Mellville Koppies

[Liz]

Hi

Can anyone tell me whether anybody still climbs at Melville Koppies nowadays - is it worth while?

[gripit]

I have been there a few times. Climbs are short but very steep. Good for building strength. I have enjoyed figuring out a few tricky moves. There has been a few cars that have been broken into while parked next to the road. What i do is park up by the Spar and walk down the hill. Make sure you go in a group there has been a few reports of mugging about 5 years ago. I have not seen anything yet myself "touch wood"

[Liz]

Thanks!

[Old Smelly]

The muggings were quite bad! As far as I recall a couple of men were sprayed with mace & stabbed!

Sure I also used to park fairly far away & walk there, but is the risk worth it - hell no!

Maybe we should dredge up the number of incidents because I think at the time they were multiple & quite serious. I don't want to be a naysayer but we need to start taking these things seriously instead of pretending they don't happen.

Anyhow the climbing is quite contrived & a good ten minutes of entertainment! Rather do Northcliff!

[gripit]

They have had problems at Northclift too. The fact of the matter is that we live in South Africa and you need to keep a eye out. Is this going to stop me climbing NO. I have enjoyed Mellville and yes there have been problem So take care but don't let fear rule your life.

[Deanage]

Hi

If you are still interested at Climbing at Melville Koppies, Sunday afternoons are definately your time and day.

There are a whole bunch of (Zionist?) Church Groups there from about 14:30 onwards. One group sets up just below the crag. Before I started climbing I used to hike through the koppies on sundays at the same time and didn't encounter any problems.

It is still advisable to go in a group but I would like to think that with the Church groups there it is much safer by virute of the fact that there are more people around.

Myself and a friend plan to start climbing there more often so if you would like to tag along PM me and we can make a plan.

Dean

[Liz]

Cool, thanks for the info. Might try it one of these days