One of South Africa’s extreme mountain trail races, Stanley’s Lighthouse Run, takes place annually on the mountains above Ladismith near the Klein Swartberg peak known as Towerkop. It ranks among the best and is extreme to the extreme.
The race is described by adventure photographer and journalist Jacques Marais as “the most technical mountain course on offer in South Africa ..” and was named after the dynamo-driven light put up by ‘Oom Stanley’ to monitor the town of Ladismith’s water supply high up in the rugged reaches of the Swartberg ranges.
The race is 24km long and was won by defending champion Dom Wills in a time of 2 hours
36 minutes – a rapid time given that the distance includes 1410m of ascent.
Race organiser Ugene Nel commented, “I’m not sure Dom even saw the
tricky/technical/slippery/precipices/cliffs/rock slides/boulder fields – he moved
pretty fast. Not easy for this tough mountain challenge and considering the
conditions under foot! The back markers came in near on 6 hours…”
Race day Prelude (Observations by Ugene Nel – Race Organiser)
I was quite stressed when I arrived in Ladismith on the Tuesday in the pouring rain
and freezing conditions – I could not even see the mountain in the thick and low
cloud cover! I decided to go up on the mountain first thing Thursday morning to
rope some of the hazardous areas… It was still raining and I wanted to see what it
looked like in these conditions high up on the mountain in case it stayed this
way… I got to the highest point where runners would have to negotiate some very
slippery and exposed areas and was pretty stressed to see how much water was coming
down the mountain and how slippery the rock under foot was. I made my way down to
the water fall crossing and started setting up the safety rope to cross over the
cascade on the rock slab. The normal crossing was now 2 feet under rushing water and
if you lose your footing here, you slide down a 40 degree slab for about 30 meters
before you end up in a shallow rock pool which might (if you’r lucky) stop your
slide. If not, you’ll end up doing a free fall into a another pool… much further
below…
I decided to cross this slab in the deepest, widest part where the water was much less powerful and not so close to the edge. It was freezing cold and by the time I rigged the safety rope across and anchored both ends, I could no longer feel my hands and feet. I carried on across the boulder field and despite the conditions, I was still humbled by the shear beauty – water falls everywhere and cascading streams every few meters at this high point!
After experiencing the route in the wet and cold conditions, I decided to rope more tricky and potential dangerous sections the next day, which meant another trip up the mountain with more rope! It stopped raining but conditions remained treacherous. During Friday night, a strong berg wind started blowing which stressed me out more!
I woke at at 4am Saturday morning – It was race day.
The Race (a report by the winner Dom Williams)
There was a ‘warm’ berg wind during the night, which kept the temperatures from
venturing too much below freezing. There was a little snow on the top peaks, but the
morning was cool and conditions were great for the group of brave runners that lined
up. I say brave, because anyone who is still up for conquering the mountain after
Ugene Nel’s race briefing has truly had to consider whether their life policies are
up to date.
The race got off to a brisk start. In my mind, Ugene designed the opening 3km of
jeep track as a ‘yawn and stretch’ period, because as we all know, trail runners
don’t do prior warm ups.
The main climb of the day begins early into the race and before long a brisk run becomes a brisk walk with hands on knees. Towards the top of the climb, one encounters Stanley’s light, which is a very impressive engineering feat and has survived everything from fynbos fires to baboon raids. But most pay little attention to the engineering nuances here, as spleen in hand, one tackles the toughest and
steepest part of the course.
A roped section brings one over a slippery section to the top of the climb and one has to be prepared to face the famous ‘Trevor cam’ for an obligatory race comment. It was also an honour to have award winning Jacques Marais, doing sterling work behind the lens. These guys had to be up and hiking before dawn in minus temperatures in order to get there – but all the runners very much appreciate the little lift at this tough point in the race. The views from the top are some of the best in the little Karoo, and its comforting to know that Oom Stanley’s over 200 odysseys to the top were at least graced with vistas that rival anywhere in the world.
Race Date next year: same weekend as the Eco Festival in Ladismith!
For more info and photos : Quantum Adventures; SleepMonsters
Further reading : Makadas Adventures; Ridgway Ramblers; Urban Ninja; Dreamscape Images
