The Rhino Peak in the southern Drakensberg hasn’t been the same since 50 trail runners ascended and then descended it last Saturday during the annual challenge, aimed as much at raising funds for endangered species, as it is an experience and educational opportunity.
Snow fell on the 3 056m peak as the warm weather gave way to a cold front once all the ambassadors who took part in the 2023 Rhino Peak Challenge were home and dry.
The event has netted more than R1.3 million and, since its inception in 2016 and how stands at R6.7m.
“This money has gone to its beneficiaries, WildlifeACT, Endangered Wildlife Trust and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW). (It) has been used on projects involving vultures, cranes and rhinos,” said organiser Spurgeon Flemington.
Top fundraising ambassador was Brandie Wettstein from Switzerland, who raised R333 000.
Flemington stressed that the event was not a race.
Among the participants were five school teams, inspired by Treverton College in Mooi River, which sent a team last year. Last weekend saw the school’s Daniel Jonck the first pupil to finish the challenge, doing so in just under three-and-a-half hours. The school has raised around R15 000 so far.
“It was a huge sense of achievement that involved going up 21km in that terrain and then a lot of almost sliding down,” Faye Coverdale, a teacher at Grace College in Hilton, told the Independent on Saturday. Pupils Erin Coverdale and Jody Moren were the others in the team, which raised just under R24 000.
“But we’re still open for pledges,” said the teacher.
Maritzburg College teacher Brandon de Lange said his team, comprising Riley Kleynhans and Lethokuhle Shangase, “needed to hydrate extra well”.
He noted there was water available in streams up to the 5km mark, after which there was none.
“The route also became more technical from that point. It was easy until then, but not as technical. You started climbing more, physically using your hands, grabbing on to rocks and so on.”
He also noticed that the air was much thinner around the summit, which is across the border in neighbouring Lesotho.
Maritzburg College’s fundraising efforts are expected to be boosted by an endurance event alongside the school’s cyclists next month.
Other schools that took part were Michaelhouse and Steyn City School, from Johannesburg.
Steyn City School was the top fundraiser among the schools, bringing in R48 087.
The Independent on Saturday