Introduction:
The Cape Town section of the Mountain Club of South Africa confirms that a meet and rock rally will be convened in Du Toit’s Kloof region from 21 to 28 April 2009. The meet is open to everyone and not limited to club members. The MCSA Du Toits kloof hut will be used as a base for most of the activities.
Du Toit’s Kloof sports some of the finest classic country trad routes, some wickedly good crag trad routes and some very challenging sport routes.
At the end of the valley near Rawsonville there is a completely un-developed boulder field second to none.
And finally, there are several easier sport and trad routes to cater for all needs.
The Du Toit’s Kloof range also has some of the most adventurous hikes and rock pools for those less inclined to the vertical.
The format of the meet and rally will be somewhat different to the past. The rally will be held over 36 hours and there will be several categories. The score attributed to an ascent of a route will depend on a variety of factors including whether it is on-sighted, or top roped or red-pointed. And also it’s accessibility and difficulty. A variety of super prizes have been pledged for each category.
The provisional programme is a follows:
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Meet and Greet at the MCSA clubhouse in Hatfield street, Gardens from 18h00 onwards. Bring and Braai and a cash pub i.e. bottle store prices (but as things are developing we are sure to get a round or two thrown in by our sponsors).
Anybody who participates in the meet or the rally will qualify for a free entry at CityROCK, Indoor Climbing Gym (www.CityROCK.co.za) anytime on Tuesday for climbing and bouldering prior to the social. The gym is well attended on Tuesdays by many of our local rock jocks who train there. Overnight accommodation will be provided at CityROCK for those in need.
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Convene at CityROCK 41 Anson Street, Cnr Collingwood, Observatory, at 09h30 for registration and head for Paarl Rock and then on to Du Toit’s Kloof. Accommodation will be provided at the MCSA hut.
Thursday 23 April 2009
Guess what? more climbing….An ascent of a major country route will count towards your score in the competition. Climbers with local knowledge will assist with the beta.
Friday 24 April 2009
More climbing or a rest day fishing trout at the Du Toit’s Kloof lodge
Evening social at the MCSA hut: Free Pasta meal; Movie, talk, slide show….Music, you name it… Again, our sponsors are making some good noises and there no doubt will be free beer too…. Aaaahhhh…. We have a generator! Noisy but nice! But Lights out at 22h30…. I mean the generator.
Saturday 25 April 2009
5am! Rock Rally starts.
(Late) Registration for the Rock Rally at the MCSA hut from 07h00 to 09h00.
19h00 Social, talk or movie and (spit) braai by at the Du Toit’s Kloof lodge (or at the MCSA hut depending on availability). Die-hards sleep on a ledge somewhere. But there will be a few bonus points awarded for attending the social and a few more for anyone on a proper bivvy!
Sunday 26 April 2009
Rock Rally continues and finishes sharply at 5pm at the MCSA hut. Although if you proved you epic-ed you will probably score some bonus points but you must have a functioning cell phone!
And while we hang out getting the geeks to work out who won or who should have won, we are surely going to have another feast and as already mooted, this is likely to be sponsored. There will also be a slack line competition.
This must happen at the MCSA hut for the simple reason that no-one will be allowed to drive, (through fatigue of course!)
Monday 27 April 2009 (Freedom Day)
Free day to do whatever. Climb on Paarl rock, chill, hiking, kloofing. Again our local talent will be there to sandbag you…
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Back to Cape Town and farewell…
Backup plan if the weather is bad.
Montague is but an hour from Du Toit’s and we shall divert to there if necessary. Check out www.Debos.co.za for camping and accommodation.
The rally and the social events will be arranged at Montague if the Du Toit’s Kloof weather is poor!
Costs:
There is a nominal cost of R50 per person to cover (some) of the costs of the event including permits, designer T-shirt’s and other bits and pieces. The entire event is being organized by volunteers and any profit will go into buying beer or be allocated to next year’s event.
All accommodation at the Du Toit’s kloof MCSA hut will be gratis but one must be self catering depending on our sponsors. Watch this blog and the relevant websites for updates or subscribe to caperocknews@yahoogroups.com. To do so, send a blank email to caperocknews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Transport to and from Cape Town will be provided by us local dudes gratis. But we must have numbers ASAP.
It helps to have a Wild Card so please let us have your number.
Should we divert to Montague then camping costs R30 per person but transport will be provided.
What to bring:
Ideally bring a climbing partner and climbing gear; sport and trad if you wish to do both.
You need camping gear as there are limited bunks in the MCSA hut.
Please try to plan and print route descriptions in advance. Info about many of the trad routes is available on the climb.co.za wiki. Greg Hart and Ross Suter have committed to publishing the “Hellfire route guide” well in advance.
Food and booze supplies can be obtained at the Spar in Obs, walking distance from CityROCK prior to departing on the 22nd. Once at the hut arrangements will be made to replenish supplies at Paarl which is 20 minutes drive from the hut.
Finally, this is your sport, this your passion. Arrive! and the bleeding heart organizers will make it happen year after year. Without your support, the sponsors will stick to pumping time, money and effort into the “bling” activities like cycling where you don’t have to be a winner to look like one.
Let’s give our sport some horns…..Capice!
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