Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Challenge

In April 2008, three adventurers committed minds and bodies in an attempt to establish a new world speed record for the Grand Traverse of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains. Unfortunately, foul weather thwarted the attempt on the second day and the team was rescued by the Mountain Club of South Africa and the SAAF. The Grand Traverse starts at the Sentinel Car Park, near the Chain Ladder in the eastern Free State Province, and ends over 200km later at the Bushman’s Nek Police post south of Underberg in southern KwaZulu Natal, taking in the six highest peaks south of Kilimanjaro on the way.

The publicity generated will be used to develop and market an annual multi-day stage race: The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Challenge.


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Current Record:

The existing record for the Traverse is held by Gavin Raubenheimer, current Rescue Convenor for the Mountain Club of South Africa, and his brother Lawrie. Gavin and Lawrie were the two finishers of a three person team in 1998 and established the speed record at 105 hours and 39 minutes. More can be read about their record at www.peakhigh.co.za. There have been five attempts to challenge the record since then but not one has completed the route.

The established record allows for no seconding, support, food drops or re-supplies.

The team:

Deon Chiesman, Nic Shaw and Gina Walsh are all keen recreational runners, cyclists, paddlers and/or hikers, fit as proverbial fiddles thanks to hours of training, and share a passion for the mountains and outdoors.

· Deon Chiesman

Deon runs a rope access company in Durban and is making the attempt because it seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. He discovered running in 2006 as a weight management activity and has since developed a passion for fitness. He is a keen cyclist and believes he has the strength of will the Transfrontier Challenge will require.

· Nic Shaw

Nic lives in the central Drakensberg & is attempting the Traverse to “knock Gavin off his pedestal”. Nic owns a successful environmental and outdoor education centre in the Giant’s Castle area and has always pursued an active and healthy lifestyle. He believes that the team’s thorough preparation will make them successful.

· Gina Walsh

An accomplished multi-sport athlete, Gina has always had a passion for pushing herself to the limit...for fun. She has competed in a number of events including 8 Duzi Canoe Marathons, Comrades, Two Oceans and Ironman. When asked why she accepted the invitation to the Tranfrontier Challenge her response was, "Why not, I'm not doing anything else that weekend".

· Gary Mortimer (Operations Manager)

Gary is a pilot, gear and technology enthusiast and a record-holder himself. Gary and Lev David from East Coast Radio set the all-Africa height record for a hot air balloon: 30 000ft. Gary is the team Operations Manager and will be coordinating the online tracking from the Ops Room at the Himeville Arms in Himeville, not far from the finish at Bushman's Nek. Gary is the Africa agent for the Yellowbrick tracking device.
For details of the team's progress email:
opsroom(at)drakensberg-adventure.com

The mission:

The team will depart the Sentinel Car Park at 05h00 on 19 April 2008. They will carry with them a Yellowbrick tracking device that will transmit the team’s location in real time. This data will be recorded on this website.

Starting in April 2008, interested observers can log onto the website and make a prediction (R25 per prediction) about the arrival time. The closest predictions will be drawn for prizes including an all-expenses weekend in the Drakensberg and a selection of outdoor clothing and equipment.

The plan:

Running with a backpack at an altitude of above 3000m above sea level is possible but very difficult and not sustainable over large distances. For this reason the team will use a technique known as “fast-packing” – moving as fast as the terrain allows – downhills and flats are jogged, uphills are walked as fast as possible. The attempt is timed to coincide with a full moon rising shortly after sunset and setting shortly before sunrise…twenty four hours of light. The team will cover as much distance as possible during the day (at least 50km), rest for a while and complete the necessary distance during the night.

The first part of the Traverse climbs from the Sentinel Car Park and heads for the Chain Ladder. After a substantial climb to the top of the escarpment the route heads over a relatively flat plateau to Mont-Aux-Sources, the first of the six “checkpoint” peaks. From here through some substantial ridges – topping out at over 3200m – the next checkpoint is at Cleft Peak. The third checkpoint is Champagne Castle and from there over some massive ridges to Mafadi, the second highest peak south of Kilimanjaro and the highest point inside of South Africa. After Mafadi comes Giant’s Castle – a major “dog-leg” ending at 3314m – then toward the Sani Pass area and Ntabana ntleyana, the highest point south of Kili. The final push is to Thomathu Pass and down to the police post at Bushman’s Nek.

The terrain on top of the escarpment – in the Maloti mountains – is rocky, uneven and broken and there are no clear paths. It is unlikely that the team will encounter rain at this time of year but snow is always a possibility. The team is using Garmin GPS navigation tools and the Mapsource 1:50000 Topographical map suite.

Team members are sponsored by First Ascent - Performance tested gear.