A step at a time to the summit
Two men who make adventure wherever they can find it tells the story of how they conquered an ogre.

WHITE RIVER – Just over a week ago, two Lowvelders conquered an ogre. Mount Eiger is a Swiss beast that stands almost
4 000 metres high and its known as one of the most technical climbs on the face of the planet. On July 31 locals Sibusiso Vilane and Mark Hassenkamp stood on its summit.
Vilane is a well-known mountaineer and adventurer, and also the first black African to scale Mount Everest, almost 10 years ago. He was introduced to Hassenkamp little over a year ago by mutual friends. Hassenkamp was on his way to South America to climb Mount Aconcagua, another challenge that Vilane already had under his belt.
Seven days after a 12-hour, physical ordeal to conquer Eiger, the men can look back and laugh at the experience despite their both admitting that this was one adventure they would not repeat. “If there were an easy way out at any time, both of us would have taken it!” Hassenkamp joked.
Ten hours of relentless, physical work and mental concentration to remain on an ice ledge half a metre wide, was, however, no joke. Vilane and Hassenkamp formed part of a group of eight out of 22 who managed to reach the summit that day.
Waking up in the Mittellegi Hut on the Wednesday, for a climb set to start at 04:30, they were told by their local guides there was only a 30% chance to reach the summit successfully that day. What followed was from 10 to 12 hours of pure, unadulterated toil.
It is not so much that they were physically unprepared, Hassenkamp mused about the difficulty of the climb, but rather that the mountain kept throwing unexpected obstacles in their way. Wearing thin gloves typically used for technical climbs, the intrepid mountaineers encountered frozen ropes on the vertical slopes of the mountain, by which they had to pull themselves up, using their arms. “We never expected to use our arms this much,” Vilane explained afterwards.
Their proper training and experience in climbing other mountains and peaks pulled them through, but this would not have been enough without the correct mental attitude, Hassenkamp said. “There are many moments on a mountain like this that you are forced to find the strength, calm and resilience to carry on, because letting go, leading to your demise, is not an option,” he said, reflecting on the experience. In these moments, what all mountaineers do, the men explain, is to set very small goals.
Both get somewhat philosophical about the act of conquering a towering beast like Eiger. “Time and time again you realise that your limit is not where you thought it was and you can do more and push harder,” according to Vilane.
Hassenkamp agreed, “Going through this makes you more cautious of your limitations but also more conscious of your abilities. I always tell youngsters that every step takes you to the next and you must just believe in yourself.”
They are not sure what their next adventuorus attempt will be, perhaps the five highest peaks in Russia, or the Andes. Whatever it may be, both agree that every person should climb a mountain and realise that they, too, can touch the sky.