Areas
We are a South African based company. At present nearly all of our trips are run in South Africa and neighbouring countries. We will probably expand to other countries in the near future, focusing on those mountains which are less popular but which nonetheless offer memorable mountaineering experiences.

Within South African our primary areas of operation include :
Drakensberg,
Magaliesberg,
Wolkberg and
the Transvaal Drakensberg.

If you wish to go somewhere not listed here (such as the Western Cape or Eastern Cape) then please ask - we just don't have 'standard' trips to those places.

Style of activities

Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is seldom conducted as a multi-day activity. Most of the time it is a single-day activity. In some cases we might conduct several days of rock-climbing but return to established overnight accommodation each evening. On those occasions where we do run a multi-day backcountry climbing trip the style is the same as for our multi-day backpacking trips. Most people looking to go out climbing tend to want to do sport (bolted routes) and these are seldom more than an hour's walk from the nearest road.

Mountain backpacking and hiking
We run both single-day and multi-day hiking trips. On single-day trips you will be expected to carry a day-pack containing the basic necessities of life - food, water, clothing for poor weather and a head-torch of some sort.

Unless otherwise specified, multi-day trips are conducted in true South African mountaineering style - fully self contained. Party members carry everything themselves - stoves, tents, food and all persdonal effects. In the event that you would prefer to have porters, please specify this when making your enquiries so that we can cost this into the quotation.

Overnighting, unless otherwise stated, is backcountry stuff - no ablutions, no huts and no dedicated camp staff (your guides have to do the work themselves). We camp at whatever point we decide looks good towards the end of the day. Apart from anything else, this limits the damage done to any one potential camp-site and keeps the wilderness areas in a true wilderness condition.

If you choose to do one of the hutted trails then this changes - these huts are normally equipped with fire places and cold-water facilities. However, we will still need to carry our food and a stove or two.

Kloofing / canyoneering
Most of our kloofing is run on a single-day trip basis. However, there are one or two places where the trip is multi-day. In these cases the stye is the same as for the backpacking - fully self-contained. However, in many of these areas it is often (but not always) possible to arrange porters on the spur of the moment to carry equipment in to wherever the 'base camp' is to be situated.

Customer Service Contact Information

Telephone :
082-652-1490 (All hours, but please try to be reasonable)

eMail :
Enquiries to : info@sml.co.za

SnailMail :
P. O. Box 2094, Wingate Park, 0153