The rocklands highline meeting, held in September, proved to be a great addition to the 2025 highline calendar. Allowing for a Heritage Day long-weekend of highlining, climbing, and relaxed times together as a community.
In contrast to the April Festival, the meeting forgoes workshops and facilitated events to provide a relaxed ‘highline’ focused gathering. Learn more about the rigging and shenanigans below.
Rigging the Highlines
Sean arrived early and tagged the 200-meter gap. Adam, Aidan, Audrey, Cary, Emily, Hasting, Hannes, Jeff, Laurence, and Leighton assisted in rigging. This year saw the two 20’s, the 40, the two 60’s all rigged with bungees on the static anchors.
Next, the two 200-meter highlines were rigged simultaneously using a single curtain. The releasable dog bones were a success, detaching the connections from the backup webbing to the curtain.
Highliners Visiting from the USA (*and Quebec)
Audrey, Cary, Danny, David, Natalie, and Tara brought a welcome connection to the event. Sharing walking techniques, freestyle tricks, and stories of past projects with us. Forever solidifying them a place in our hearts.
We bundled up for a movie screening beneath the stars. Privileged to preview a film of the Absurdian 3km highline. The takeaway being, big highline projects are complex, take a large team, and many hours of flaking webbing and rope! A great inspiration for South Africa’s next big highline.
Read Philip Queen’s technical report of the 3km line here.
Bouldering at De Pakhuys and Sport Climbing at Bester Crag
It wouldn’t be a ‘complete’ trip to Rocklands without hanging out beneath the stars during a nighttime boulder session. On Saturday, we were fortunate to hike up to Bester Crag to sample some of the incredible sport climbing routes. A highlight was the short but sharp ‘Prohibition’ route established by Ebert.
Leighton and Nothgeil’s Shadow Walk
Easily the highlight of the meeting was the session shared by Leighton and Nothgeil, his shadow self. The two walked tandem with one above and one below, they walked hand in hand, and performed a humorous piggyback.
Wildflowers Blanketing the Veld
In addition to the many San rock artworks, the Pakhuis Pass is home to some rare and endangered plant species. It is a delight to visit the area during the spring season, taking moments to appreciate the small and wonderful flowers. Walking past Catclaw Corn-lilies ( Laperousia fabricii) and Chincherinchee’s (Ornithogalum subcoriaceum) on the way to the dam for a swim.
Slacklines & Space Nets
Outside the Lapa, two slacklines were rigged knee-high to accommodate beginners. The 1-inch primitive slackline spanned 12 meters, while the 2-inch slackline was rigged across 8 meters. These were positioned next to the tree net installed by Sean in April. Above the tree net we rigged Cary’s space net at a height of 2.5m, encouraging play while providing a perfect vantage point of the highlines in the valley above.
What’s the difference? The tree net is a permanent installation which is significantly more comfortable due to the weave and the stretch of the thin diameter paracord. The space net has less stretch and was created for temporary use at height.
Socks and the Old Crew Bring a Family Feeling
Seeing Juno and Socks, who have attended many of the highline festivals, brought a warmth to the campsite and our hearts. A treat to share the lines with OG’s who helped introduce me to my first highline. Giving this year’s meeting a special edge and energy.
Waking up to the smell of coffee brewing in our makeshift home of tents is something special to remember. Well done to Aidan for perservering to cross the 200 meter line for his personal best crossing. And we happily welcome the new faces who joined us to tackle the highlines for the first time.
We look forward to seeing you all again at the next event. A big thank you to everyone who helped to make this event possible. We are grateful for Thuys and De Pakhuys team for supporting and hosting our community. Cheers, until the next one!
Shout out to Jordan who designed the Rocklands Highline Meeting 2025 Poster. You can visit and follow her illustrations on Instagram here.
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