Rainbow Glen "Climber Friendly" accommodation will, over the next few months, introduce you to some local climbers residing in Montagu. Meet them at the crags, say "Hi", they are a friendly bunch!
This month we are featuring the legendary, Ed February.
Please see our June / July 2023 "Rainbow Glen Climber Special" below.
This month saw the opening of another fine multi-pitch route on Cogmans Buttress - "Cresta del Amici" - which in Italian means "The Friends Ridge". An excellent route created by Tony Lourens and Garvin Jacobs.
This is a spectacular grade 16 , 9 pitch, 225 meter route on the far left of Cogmans Buttress. It weaves it's way up to the very top of the buttress, complete with a summit book to record your ascent!
July can traditionally be one of the wettest months in the Western Cape, but even if it's raining in Cape Town, the weather is often dry and sunny in Montagu, so . . . . . . make a plan, come and enjoy the rock in Montagu!
Dave: Ed, in what year did you purchase your property in Montagu?
Ed: I bought the property in 2004 but we have been coming here to climb since 1982 when we developed the climbing at Lost World. This led to the expansion of climbing in the area that you now see.
Dave: What do you enjoy the most about living in Montagu?
Ed: Access to the mountains. I can walk out my back door and be directly on the mountain where I may not see anybody all day while playing around on some fantastic scrambles. I can also walk from my house to several crags.
Dave: What are your 3 favourite routes? Easy, medium, hard?
Ed:Gospel Express at The Steeple. Wildcard at Oorlogskloof. Thruster at Supertubes. The problem is that is but three routes. There are loads more like Nuclear Waste at Lost World and Chocolate Speedway at Legoland.
Dave: What is your most memorable belay in Montagu?
Ed: Good question! Maybe the time that Tienie abseiled off the end of the rope on Cogmans Buttress and I grabbed the rope to stop him from decking it from a very long way up?
Ed lives happily together with his wife, Nicky, in The Oudam area of Montagu West (that’s the cool “arty” part), and just around the corner from Rainbow Glen.
He is a retired professor from UCT's Department of Biological Sciences where his research focus was, and still is, on Savanna "its dry but you can drink it" systems, that's trees and grasslands. Ed says : I still do a little research and present on this internationally. Being retired just means they don't pay me and I don't have to teach".
Ed helped open and develop the Lost World climbing area together with his climbing partner and lifelong friend Andrew De Klerk, “ADK”.
The Lost World is famous for long cracks and bold climbing and is home to some of the best trad climbing in the Western Cape.
Ed is a legendary mountaineer who enjoys all aspects of mountaineering from Alpine (Mount Kenya, Chamonix) through to big walls (Yosemite, Zion) and sport (Thailand, Verdon).
He has appeared in a number of National and International magazines and TV programmes and he has climbed extensively around the World.
Dave: And finally . . . . . . . . . . my favourite photo of Ed . . . . . on the Half Dome in Yosemite . . . . man, I love his helmet!!! The year was 1981 and Ed was 26 years old.
CALL TARA NOW TO MAKE A BOOKING - 023 614 1294 or 072 893 8388 info@rainbowglen.co.za www.rainbowglen.co.za