Earth

In the mountains our lives had their largest overlap. In climbing, kloofing, bolting, and exploring. I think the first trip we went on together was a sport climbing mission to Oudtshoorn. Unio, Pete, Narny, Danie, Cobus, and Ben were also there. We stayed at the campsite further away from the crag, put up a slackline, climbed, listened to trance, and drank. You and Pete were trying Paws, the classic 7b, and I was trying Johnny Rotten, the short and powerful 7b+. I remember watching you climb, run it out, and take huge falls as if it was nothing, and thinking to myself, “this guy has a different risk tolerance than me, he just goes for it”. I seem to remember that we went to Gouritsmond on the way back home. You practically downed a bottle of Cane, then you and Jurie drove to the nearby town, toppled the car on an embankment, pushed it back onto its wheels, and drove it back to Gouritsmond, safe and sound. We had plenty of chances to die in our 20s, but miraculously none of them ever materialised.

From the climbing we did together at Montagu, I remember that you belayed me on Hypoxia (the short overhanging 7c+) - I tried it many times, and you were always willing to belay me. We’d drive through from Stellenbosh for the day whenever studies, weather and other pursuits allowed. And that we did the 2006 Rock Rally together, in the rain. I also recall wild times at the campsite.

Speaking of 2006, that was actually was the most insane year of my life. It was also the year that we did lots of exploration in the Cederberg, most notably at Eselbank.

I don’t dare put the details of those years and the Cederberg missions into writing, but I can outline the contours (those who where there know). We had a minimalist approach to comfort, sleeping wherever we could find good enough shelter - in caves, under boulders, in abandoned houses in campsites, in cars, and sometimes in tents (when the wind didn’t blow them away). We had what one could call an anarchist approach to social norms. I recall close encounters with the police, hitting golf balls down the main street of Clanwilliam at 01:00 after a hard night at the local pub. I recall altered states of consciousness, playing games with reality: “me, not me”. I recall others having difficulty keeping up with the crazy conversations of The Collective, the group of friends that was beginning to emerge around our explorations. It was this urgent sense of exploration, of both the inner and outer worlds that bound The Collective together in the various domains of action. We shared a certain sense of aesthetics to the way we explored: it was raw and direct, with no room for random social limits; it was pure, where the discovery of truth and beauty was the reward in itself.

One amazingly beautiful place we explored together was Milner Amphitheatre.

We made numerous missions up to Milner, with Arjan, Ben, Pete, Danie, Carl, Chris, and many others. You and Pete did one of the multi-pitch routes, topping out in the dark. There is a timeless space up there, behind the moving waterfall, in the forest at the base of the cliff.

Other memories of our missions take me to the Kouebokkeveld, to the Universal Area. So may good times there.

And to Bainskloof. Oh Bains, beautiful Bains, a bouldering area in the heart of the Boland, rugged, mountainous, vast, without paths - a place for the highly motivated.

Whenever I return to Bains, your spirit will be there.

Air

For me, the air was skydiving, wingsuiting and BASE jumping, while for you it was hang gliding. We never shared the air directly with one another, but that was never a barrier to sharing the excitement, the motivation, and the lessons with one another. Learning across the elemenets, and from different sports was a core part of The Collective’s approach to getting things done. When doing risky things, you want to learn everything that can be helpful, no matter where the lesson originates. I also think that this more analytical aspect of do-analyse-teach-learn added a unique flavour to our exploits. Going into something, you did so knowing that your experiences will be valuable to others, and this stoked the fire of motivation.

Water

The ocean was always your home, and in surfing big waves you found your ultimate excitement, and ultimate peace.

You’ve written extensively about your relationship with the ocean, and with surfing, diving, and other water-based sports. I recently read your writings again. There is so much inspiration in there: your systematic and analytical approach to training; your hard work, dedication, discipline; your immense drive to action, despite injury, illness, and risk of death; the committment, capacity, and energy for pushing your limits.

The game

What we did as a collective was always important - climbing, bolting, first ascents, kloofing, surfing, kite-surfing, wind-surfing, diving, body boarding, skydiving, BASE jumping, hang gliding, mountain biking, skiing, yoga, karate. It was important because each of these areas of movement, in each of their respective elements, required the development and mastery of a set of skills. But almost just as important was how and why we did those things. Taken together, it was about moving gracefully, with skill and understanding, in beautiful places.

We understood that most of society, and the interactions we have with people in general, is an elaborate and mostly accidental construct. And that we need to break free from this, that we had to see reality as it is beyond this. This was the meta game, the deep play, breaking into that realm where arbitrary constructs fade away, where the lines between life and death become crystal clear, where decisions have ultimate consequence, and force utimate focus. Deep inside that realm, on the knife’s edge between life and death, there is a special kind of mental and physical calm that can only be accessed by taking the necessary risks. You more than most, were willing to take those risks, and you did so with skill and grace.