These men will climb SA’s highest peaks in each province
Six men are on an adventure to summit the nine highest peaks in each province, in the hope of raising money for the Northfield Methodist Church.
The daring Nine Peaks for Northfield fund-raiser is being undertaken by a group of men who have been friends in excess of 45 years – with an average age of 67.
The project was initiated by Morehill resident Burns Maclear (67), who came up with the idea after reading an article on Mandy Ramsden, the first African woman to have climbed the highest peaks on each continent.
Maclear initially thought he’d take on the challenge purely for enjoyment, but then decided to approach the church with the concept and they are backing him all the way.
The article inspired him enough to approach his friends with the idea of accompanying him on his mission.
They responded with resounding “let’s go”.
The climbers hope to complete their objective by mid-May, next year, hopefully reaching their target of R300 000 for the church.
The congregation has been asked to pledge a minimum of one cent for each metre summited.
The climbers will travel a mammoth 10 000km in total, just to get to the town nearest to the mountain they will climb.
The entire trip will be self-funded.
Maclear (67, of Morehill), Trevor Long (72), Dave Inggs (65), Koos Bouwer (65, of Morehill), Fred Ashton (72) and Rob Beardsley (66) took on their first peak of Nooitgedacht West (North West), on October 18 and completed the climb in just over five hours.
Maclear said they arrived at the farm gate, where the farmer asked them if they needed his help to get up the peak.
“Are you sure you want to walk up the mountain, because I can drive you to the top in my Land Rover?” he joked.
One of the climbers responded by saying: “It looks very tempting”.
Maclear, who is a member of the Northfield Methodist Church Men with Cancer Support Group and a throat cancer survivor, will take a banner on each climb, with the words “Cancer Can Be Beaten” written on it.
The order of the peaks they will climb and their summit heights are:
- North West, Nooitgedacht West, which was done on October 18, 1 806m
- Gauteng, Toringkop, November 1, 1 913m
- Limpopo, Iron Crown, November 15, 2 126m
- Mpumalanga, Die Berg, December 6, 2 331m
- Northern Cape, Murch Point, January 15 to 18, 2 156m
- Western Cape, Seweweekspoort, February 19 to 23, 2 325m
- Eastern Cape, Kwa Duma, March 19 to 23, 3 019m
- Free State, Namahadi, April 17 to 20, 3 275m
- KwaZulu-Natal, Mafadi, May 14 to 18, 3 451m
The group will have climbed a total height of 22 401m at the end of the journey.
The summit dates should be completed, barring poor weather and depending on the health of the climbers.
To donate to this cause, contact Leoni, at the Northfield Methodist Church office, on 011 140 0210.
