Committee - Bergklub Suid-Afrika

Contact secretary for general enquiries and members’ secretary for membership queries. For any enquiries about the various subdivisions you can contact the specific committee members.

Nardus CronjéChairman

Nardus

Nardus enjoys every aspect of mountaineering. He knows the mountains of the Boland and Peninsula fairly well and broadens his knowledge every year. He especially loves the Groot Winterhoek and Hex River mountains.

Peet BadenhorstVice-Chair | Communications

Peet

Peet is an outdoor person and loves all aspects of the mountains, but especially climbing, scrambling and kloofing. He has been to the Andes, Himalayas and Alps, and also to the New-Zealand Alps, Rockies, Great Escarp and Sierra Nevada.

Wim MorrisMembers’ Administrator | Treasurer

Wim

Wim loves mountaineering. Especially when you have to start early and bundu-bash somewhere without having planned it. Also when you have to scramble so that others become scared. And to fell a pine tree or two. Even better if there are many snacks!

Paul VerhoevenEquipment | Access liaison

Paul

Before arriving in Cape Town in 1981, I knew very little about any adventures in the mountains. It all started when John Moss of UCT asked me: “We will be doing some climbing up country, would you like to join us?”. From Exposure in “F” Major, Witteberg, to Klein Winterhoek Frontal, from Witels River to Visgat Canyon, from the Twins (39 times) to Groothoek Kloof (20 times), from sleeping over in Xanadu Cave to the Nepal Mêra Peak expedition in 2010 – all of this made possible by the comradeship of many mountain club members over the years. Having spent more than 600 days in the mountains, I enjoy sharing a little bit of these experiences in the mountains with our members.

Wade BassonRock Climbing

Wade

I am a mountaineer with an endless passion for educating myself within my many hobbies, and teaching what I can to those with a similar eagerness to learn.

On a mission to expand my world of experience and knowledge by exploring the great wildernesses that our beautiful country, and the entire world, have to offer, my greatest joy lies in the people I get to befriend along the way. I have a philosophy that people with a taste for adventure, especially the kind that pushes the mind and body to its limits, are amongst the most disciplined and principled of humans, with many important values to share with others.

My love for adventure and nature sports, however, lies primarily in my pure obsession with the scientific wonders of the natural world, such as the geological, biological, and anatomical history of all living and inanimate things (and sustainability thereof).

Hans HeunisSecretary

Hans

Hans has had a love for the mountains and nature from a very young age. He is a mechanical engineer and, apart from hiking and mountaineering, enjoys mountain biking and loves kloofing and jogging . He recently (nearly) completed the Drakensberg Grand Traverse and would like to do a long hike like the Pacific Crest Trail. He has done many routes, including the Outeniqua, Tsitsikamma, Amatola, Magoebaskloof, West Coast Trail (Canada) and too many sleepover routes to mention. He would like to do more exploration in the Cederberg and to return to Patagonia as soon as international travel is back to normal. His favourite local route is Swartboskloof Sosyskloof in Jonkershoek, while he highly recommends Groot Winterhoek for a sleepover trip; the pool at Die Hel is really something to experience.

Corne van HeerdenCommunity Facilitator

Corne

My “happy space” is to explore a new route, hunt for snow or undertake multi-day hikes where I know that everything I need to survive is in my rucksack on my back. But the cherry on the cake is kloofing, to hang on a rope next to a waterfall of 60m. Then there is fresh air in my lungs, adrenaline pumps through my veins and I enjoy life to the full! It is really enjoyable to give back to the mountains; recently I have learnt to love hacking and to remove alien plants or trees. There is always a bit of exploring, discovering and adventure going hand in hand with the hard work.

Christoff TruterHiking program

Christoff

Christoff has a passion for mountains and exploring. Some of his favorite places in SA include Groot-Winterhoekpiek (Winterhoek Mountains), Wittebergvlakte (Limietberge), Towerkop (Swartberge) and Senqu Vlakte (Mweni, Drakensberge). His love for mountains recieved a huge injection after reading the rain gauges in Jonkershoek monthly for about 7 years as a volunteer for CapeNature. Since then, he has realized that it helps to be running fit because if you run you can see and experience so much more mountain in a day! Christoff is grateful for exposure to mountain legends like oom Retief Jordaan who helped in breaking boundaries of the impossible in his life. He hopes to also help others to realize what they are capable of through God’s grace.

Craig BurnsSocial

Craig

Craig enjoys adventures of all types in the great outdoors. This started as a young boy in Scouts where he achieved the Springbok Scout Award, then as a semi-professional trail runner and now him and his fiancé Jessica Winter are regularly to be found scrambling the country peaks, trad climbing on Table Mountain, scouting new routes in Jonkershoek, overnighting in a cave up in the Drakensberg or just lazing in the Witels pools.

Le Roux KotzeConservation

Le Roux Kotze

Le Roux has been hiking, climbing, and abseiling with the Mountain Club since 2016, and his love for the mountains began in Jonkershoek. That’s where his little piece of heaven on earth lies. The conservation of Jonkershoek is close to his heart, and he regularly leads excursions to eradicate invaders. He enjoys expanding the list of peaks he has climbed because with each new peak comes new views and exploration. The same goes for kloofs, because exploration and abseils together are great!