Sunday 17 May was bright and sunny and a perfect day for the meet previously scheduled for 19 April that was rained out.
18 enthusiast climbers met up at the stairs at the start of India Venster by the lower cable car station and after introductions and sorting climbing teams, we set off for the Lower Buttresses of Table Mountain.
Everyone gathered at the little trees between the buttresses and kitted up before heading off to tackle routes chosen to suit the parties ability.
Routes climbed were Fraser’s Arrow (12), Sparkplug (12), India Somersault (15), Picnic Time for Teddy Bears (17), Indian Giver (15), Bombay Duck (17) and India Rubber (12).
Oliver, the youngest leader, deserves special mention for zooming up three multi pitch routes with various partners!
Several participants had never climbed outside on rock and one had only bouldered indoors. So most got the full experience doing several pitches and an abseil. A few seconds tested that the ropes and systems worked!
The cliffs were busy with chatter, lots of smiles all round and everyone wandered down on a climbing high.
Many thanks to the generous leaders Greg Musiker, Christine Hovy, Eckhardt Kuhn, Roger Diamond, Robert Brand, Nathan Geffen, Oliver Berndsen, Paul Pope and Jason Collins. Especially to Greg who stood in for me as the able bodied meet leader on the day as I just joined for photos and chat!
