M ou n ta in E a rs D ig est N ews le tte r of th e C ape T own S ec

Mountain Ears Digest
Newsletter of the Cape Town Section MCSA
June 2015
July to
September
2015
Meets and Socials
Circular 654
Panoramic view from Suther Peak showing much of the peninsula, from Skoorsteenberg through to Kommetjie. Photo:
Corinne Merry
CIRCULAR 654
Office Hours
Will members please note that the office is ONLY
OPEN during the day between 10am and 2pm Monday to Friday and on a Friday evening between
7:30pm and 8:20pm.
2013 Journal
Please collect your copy from the office, if you have
not already done so.
Annual Subscriptions
Please note that annual subscriptions were due on 1
January 2015 and must be paid urgently, if you have
not already done so.
Club Properties
The Club owns and manages several magnificent
pieces of unspoilt mountain land. Members are encouraged to make use of these properties for Club
meets and for private outings. Members are also
encouraged to interest themselves in the management of these properties by contacting the respective convenors and offering to join their property sub
-committee.
Hut Fees
Please note the hut fees:
Agtertafelberg Hut
Cape Town Section Members – R20.00 per night;
Members of other MCSA Sections and UCT members – R30.00 per night;
Visitors – R50.00 per night
Children under 13 – R5.00 per night
Du Toit’s Kloof Hut and Table Mountain Hut
Cape Town Section Members – R10.00 per night;
Members of other MCSA Sections and UCT members – R20.00 per night;
Visitors – R40.00 per night
Children under 13 – R5.00 per night
Access to Table Mountain through Kirstenbosch
Botanical Gardens
The continuation of the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens concession that allows MCSA members to access Table Mountain and the MCSA’s TM Hut via
Kirstenbosch is dependent on the conduct of each
and every one of our members. Please take note
of the amended opening and closing times for
the Rycroft Gate.*
 Show both sides of your MCSA card, with a valid
current-year sticker, to the gatekeeper upon entry.
 Note that this concession does not apply to Gate
1, the ‘new’ main gate to the Visitors Centre.
 For the other two gates, the following applies:
 Gate 2, the ‘old’ main gate to the Garden
Centre:
 No entry after 08h30, except…
 When you will be leaving a car overnight (to stay
over at the hut) you must notify Mr Jacobs prior
to your arrival. Do so at a.jacobs@sanbi.org.za
or phone
021 799 8674 / 073 969 2026, and
021 799 8674 / 073 969 2026, and
 Stipulate the make, colour and registration number of your car.
 Gate 3, Rycroft or the ‘top’ gate:
Summer (September to March) –
week days: 07h30 to 19h00 ;
Weekends and public holidays:
06h00
- 19h00
Winter (April to August) – all
days:
07h30 to 18h00

*Note: KBG prefers MCSA members to use
Gate 3, because it is the entrance least often
used by large tour groups.
Occasionally, a new security staff member may get
it wrong, in which case an informed and polite attitude on your part should save the day.
Unfortunately some of our members sometimes
abuse this privilege, thereby putting continued good
relations with KBG at risk. Please ensure that you
never make yourself guilty of any of the below:
 Failure to adhere to the above conditions, and
then arguing with the gatekeeper about it.
 Failure to carry a valid card, and then trying to
cajole the gatekeeper into breaking the rules that
s/he is employed to enforce.
 Failure to obtain the new year’s sticker in good
time, and then attempting entry with the previous
year’s sticker.
 Use of the card to gain entry into the gardens for
a picnic, instead of only for access to the mountain.
All members must adhere to the following conditions:
Mountain Ears Digest
24 June 2015
CIRCULAR 654
Procedure for Orange Kloof Permits
Permits for Orange Kloof will only be issued on application by telephone (not email) to their Kloofnek office on 021 422 1601, at least two weeks in
advance. Permits can then be collected at the office between 08h00 and 15h30 Monday to Friday, or
faxed or emailed to you by Beulah upon request.
Distribution of 2015 Membership Stickers
Members are reminded that once payment of their
subscriptions have been received, the 2014 membership stickers will be available at the office or will
be posted to you. If subscriptions are paid after
31 March 2014, the member must either collect
from the office or send a self-addressed
stamped envelope so that the sticker can be
posted to you, otherwise you will not receive a
sticker
Change of status or resignation
Members are reminded that while they can change their
status during the year, it will only become effective from
the beginning of the new financial year. So if you wish to
change your membership status (e.g. country membership), please let us know before 31 December. We often
get requests in February or March, or even later to make
these changes effective from the preceding January. Unfortunately this is not possible.
Newly Elected Members
We welcome the following new members:
Nicolas Larsen
Roslyn Lavery
Marisa Maccaferri
Maryke Malan
Daniel Morison
Deon Murray
Peter Murray
Marius Nel
Jason Norwood-Young
Bradley Oldfield
Nicole Panzer
Marianne Parker
Greta Pegram
Colin Pritchard
Matty Roodt
Servious Rusvava
Zelda Rutherfoord-Jones
Matthew Schnetler
Matthew Seager
Walter Steenekamp
Joshua Stevens
Robert Tait
Timo Tait
Guy Theunissen
Mountain Ears Digest
Linith von Ahlefeldt
James Vonesh
Reinstated
Susanne Streun
Resignations
Karin de Piaz
Johan du Plessis
MEMBERSHIP
Chris Arderne
Marisca Biagio
Robert Brain
Hugh Byrne
Michael Champanis
Michael Dawson
Roger de Andrade
Hendre de Villiers
Bridget Ellender
Stephen Farber
Isabella Ferreira
Frank Gaude
Norval Geldenhuys
Natalie Giliam
Nadya Glawe
Susannah Hall
Mark Hewat
Tanya Hewat
Jonathan Kinnear
Peter Kloos
Hanne Koster
Susan Joubert
Sedica Knight
Alister Koeresies
Marchelle van Zyl
Neville Venter
Albert Viljoen
Jonathan Joseph
Merle Melvill
Roger Melvill
Andrea Sanke
Paul Walker
Deceased Members
With sadness we announce the death of the following members:
Ann MacPherson
joined 1951 (d.o.b. 01/09/1932)
Evan Morkel
joined 1968 (d.o.b. 10/02/1944)
NOTICE ABOUT THE PRINTED EDITION OF MOUNTAIN EARS DIGEST
The last edition of this publication will be the
December 2015 issue.
Please make every effort to obtain your information
about the Club and its activities from friends or family who have access to email.
IMPRINT
This issue of Mountain Ears Digest has been published
by the Cape Town Section of the MCSA.
97 Hatfield Street
Cape Town.
Tel: 021 465 3412/ Fax: 021 461 8456
Web: http://cap.mcsa.org.za
Email: mcsacapetown@iafrica.com
Or
inekemos@zsd.co.za
Editor: Ineke Moseley
Printing: Blue Mountain Graphics
The views and opinions expressed in Mountain Ears
are not necessarily those of the Mountain Club of
South Africa, it’s Sections, Committees or members.
34 June 2015
LOYALTY AWARDS
The Awards ceremony seems a long time ago now but for the benefit of those who were unable to attend, here is a short report and photos.
Greg Moseley once again did his excellent job as
Master of Ceremonies at the 2015 Long Service
Awards ceremony. The Award recipients were presented with their certificates by our Chairman, Brian
Lambourne.
70 year Awards
Elizabeth Harper
Jess Mathew
Thanks to Rose Fergusson and Bridget Carrick for
all their hard work behind the scenes to arrange the
evening and refreshments. A very special huge vote
of thanks to Reen Meintjies for her superb calligraphy on the certificates.
60 Year Awards
Jeff Goy
Atties Malan
Merran Silberbauer
Neil van der Spuy
Philip van der Spuy
Andre Schoon (2014)
This year most of the recipients chose to say a few
words about their association with the Club. Many of
them told how often it was family members who introduced them to the mountains, how school or university reinforced their interest. Most of all, how important the friendships made with fellow mountaineers have been in their lives.
50 Year Awards
Peter Berrisford
Mary Berrisford
Gillian Bowie
Olwen Gibson
Edward Malinaric
Sandy Veitch
Ellinor Wilson
13 March 2015 Loyalty Awards
60 and 70 year Award recipients: Brian Lambourne (Chairman), Andre Schoon, Neil
van der Spuy, Jeff Goy, Atties Malan, Philip van der Spuy. In front: Jess Mathew (70
years) Photo: Mike Scott
(Cont. p.6)
Mountain Ears Digest
4 June 2015
SOCIALS
Socials Programme July - September 2015
This is the programme so far - it is bound to fill up later.
All shows start at 8:30pm. The Club house is open though from 7.30pm. The Library and climbing wall are
also open.
If you have asked for a braai fire, the boma is open from 6.30pm.
Please check the Notice Board for further updates. Speakers are often organised at the last minute
or a DVD may be shown, so it is always worth checking.
DATE
FRIDAY EVENINGS
12 July
Film - The High Cost of Cheap Gas: What the Oil Industry does not want you to
know! Adelle Horler and Geoff Dalglish will give the introduction.
19 July
‘Sand in My Shoes: A Short Trip Through Southern Namibia’- Ian Meaker &
Sarah Middleton. Over Easter Ian and Sarah took a 9 days tour of Southern Namibia, starting from Aus and heading to Luderitz, Sossusvlei and finally Koiimasis.
26 July
Wilderness Search & Rescue - Rik de Decker (detail of talk to follow)
SNIPPETS
DASSIE DISASTER
An Australian backpacker has been left disfigured after mistaking a dassie on Table Mountain for a quokka.
Quokkas are small Australian marsupials that look like they could be dassies’ first cousins. Unlike the friendly
quokkas, which pose calmly in selfies, Cape Town dassies are violent and aggressive.
According to an eyewitness, the young tourist knelt down and put her arm around the dassie, which responded by clamping down on her nose with its
teeth. Table Mountain staff were only able to separate the two after the dassie had been sedated with a
tranquiliser dart.
A leading rodentologist, Evan Mowser, warned that
this behaviour is becoming common amongst the
Cape dassie population: ‘Clueless tourists have been
encroaching on dassies’ natural habitats for decades,
and dassies have responded with a heightened level
of territorial aggression. Dassies have also had their
nocturnal cycle disrupted by the lighting of the mountain by night. Finally, tourists have taken to leaving
their cigarette butts all over the mountain, which the
dassies are now eating.’
“Basically, what you have is aggressive, sleepdeprived wild animals which are suffering nicotine
withdrawal. I’m surprised that a tourist hasn’t been
killed and eaten yet”, concluded Mowser.
Young Dassie near Cable Station, unperturbed by people. Photo:
Ineke Moseley
Source: zanews.co.za (MCSA National News April 2015)
Mountain Ears Digest
54 June 2015
LOYALTY AWARDS
(Cont from p.4)
50 year Award recipients: Ed Malinaric, Peter and Mary Berrisford , Olwen Gibson, Ellinor Wilson, Sandy
Veitch and Brian Lambourne (Chairman) Photo: Mike Scott.
A PROPOSED RAILWAY LINE LINKING CHINA TO
TIBET MAY PASS THROUGH MOUNT EVEREST
A Chinese railroad expert said a planned line linking
China and Tibet may have to pass through Mount
Everest. China is considering a plan to extend a railway line to Nepal that may run through Mount Everest, state media reported on Thursday. China has
begun preparatory work for the project “at Nepal’s
request,” China Daily reported. But the plan, which
officials say could be finished by 2020, may have to
run through Mount Everest along the border between the two countries, according to Wang Mengshu, a rail expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
“The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma so that workers may have to dig some very
long tunnels,” Wang said, using the Tibetan name
for Mount Everest. http://time.com/3815463/chinamt-everest-railroad/
Mountain Ears Digest
CENCOM NEWS: Change-over
Terry White: new MCSA
President
At our club's AGM of
the Central Committee on Saturday 9th
May, our outgoing
President Petro
Grobler handed over
the reins to our new
incoming President,
Terry White.
The MCSA owes a
huge vote of thanks
to Petro for steering
the Club and managing our International
relations within the UIAA during her term of office,
and we owe Terry a huge vote of thanks for
agreeing to take over the baton.
64 June 2015
RECENT MEETS
SNEEUBERG. Photo taken by Hugh Byrne on Torben Wiborg’s recent meet to the Cederberg.
Theewaterskloof dam from near du Toit’s Kloof. Suzanne Wilson-Smith’s meet
Mountain Ears Digest
74 June 2015
RECENT MEETS
These photos were taken on Amphitheatre
Wall, Elsie’s Peak. Eric Harley is an enthusias-
Agatha’s Gully traverse. Don Jepson’s meet
Silverstream Buttress on a misty morning. Brian Lambourne’s meet.
Mountain Ears Digest
84 June 2015