9 Peaks
- October 14, 2013
The 9 Peaks Expedition is the brainchild of Jacques von Wielligh; trail runner and adventurer. It is not often that one gets to see your whole country in one go and that is exactly what this adventure holds in store for it’s runners. One summit on each province of Southern Africa. The expedition is essentially that – an expedition to summit the highest peak on every province of South Africa, whilst documenting the road taken and the trails run. As well as the best places to visit, in and around the respective mountain/peaks in each province.
The expedition will cover the following peaks:
Limpopo – Iron Crown (2,126 m)
Mpumalanga – Die Berg (2,331 m)
North West – Nooitgedacht Wes (1,806 m)
Gauteng – Toringkop (1,913 m)
Free State – Namahadi (3,275 m)
KwaZulu-Natal – Mafadi (3,451 m)
Eastern Cape – KwaDuma (3,019 m)
Northern Cape – Murch Point (2,156 m)
Western Cape – Seweweekspoort (2,325 m)
These 9 summits are freely available for people to hike or run. The expedition will create accurate maps for future use in the 9 Peaks Event as well as being made available for all via the website.
9 Peaks also is on a mission to get local charities in each province around the Mountains involved in the event, which will not only give exposure to said charity but also to raise awareness for the preservation of the running trails. Once the Expedition is done and all trails, roads and accommodation is documented efforts will be put towards an epic trail event in 2014.
Namahadi Summit Course
The first stage kicks off in Limpopo on 15 October 2013 at Iron Crown (Haenertsburg) which is a 20 km trail. On the 16th Die Berg in Mpumalanga will be tackled in 12 km. Nooitgedacht Wes Summit in North West sees us on the 18th for a 15 km run. The 19th it is time for Toringkop in Gauteng, another 15 km dash. Namahadi in the Freestate will hold a 25 km run on the 21st. And then come the big two, Mafadi in Kwazulu-Natal on the 23rd and KwaDuma in the Eastern Cape on the 25th, both 30 km, both upward climbs and both stages in which sleeping on the mountain is a part of the adventure. Murch Point on the 27th in the Northern Cape at 10 km should be child’s play after the previous two and we end off our journey at Seweweekspoort on the 28th in the Western Cape for a 15 km trail.
How can you join in?
Once the Expedition is done, instructions will be available to the public on how to join the 9 Peaks Event next year.
YB tracking are excited to be involved in the 9 Peaks expedition. Jacques von Wielligh has been supplied with one of our trackers so that he can track his journey to the summits of the highest peaks in South Africa. For more information on the expedition please visit the website
