Paul Ruinaard Posted January 12, 2016 Posted January 12, 2016 Just wondering if by any chance there would be anyone else in the Drakensberg this weekend (Champagne Valley area) that would want to go do the helicopter ride with me. Its just me and the heli cost is R 6k so that is a bit steep for a single person. If you want to join me - Saturday or Sunday (weather permitting) please PM me.
Guest notmyname Posted January 12, 2016 Posted January 12, 2016 I believe it's super awesome. Good luck bud.
Paul Ruinaard Posted January 18, 2016 Author Posted January 18, 2016 So I did the ride with Kirk from Rockslide on Saturday - me and 11 guys from Durban/PMB area who were up there on a boys weekend. They were a lot better equipped bike wise than me. It was great. 25 km took about 4,5 hours after many stops. Its very physical and it was about 30% carry and walk or push because it was basically above my skill level. In fact I was riding things I would normally push down. I was completely shattered after the ride and hike - i can assure you its hard. All of us were. I was riding my Specialized Epic XC bike with some fat 2.3 tyres on it - I know it wasn't ideal but I am not building another trail/Enduro bike. Everyone else was on bigger machines or had some serious skills. Its a complete jol. Highly recommend it - but its for the Enduro type guys with fat tyres and 140mm if you really want to have fun. Take you arm and knee pads as well. Was R 1850-00 for the day including guiding down, so not cheap, but if this 52 year old body can get down there and also have my arse whipped by some 60 year old dude who is local who was guiding us then you can do it. So dont expect fast flowing single track all the way down - and get a dropper post as you will be going down some really steep descents....
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 Saw your pics, and it looked AWESOME. Really, really good. Would be a once-off, but well worth it IMO. You had 2 chopper lifts, right? 6 per trip, to get to the end cost of R 1850 per? with 5 people plus the guide, I presume it'll be the 6k for the uplift and then whatever the guide costs?
Paul Ruinaard Posted January 18, 2016 Author Posted January 18, 2016 Saw your pics, and it looked AWESOME. Really, really good. Would be a once-off, but well worth it IMO. You had 2 chopper lifts, right? 6 per trip, to get to the end cost of R 1850 per? with 5 people plus the guide, I presume it'll be the 6k for the uplift and then whatever the guide costs?We had to have 3 lifts and also had wait for a break in the weather as it was cloudy on Saturday morning. They use a Bell Long Ranger so it can take up to 6 folks. There were some guys up to my fighting weight so they have to balance the chopper and weight as well. Consequently we only started riding at about 11 am when we were all up top. Its tough as hell higher up - riding baby head rocks and some pretty serious gradient as well. I was absolutely not doing some of the drop offs those guys rode. The photos dont do the gradient justice...
Paul Ruinaard Posted January 18, 2016 Author Posted January 18, 2016 I took some not so good pics with my phone but luckily the other dudes were riding with GoPros - just go down the posts at their facebook site here and look at the latest ones of this weekend. You can see the pics there. This was the top section as most batteries were flat half way down. The gradient is - as I said - not done justice by the lens. https://www.facebook.com/Rockslide-Heli-Biking-707494992706827/?fref=ts
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.