Obstacle Course Racing
Red Bull Bridge Bars: watch Thomas van Tonder attempt a world-first
South African OCR World Champion Thomas van Tonder will attempt to cross more than 600 monkey bars slung beneath Africa's highest bridge. It'll be mighty impressive and it's being streamed live.
Imagine hanging beneath Africa’s highest bridge more than 200m above water below – and trying to cross it – one monkey bar at a time. That's the challenge facing South African obstacle course racer (OCR) world champion Thomas van Tonder, who will attempt to cross a roughly 280m suspended course beneath the Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma, South Africa.
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What is the challenge?
Thomas van Tonder will attempt to cross Bloukrans Bridge via monkey bars
© Red Bull Content Pool
In October 2026, van Tonder will attempt to be the first person to cross more than 600 monkey bars suspended beneath Bloukrans Bridge, which sits approximately 216m above the Bloukrans River in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The attempt will be streamed live.
This is no simple, straight-line set of monkey bars. The course follows the bridge's arch, which means he has to go hand over hand up the climb, across the flat crown and down the far side. This requires van Tonder to constantly adapt his grip, testing his strength, endurance and body control. Each stretch tests a different kind of strength: pulling power going up, raw endurance across the middle, and controlled, muscle-tearing resistance coming down, which means he’ll be unable to settle into one rhythm. More than just upper-body strength and stability, the task requires core control, physical coordination and sharp mental focus.
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Why is he doing it?
Van Tonder surveys the task ahead
© Red Bull Content Pool
Van Tonder loves a challenge. Traversing between Johannesburg's Soweto Towers on a rope, for which he claimed a Guinness World Record, is just one example of a challenge he set himself in order to push his body and mind to its limits. For the Bloukrans Bridge monkey-bar project, he deliberately chose the harder route. A straight line across the top of the bridge would have been easier, but climbing up and over the arch, following its full curve, is a more monumental challenge. “It will push me to the limits,” he said. “I don't know if I can do it.”
Training was hard and took a toll. “It takes far more strength and endurance than I thought,” he admits. “I've picked up injuries along the way. I still have tendonitis in my elbow and my shoulders are sore.”
Besides a passion for challenging his own abilities, becoming a father was also a motivation. “The people who look up to you learn far more from what you do than from what you say,” he said. “The best way to teach that is to take on something really difficult myself, figure it out and train for it, because the process is where the value is.”
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How was the course designed and built?
The rigging is suspended so it leaves no mark on the bridge
© Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool
Planning took several years. The structure, which was built by Vertical Safety Systems (VSS), based in Cape Town, had to take two main considerations onboard: van Tonder’s safety and the bridge’s integrity.
Nothing could touch the bridge itself. The team couldn’t drill holes or bolt anything to the bridge's structure. Nothing could be permanent – the bridge was to be left as they found it – without a mark and nothing left behind. It therefore required a truss to be suspended from the bridge’s structure.
There are two points of safety: a rail system strapped to the truss, and a separate line running directly to van Tonder, which is not connected to the truss. Richard Lievaart, Head of Rigging and Safety Director VSS, said: “If one system ever failed, the other is still there.”
In the lead-up to the challenge, a team of riggers and safety engineers designed and tested the course. They built a scaled-down version and tested it at van Tonder’s home before installing it on the bridge.
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When is Red Bull Bridge Bars happening and how can I watch it?
Red Bull Bridge Bars will happen in October 2026. You can watch live on Red Bull TV and YouTube. Details of the date and time, plus links to watch, are coming soon.
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Who is Thomas van Tonder?
Thomas van Tonder is an OCR World Champion and Guinness World Record holder
© Red Bull Content Pool
Renowned as one of the most dominant competitors in functional fitness and obstacle sports the world over, Thomas van Tonder is an OCR World Champion and Guinness World Record holder.
He's accumulated more than 20 Warrior Race Black Ops Elite wins and won the South Africa National OCR Championship in 2016 and 2018. In 2019, he won the 100m Sprint World Championship at the OCR World Championships (OCRWC). In November 2020, he claimed a world record for the Fastest 50m Rope Climb, scaling the 90m Soweto Towers in South Africa and reaching the 50m mark in 3 mins 19.68 sec. He won a bronze medal at the 2024 OCRWC in California, and successfully defended the title at the Red Bull Rancher Strong competition in Texas in 2025 and 2026.
Learn more about Thomas van Tonder's achievements
Red Bull Bridge Bars in numbers
Stay tuned for more info on the live stream link for the attempt.