Drakensberg The Winter Snows

“IN THE WILDERNESS – WHERE VIEWS AND HABITS ARE NOT INDULGED AND WE REALIZE OUR VULNERABILITY AND POTENTIAL.”

UNKNOWN

Drakensberg

The Winter Snows

On the morning of Saturday 5^th July 1975, a party of holiday-makers from the Oxbow Ski Lodge in Lesotho set out in a Land Rover for a day’s excursion into the nearby hills. They were aiming to walk across to the Amphitheater at Mont-aux-Sources and see the view from the escarpment edge. Presently they parked the Land Rover, and continued on foot. The mountain terrain was so bleak and rough, however, that by midday most of the climbers had returned to the vehicle. In fact, only two were still out on the hike: Martin Marsoner, an Austrian who was managing the ski lodge, and John des Ligneris, an athletic young man of twenty-seven years of age.

After a while, Martin himself decided to turn back. An old leg injury was troubling him; but he encouraged John to continue on his own. It was a beautiful afternoon, the weather was fine, and the young man was exceptionally fit. Martin assured John that if he kept going in the same direction he would reach the Amphitheater by 14h00.

At 15h00 John looked at his watch. He was worried. There was still no sign of the escarpment. What is more, the sky had a strange look about it. Ice crystals were falling from nowhere and settling on his black jersey. Yes, it was time to be getting back.

Soon, dark, disquieting clouds appeared on the horizon. He quickened his pace, and then began to run…….

With lungs rasping for breath he raced across the hills into the flying arms of the storm, only to be faced by a deluge of snow and a whipping gale that stung his cheeks and blinded his eyes.

Bending before the blizzard, he staggered on, determined to keep his sense of direction. But it was no use. He was whirled about in the storm, thrown on the ground, and drenched with icy spray. When darkness fell, he found himself lost and alone. Nevertheless he stumbled on determined to stay alive. During the night he lost a shoe, which he hardly noticed – his feet were already numb.

When morning came, the clouds parted and he found himself in a wilderness of snow and ice. The wind dropped and the sun shone from a clear blue sky. He heard the distant drone of aircraft, and later in the day the familiar sound of a helicopter, and his spirit lifted. They were out looking for him. It was just a matter of time now…… Soon they would spot him and he would be rescued – rescued, he hoped, before frost-bite set in.

But for three days he watched in vain as the aircraft droned in the sky and the SAAF helicopter skimmed the ground, many kilometres from where he was!

On the second day (Sunday) he stumbled upon an abandoned Basotho hut, and sheltered there for the night, covering himself with thatch from the roof. The following night he reached another disused hut containing a pile of old sheepskins. He slept the night between the skins, and next morning bound his right food in a piece of sheep skin to replace the shoe he had lost on the first day. For two days he had walked in a sock strapped to his leg with the belt from his trousers. Now, with the improvised shoe, he began to make better progress. He descended a steep ridge and found himself in low-lying country, beyond the reach of the snow. But he was weak from lack of food; suffering from snow-blindness, exposure, and frost-bite, and desperately in need of medical care.

Night was approaching yet again when, all of a sudden, fate took a hand once more: he stumbled upon a Basotho herdsman! The Basotho took him to a mountain cave where he lived, cooked a meal of cabbage, mealies, and coffee for him, and gave him his own bed to sleep on. Next morning he sent his son on horseback to alert the police at Witzieshoek. By 14h00 that afternoon radios where crackling the news, and within the hour a helicopter dropped out of the sky and picked him up.

John was flown to Ficksburg, and then on to the Rand Clinic in Johannesburg for possible amputation of his frost-bitten toes. On arrival, however, the specialists prescribed a course of physiotherapy treatment which might obviate the need for surgery. But there was little reason to rejoice: Martin Marsoner, the Austrian was still missing………

When it became known that the two men had separated on the Saturday, and that Martin had agreed to wait for John in the vicinity of the Land Rover, a massive search party set out on foot to comb the hills. They found his body, stiff and rigid, under a slab of rock only one hundred meters from where the Land Rover had been parked. His watch had stopped at 02h30, and the date was Monday, 7^th July. The post-mortem revealed that Martin had died on the Saturday night.

John’s amazing survival sparked of a good deal of controversy and discussion in the press. How had he managed to survive those bitter nights when Martin, a seasoned climber who lived in the area, perished so quickly? Speaking for himself, however, John could only say, “I was in peak physical condition, and believed all the time that I could survive.”

There is much we can learn from this incident. Snowfalls in the Drakensberg are most unpredictable, and can occur without warning. Any person venturing to the summit, therefore, should have a healthy respect for the area, and go fully prepared to face any eventuality.

The most essential item is a warm sleeping bag. A light fold-up mattress, or a sheet of plastic foam, can add much to the hiker’s comfort, especially if he has to sleep on the ground. Protective clothing should include a windproof anorak, balaclava, gloves, and long windproof trousers. Strong leather boots are essential, and snow gaiters are useful if snow has already fallen. Dark glasses will prevent snow blindness, and medicated skin cream will help to prevent sunburn. At higher altitudes the hiker is exposed to extreme radiation from the sun, and this becomes even more pronounced when ultra-violet rays are reflected off the snow. It is also wise to have plenty of food in reserve.

Finally, what kind of shelter can we expect to find on the summit? Apart from the recognized caves (there are no more than a dozen of them along the escarpment – and most of them are difficult to find), it is sometimes possible to take refuge under an overhanging rock or cliff. This kind of protection, however is usually quite inadequate and only temporary. By far the best measure is for the hiker to equip himself with a small portable tent. Light-weight tents of suitable designs are readily available and the modern fibers used in their construction enable them to withstand the worst of weather conditions. What is more, the freedom and flexibility afforded by a tent enables the hiker to go anywhere he pleases and to camp wherever he wants to.

We as hikers, explorers, and adventurers have the absolute duty to respect and protect our Wildernesses. Nobody else will do it for us. Take ownership!

The End.

Safe Hiking.