Kransberg climbing Apr 2005

I was at Rob’s place at 06:00 and we left about 15 minutes later to pick Jaco up. We left Pretoria just before 07:00 and arrived at the MCSA campsite turn-off at about 10:00.

Day 1 (23 April): It had been raining since before we got to Thabazimbi and it didn’t look like we would be able to do any climbing. Instead, we drove to Grobbies’s place and walked up to his bouldering spot. Rob and Jaco evaluated his bolt protection and gave him some advice on what to do. We walked back down to Grobbies’s house where we had lunch. After lunch we visited Grobbies’s climbing and abseiling spot, a nearby waterfall as well as a possible training venue for Search and Rescue. We were back at the farm just after 6pm and were invited to a dinner prepared by the Grobler family members. We went to bed fairly early as we all wanted an early start the next morning

Day 2 (24 April): Both Jaco and my alarms went off at 05:15. We got up, had a quick breakfast and got packed for the day’s climb. We decided to try Sunshine crack, an 11 graded climb close to Groothoek gully. We first drove to the MCSA campsite and was surprised to discover about 8 other members camped there. We said hello but bid them farewell as we headed up towards the base of the cliffs. It was a long slog through the familiar ferns and thorny underbrush that I hated so much when we were at Kwela Anget. We managed to reach the base of the cliffs at around 09:00 and Rob went to show us the campsite. We left our gear at the campsite and got ready for the climb. We then traversed across to the bottom of a fairly steep and vegetated scramble from where we reached the bottom of the first pitch. Jaco started climbing with Rob belaying. After about five minutes I took over from Rob until Jaco reached the first stance. He combined the normal first two pitches of 34 and 8 metres to make a single pitch at 42m. Rob climbed second and I third. It was a relatively straightforward climb but it was well exposed and a good climb. While I was climbing, Rob started to belay Grobbies up. When I reached the first stance I took the belaying over from Jaco and then proceeded to belay up Chris and Dean. In the mean time, Rob belayed Jaco on the second pitch. The second pitch had an interesting start, traversing to the right around a blind corner before starting up. But the handholds were huge and it was an easy climb to a fairly large ledge for a second stance. While I belayed Jaco on the third pitch, Rob brought Chris and Dean up. Soon the rest of us also climbed the third pitch and then only a short scramble to the top remained. We immediately descended Groothoek gully to the campsite, collected gear and returned to the MCSA campsite. We drove back to Grobbies’s place and had something to eat before leaving for Pretoria.