200m fall kills climb fanatic
2006-02-05 22:40
Revona Kees and Malani Venter
Cape Town - An overnight climb on the Steenberg mountain range near Muizenberg turned into a tragedy when a 21-year-old woman fell 200m to her death after a rope snapped.
The woman apparently fell during the early-morning hours after her rope had chafed through on the rocks.
Dion Tromp, manager of Wilderness Search and Rescue, said the "swinging" action that caused the woman's death was a lot different from that which happened during mountaineering.
The rock where she was found was situated under an overhang. The climbers tied their ropes above the overhang, and then did their "swinging" below the overhang, said Tromp.
Yunus Davids, a friend and one of the climbers who was with the woman, said she and a number of friends had camped overnight in the Steenberg.
Her rope might have got caught on a rock while she was hanging suspended at the bottom. The strong wind kept swinging her until the rope had chafed through and snapped.
Also climbed skyscrapers
Her climbing partners tried to hand her an extra rope, but before they could reach her, she had plunged to her death.
Davids said: "I don't know what the problem was. She was a good climber. As far as I know, she sometimes also climbed skyscrapers, he said.
A representative of the Metro rescue services said the body had to be moved higher up the mountain to make space for the emergency helicopter to land and this took about two hours.
"She apparently died of serious head injuries and multiple fractures," said the Metro representative.
The woman's name cannot be released yet.
Another group of hikers also got into trouble after one of them fell about 23m near Second Waterfall in the Jonkershoek nature reserve.
Claudia Swart, 30, of Stellenbosch, who lectured at the Boland College, said she was "very thankful" when she told Die Burger on Sunday about her narrow escape.
"I can't remember everything, but the girls and I were talking when I slipped.
"I tumbled down, tried to grab at branches, and then gave up. I can't remember anything else; I just strike a blank.
Gavin Holroyd, manager of Winelands Search and Rescue, said they received a call about 11:00 that somebody had fallen in the mountains.
Left thigh seriously injured
"She landed in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Her friends helped her out of the water and immediately called rescue services," he said.
She was taken to Stellenbosch Clinic by the Red Cross Air Mercy Services helicopter.
Swart said on Sunday she was slated for surgery about 19:00, because her left thigh had been seriously injured.
"I am thankful to my friends for their help and support and the rescue services who came to my aid so quickly," she said.
- Die Burger