Mountain Running
1100 kilometres with over 33 000m of ascent in 16 Days, 6 Hours and 56 Minutes...
'Bagged' came the very simple text message from Adrian Saffy, one of the vital support crew on the Navigate Lesotho project. The text – which broadly translates to 'conquered' in mountaineering jargon – came through just after 13:00 on 27 April 2022, some 16 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes after Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel first set off from Telle Bridge Border Post to circumnavigate Lesotho.
The pair, who have 'bagged' other big FKTs in the past, including the Drakensberg Grand Traverse as well as a section on the Great Himalaya Trail, overcame adverse weather conditions and navigated boundaries – both physical and mental – to finish this one off. This was, they both say, by far their toughest challenge yet.
Their adventure took them to the most remote and untouched regions of the Mountain Kingdom and South Africa, putting their navigation skills, seasoned physical training and psychological fortitude to the test.
The weather continued its onslaught throughout the following few days, with flooding in the region making things incredibly wet and soggy.
On navigating both the route and the weather Griesel commented: “It felt like we were building a puzzle. Often we had to take a couple steps back to move forward again and that was mentally quite challenging. Running through the mud and doing multiple river crossings was pretty slow going.”
Calling this their 'toughest challenge yet,' Sandes and Griesel covered the length of the entire Drakensberg Mountain range, summited some of Lesotho’s most breathtaking peaks and renowned trails, including Mafadi Peak, the highest mountain in South Africa at 3,446.1m.
“There were some really cold nights out there, where we didn’t think we would make it through. Looking back it feels like an eternity ago that we started,” remarked Sandes at the finish at the Telle Bridge Border Post. “We’ve been on enough crazy adventures together to know that key to these adventures is ultimately trust and respect - something that Ryno and I truly have in each other. I wouldn’t want to have achieved this with anyone else."
Sandes’ trail-running career, albeit physically and mentally challenging, has afforded him a philosophical outlook on life. “All those curve balls make for real epic adventure with some incredible memories I’ll hold onto forever.”
“I’m sure the fact that it’s finally done will all sink in shortly,” concluded Sandes.