Nothing stops them from reaching the top
Inching their way up and across a large boulder can sometimes strike people as unusual.
Perched on a ledge atop a sheer rock face, Matthew Bezuidenhout and Max Vos look out onto the Lowveld, pushing themselves to their limit as it’s about improving your skill level every week.
Max (18) was awarded the Manicom/Nel Trophy for the most-improved climber at Penryn College’s annual sport awards, while Matthew Bezuidenhout (17) was one of three athletes who were named for the Jacobs Trophy for the strongest climber together with Ruvan de Graaf and Leighton Reid-Daly.
A classroom on the school grounds is used as an indoor rock-climbing facility. Rather impressive.
Max first tried climbing a year ago after a friend told him about climbing and has been going on outdoor trips most weeks since.
“Because of my height, I did high jump most of my school career, but I got weary of it. After my second climbing lesson, I was hooked. I have learnt a lot more in this year than all the other sport combined. A wall never changes, but you need to change. There will always be a harder route.”
He continues by saying that he loves the sport because of the camaraderie between climbers as there is no competition to get into a team. “It’s a snowball effect.
“Once you get better, you don’t want to stop. It drains all your strength, you strive to push yourself harder and I enjoy being pushed.”
Matthew has been climbing since grade eight and it took him three months to reach the top. “I couldn’t really ever catch a ball and I am not a team player. I wanted to get to the top, and when I couldn’t, I wanted to come back and try again until I could do it.”
To make the route to the top more challenging, they would change the grips and replan their route.
If you are lean, limber, and clearly take fitness past typical limits, you might just be tempted to join Penryn’s rock-climbing team.
