guys smashed 2 of his car windows, stole the radio and cut dash wires.

Sunday, 10th February: Glencairn Expressway, mountain/rural area
A family was mugged by 3 guys at the usual place in Black hill, around 5.20pm

Not confirmed - Monday, 11th February: Glencairn Expressway Parking Area (reported on Facebook)
Another break in at the top of Black Hill. Friends parked in the parking area and went for a short hike. Came back and the window was smashed and radio stolen. They are going to the police station to report this.

There have been others as well.
Not quite sure what the "usual place in Black Hill" means.

Hi All

SANP Rangers are getting more organised and are visiting areas, particularly in Silvermine and Peer's Cave, and stopping climbers. I'd just like to set the record straight for all us climbers out there so that you can be well-informed and well within your rights if and when you are stopped by rangers.

Bouldering - The ONLY areas that have a moratorium for bouldering in the Pensinsula are Red Hill and Black Hill. You are still free to climb everywhere else, including Topside and Kalk Bay. NO activity permit is required as yet for bouldering until the EMP has been finalised and the activity level of bouldering has been set, confirmed and included into TMNP and SANP legislation. If you look at SANP's current activity lists, they only require a Level 3 activity permit for Sport Climbing. Once the EMP has been finalised, bouldering will be included, no doubt also on a Level 3 Activity Permit.

Sport - as it stands at the moment, MCSA members do not require any activity permit for sport climbing. I do know that SANP are in the process of trying to change this and the MCSA is in discussions with them about it. If you are not an MCSA member, then you do require a Level 3 Activity Permit for sport climbing.

Trad - no activity permit is required for trad as it has as much impact on the environment as hiking. SANP again is trying to change this and the MCSA is in discussions with them about it.

If the rangers persist in disagreeing with you on the above, kindly take down their names so that I can chat to SANP about them and assist in educating them on the different types of climbing and what the status quo is at the moment. It is understandable with so many things up in the air at the moment with regards to the three different types of climbing, that they may not have all the facts.

You are also most welcome to give them my name and cellphone number and they can contact me directly to clear anything up.

Thank you to all those who have contacted me to find out what the situation is and the best way to handle it. It can be very frustrating from both sides at the moment because nothing is yet settled and it is easy to misunderstand or misinterpret what form of climbing has what requirements.

Thank you again
Delaney Carpenter
083 355 9933

Sounds like a single group men, who probably live in the area. Once they are arrested, the problem will go away. But that would imply the police doing their jobs.

Is it not a level 2 permit for sport/rock climbing? This is the permit I bought for R270 and is the one on the website?

I thin you're correct...their application form says sport climbing is level 2

Oh great! Thanks :-) I'm probably getting a little muddled because the Bouldering looks like it'll end up on the highest impact level activity which is the level 3. Thanks for clarifying :-)

Has there been any news on whether Redhill will be re-opened or not?

Cheers
Sheldon

Hi All

SANP has been ignoring all my attempts to get hold of them. I have written to them and asked whether we can lift our self-imposed moratorium on Redhill from May until October due to the fact that the EMP is taking sooooo long. They have again ignored me so I guess since we haven't received a yes or no from them, it's an each to his own mission.

If anyone does head to Redhill this winter, please stay away from Easter Island and the wetlands and kindly stick to existing hiking trails where possible so as to not damage the more sensitive areas.

I will keep trying to contact SANP as we only have the forest site visits left to do before they can wrap up the EMP.

My apologies for this totally unscheduled delay but until I have time to drive all the way out to Tokai to visit them in person to try get some more information from them, we will have to be content with them completely ignoring us.

I will keep you posted as soon as they reply to one of my many emails.

Tx
Delaney

Hi Delaney,

Thanks for the update
Can't wait for my first visit to Redhill! Soon!

Cheers,
Cuan

Thanks for you efforts Delaney.

This is BS on SANParks behalf... a community tries to assist the park and all we get is ignored!?

I love the smell of trampled Fynbos in the morning

_________________
Climb ZA - Administrator

It smells like .....freedom!

Hi All

Just a friendly reminder that the current status of climbing permits in Table Mountain National Park is as follows:

Trad Climbing – requires no activity permit
Sport Climbing – requires an activity permit unless you are a card-carrying MCSA Member
Bouldering – requires no activity permit pending the finalization of the Bouldering EMP

Please be aware of SANParks Rangers requesting spot fines or issuing tickets for failure to produce activity permits. Kindly be respectful to rangers but do not allow yourselves to be bullied by them. Unless and until the legal position changes, the agreement between SANParks and the MCSA is as above.

The MCSA would also like to know every incidence that does occur where a climber is challenged in respect of the above by a SANParks ranger. Please email Delaney on delaney@rockchicks.co.za should this occur so that we can keep a log.



Yours sincerely

Delaney Carpenter – Chairperson of the Rock Climbing Sub-Committee of the MCSA Cape Town Section on behalf of
Brian Lambourne – Chairman of the MCSA Cape Town Section

Hi Delaney

What is the status for Redhill, is it open again or still awaiting the EMP?

Cheers
Sheldon

_________________
\"The hardest thing about Fontainebleau is spelling it.\" — John Black.

Hi Sheldon

We are still waiting on the EMP but I have drafted a letter to send to SANP informing them that we will be lifting the moratorium on 1st July if the EMP has not been finalised by then.

I will keep everyone informed as soon as this letter has been sent.

tx
D

Wow. It has been exactly 2 years since this thread was started and still no resolution. Thanks to Delaney for all her efforts on behalf of all boulders. Hopefully SAN Parks will pull though, but I for one have given up hope.

Yip which is why we're drafting the letter to let them know that if the EMP is not finalised by end June this year we will be lifting the Moratorium on Coppermine and Grootkop.

I will let you know once the email has been sent and if we hear back from them.

Regardless, I will reply on this thread at the end of June that the moratorium has been lifted.

Hang in there, guys.

Hi All

I have just sent the following letter to SANP:

Hi Gavin and Leighan



Due to the extreme delays in finalizing the site visits for the bouldering EMP and thus concluding the document, the Mountain Club can no longer encourage the climbing community to respect the moratorium on Redhill. Please bear in mind that the Mountain Club accepted our moratorium based only on the conclusion of the EMP. Since there has been no progress on the EMP since December last year, we can no longer accept the suspension of climbing activities at Redhill.



Should the Bouldering EMP not be finalized by 30th June 2013, the Mountain Club will be lifting our self-imposed moratorium on 1st July 2013 on the existing boulders at Coppermine and Grootkop at Redhill. We will continue to insist that the climbing community does not climb at Easter Island due to the sensitivity of the environment at this location and at its access points.



We trust this to be in order.



Thank you so much and kind regards

Delaney


I'll keep you all posted.

Tx
Delaney

Go go Delaney!

Wow thanks for the hard work Delaney.

_________________
Boulder for strength
Trad for life

Hi All

Further to the recent challenges from SANP Rangers with climbers in Table Mountain National Park, the Mountain Club of South Africa has drafted a letter which climbers can download from our website and print out to take with them to show to any rangers who may question their climbing activities in the park.

The letter can be found and downloaded off our Website: http://mcsacapetown.co.za/home

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you so much and kind regards
Delaney