The immense and daunting Fernwood Precipice would not yield a codger’s route – of this we were sure. But we really didn’t want to open a heroes’ route. Something in between would be just right.
A self promotion movie brought to you by Hilton Davies and the ‘Famous’ Tinie Versveld! Enjoy!!
It was December 1984. South Africa was in a state of civil war and three young guys were living out their climbing dreams.
As an all round South African mountaineer Dave Cheesmond has probably only ever been surpassed by Andy de Klerk. In 1977 he produced his little stapled route book The Western Cape – Fifty Selected Routes.
Hilton Davies and Andy Court have been trying hard in very unusual Spring conditions in the European Alps.
In the summer of 1974, a couple of young, hard climbers from up north arrived in the Western Cape. Their tanks were full with drive and ambition. If opportunity would intersect with preparation and talent, they would do something special…
Africa Amphitheatre is that big wall on Table Mountain overlooking the city centre of Cape Town, a few hundred metres east of the upper cableway station. It is the royal wall on a regal mountain.
When I opened Cool Cat I had looked up at the iceberg wall above the Staircase Traverse a few times, but my vision had blurred each time and the future had evaded me.
An interview with South African climbing legend Andy de Klerk
We couldn’t believe that we were stuck in a traffic jam in Cape Town while we were headed out to Du Toit’s Kloof on a climbing mission.
Don set off with a clutch of pitons and hammer. He aided a thin seam up the very attractive steep white face until he could free climb up to an overlap… Jonathan Levy and Tim Hughes joined Mike and Don to follow up their route on its first ascent.
Wild at Heart: It’s proper-tough at solid 25 and the gear is thin and hard to place. But it’s the fourth pitch, the soaring arête pitch that is the raison d’etre, the jewel in the crown, the main event.
“Was it a Top 100 night?” Ian and Arno wanted to know. Guy Paterson-Jones and I had topped-out on Klein Winterhoek after climbing the legendary Oceans of Fear then raced down to link up with Ian and Arno who had climbed the frontal route.
Adele’s pocket-sized, ring-bound book, published in 1993, is a varied selection of trad routes in the Western Cape. To her great credit Adele climbed all of these routes – a not-insignificant achievement for any local.
Guy and I had spent the afternoon on Table Mountain working on our Space Race project.
In 1977 the great climbers, my friends Dave Cheesmond and Tony Dick established the first route up Yellowwood Amphitheatre.
My new young climbing buddy Guy Paterson-Jones and I had been climbing the superb Armageddon Time on Yellowwood Amphitheatre.
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e.g. Table Mountain or “Cool like that” or Climbing Gyms near Durban
