National Climbing Scene
For years Stellenbosch had produced her own mountaineers and in the late 1950s some of her progeny burst onto the national climbing scene. Most notable were Andre Schoon, Henri Snijders and Hans Graafland.
During the 1960s Graafland teamed up with Mike Scott and for the next ten years they made a formidable team. Country routes up to 25 pitches long, many of sustained G standard, were credited to them.
In the early 1970s there was another rush of leaders in the Cape, most notably Dave Cheesmond, Richard Smithers, Ed February and D. MacLachlan. By the latter half of the decade the most surprising thing about the top rock climbers was their youth; teenagers were among the finest climbers in the country.
Within a few years of their first ascents, mountaineers such as Dave Davies, Chris Lomax and Greg Lacey were on a par with the climbing elite like the Barleys, Dicks and Cheesmonds.
Stellenbosch is undoubtedly one of the prettiest little towns in South Africa, founded in 1679 and the second oldest town in the country. Th...