Greetings, MCSA Member
In this bulletin:
1. NATIONAL ANNUAL MEMORIAL SERVICE – SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2018
The Annual Service will be held at Maclear’s Beacon at 12:30pm on Sunday 25 February. The service, at which we remember MCSA members nationwide who have died during the past year, will be conducted by Bishop Geoffrey Davies. Organise a group of friends, bring your lunch, and get there via your favourite route.
2. CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 2017 JOURNAL : DEADLINE END FEBRUARY 2018
This is a call for contributions for the 2017 Journal. These can be sent to the Editing Team using the email address jennyapaterson@gmail.com . Please refer to the Guidelines and Style Sheet on the national website before you submit any contribution.
Perry Refuge 60th Anniversary: Piet van Zyl Inviting Stories
Piet van Zyl intends to write an article on Perry Refuge for the 2017 Journal, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the (original) construction of this shelter in the Hex River Mountains, over the weekend of 14-16 December 1957. Piet would appreciate input from people involved in the rebuilding of Perry in 2009 after the fire in 2006, and also extracts from the current Hut Book about noteworthy incidents recorded therein. Piet invites past visitors to Perry to write to him about their experiences of getting there or being there. Please email Piet at piet.vanzyl@telkomsa.net. Remember the deadline!
3. 2018 PAN-AFRICA MOUNTAINEERING MEET, MOUNTAIN CLUB OF UGANDA
Several African clubs have already established reciprocal membership and I am sure many of you have benefitted from the warm welcome of other clubs. The MCU, in cooperation with MCSA, would like to invite all clubs to attend a meet in Uganda in January of 2018. Uganda has quite possibly the finest mountains in all of Africa, the famous Rwenzori in the west, the dramatic Virungas of gorilla fame in the southwest, the much-heralded Mt Elgon in the east and the little known, wild, and unspoiled peaks of Karamoja in the northeast. Uganda’s got something for every type of mountaineer, glaciated uplands, technical pitches, gorgeous hikes and peace in some of the most beautiful and remote parts of East Africa.
Full article and flyer: 2018-Pan-Africa-Meet-Uganda-1.pdf
4. MOUNT KENYA FESTIVAL MARCH 2018
You are invited to partake in the Mount Kenya Festival from 1 to 10 March 2018. We have negotiated a 50% discount on Park fees. Cost estimates are as follows:
4 nights on the mountain
- Food, camp, Park fees, trekking guides and porters = 590USD/person
- Minimum donation= 250USD/person
8 Nights on the mountain
- Food, camp, Park fees, trekking, guides and porters= 742USD/person
- Minimum donation= 350USD/person
Briefing in Nanyuki on 1 March. On the Mountain 2 to 9 March. Fundraiser Braai and live music on 10 March.
The mountain festival is supported by the Kenyan Dept of Tourism, the Mount Kenya Trust, and African Ascents.
Nanyuki is a town in central Kenya. It’s known as a gateway to Mount Kenya and the wilderness of Mount Kenya National Park. Several trails, including the Naro Moru and Sirimon routes, ascend the mountain. The park’s wildlife includes leopards, giant forest hogs and more than 100 bird species. Northwest of Nanyuki, the plains and hills of the vast Laikipia Plateau are home to lions, elephants and rare Grevy’s zebras.
More information will be posted on mount-kenya-festival-march-2018. Contact person: Garvin Jacobs, garvin.jacobs@gmail.com.
5. ANNUAL DINNER and 125th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORCESTER SECTION
The Worcester Section will be hosting the annual dinner. The theme for the dinner is “A Mountaineer’s Paradise”, this being the title of the rare booklet written by Stanley Field and Eddie Pells.
The dinner will be held on Saturday 5 May 2018 at 5pm at the Kirabo Private Cellar, Rawsonville, Breede River Valley. The cost is R250 per person. Dress “Mountain Smart”
For more details, including information about accommodation go to mcsa.org.za/mcsa/home
RSVP 06 April 2018 to Erika van Niekerk at erieks@mweb.co.za for bookings and more information. There is limited seating for the dinner and accommodation at various other localities, including camping. Exciting hikes and excursions will be offered in and around the Worcester area.
6. UIAA
From the UIAA January Newsletter:
- Dealing with eye problems in the mountains: visual loss in the wilderness setting is potentially fatal. Firstly, it may be a warning sign of a serious systemic problem and secondly the patient may lose their functional independence and ability to respond to objective danger.The issues are discussed in the UIAA MedCom paper #20, Eye Problems in Expeditions.
- Climbers Against Cancer: on 20 January, representatives of the UIAA were honoured to organise a special ceremony ahead of the Lead Finals at the 2018 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. During the ceremony, the Swiss Cancer Research Foundation were presented with a donation of £25,000 by Climbers Against Cancer
- 2017 UIAA Climbing Film of the Year: The UIAA has awarded a Best Climbing Film prize at the Trento Film Festival for the past three years. The most recent winner, a 12-minute documentary featured the 2016 expedition to the Himalayas of Nepal led by David Lama together with Austrian alpinists Hansjörg Auer and Alex Blümel. The film charts the team in their feelings of fatigue, anxiety, exposure and ordeal during their five weeks attempting one of the world’s greatest, unsolved puzzles of alpinism: The unclimbed south-east ridge of Annapurna III (at 7,555m, the 42nd highest mountain in the world). Go to the link on the UIAA website to download the film.
The UIAA Youth Commission has developed the calendar of 2018 Global Youth Series events with meets in France, Italy and Iran already confirmed. Registration details can be found on the UIAA website.
7. FACEBOOK AND WEB PAGES
National abbreviated link for the national MCSA Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MCSA125/
Links for all the sections’ web pages are on the MCSA national webpage.
8. SECTION NEWS
No sectional news has been submitted. Sections are encouraged to submit items of interest.
9. SNIPPETS
Rockfalls – the science of rockfalls
The article deals with Yosemite. In 2006 the cliffs were studied as part of a lawsuit against US National Park Service. A valley-wide rockfall assessment was started, studying the cliffs in 2006. The Park Service, USGS, the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection in Italy, and the Georgia Institute of Technology all participated in the research. The rockfall of September 2017 continued the research and compiled a history of rockfalls in Yosemite giving various statistics of climbing accidents due to rockfalls, car accidents, drowning etcetera. Remarkably, only a small portion of natural rockfall deaths are climbers, although rocks dislodged by climbers have taken many lives. news/yosemite-geologists
10) NEWSWORTHY ITEMS
Please send any newsworthy items for inclusion in MCSA National News Editor, Ineke Moseley at inekemos@zsd.co.za
Quotable Quotes:
“Each climber loses one finger or toe once in a while. This is a small but important reason for Polish climber’s success. Western climbers haven’t lost as many fingers or toes”- Wanda Rutkiewicz
“Frostbite? I consider that a failure” – Mark Twight, never frostbitten after sixteen years of mountaineering and ice climbing.
“explore – discover – connect – protect”
“verken – ontdek – ontmoet – bewaar”
“phonononga – fumanisa – qhagamshela – khusela”
