At the Central Committee's annual general meeting held on Saturday 17 April 1999 in Bloemfontein and the following office bearers of the Mountain Club of South Africa were elected for the current year :
| Mr André Schoon | President |
| Ms Fran Hunziker | Hon Secretary |
| Mr Lester Coelen | Hon Treasurer |
| B D O Spencer Steward | Hon Auditor |
The Section Representatives were :
| Mr Frank du Toit | Chairperson Amajuba Section |
| Mr Lester Coelen | Chairman Cape Town Section |
| Ms Leonora Ferreira | Chairperson Eastern Cape Section |
| Mr Nico Combrink | Chairperson Free State Section |
| Mr Ulli Deutschlander | Chairperson Hottentots Holland Section |
| Mr Greg Devine | Chairperson Johannesburg Section |
| Prof Graham Smith | Chairperson KwaZulu-Natal Section |
| Ms Petro Grobler | Chairperson Magaliesberg Section |
| Mr Roland Graf | Chairperson Namibia Section |
| Mr Lammie Loubser | Chairperson Paarl/Wellington Section |
| Dr Eckart Von Delft | Chairperson Stellenbosch Section |
| Mr Kobus Reyneke | Chairperson Tygerberg Section |
| Mr Toni Roux | Chairperson Worcester Section |
Election of 1999 Exco members
Ms Grobler, Mr Coelen and Prof Smith were elected to serve on Exco with Prof Smith deputising for the President in case of his absence or incapacity.
FINANCES
Finance
The Club's finances remain in a healthy state, with Accumulated Surplus Funds standing at R41,380 and Sundry Funds at R192,130 an increase of R41,381 over the previous year. The increase was due mainly to the creation of a new fund - UIAA Youth - of R25,000, the funds coming from part of the surplus earned by Magaliesberg/Gauteng Sections in producing the 1996 to 1998 journals, allocation of interest accrued R35,452 (including R6,500 from previous year), less the transfer to Accumulated Surplus of the Training/Rock & Sport Fund of R6,424.
The levy remained the same at R10 per member. The total levies received remained static whilst expenditure decreased by R3,418, due to savings in journal costs (R2,238) and airfares (R5,649) due to the use of the SAA scheme, which savings were offset by increases in costs relating to administration (R1,628) and UIAA subscriptions (R2,841).
Search & Rescue
Search and Rescue operations by the Magaliesberg/Gauteng (3), Kwazulu Natal (3), Eastern Province (5) and Hottentots Holland (6) sections were relatively quite whilst Cape Town (47) continued to have a busy year.
Obtaining of sponsorship nationally to fund the costs of replacing equipment remains a problem, although Cape Town Section received a very welcome donation of R30,000 from BP Southern Africa to fund the replacement of its equipment trailer. Expenditure related to the purchase of rope which was distributed between three sections.
The sections continue to hold regular training sessions, which include working with the local Metro teams, SAAF and other local authorities. Magaliesberg and Gauteng Sections held a four day training workshop at Wolfberg and the Cape Town and Eastern Province Sections, together with the SAAF, held a weekend training meeting at Storms River to test the new helicopter "drop line" system.
UIAA
UIAA SPRING COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN DINANT IN BELGUIM.
14 out of the 18 Council members were present at the Council meeting attended by the President in Dinant, Belgium from 22 - 25 April 1999. The structure for the new Access and Conservation Commission was put in place at this meeting with Bob Pettigrew (BMC) being put forward as the Commission President. The MCSA has put forward the MDT documentation to the UIAA's Mountaineering Commission with a view to seeking accreditation of the MDT standards in terms of the UIAA Model training Standards.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING, OLYMPIA, GREECE, SEPTEMBER 1999
The President attended the UIAA General Assembly and Council meetings which were held at the Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia on the Peloponnese from 23rd - 26th September 1999. 79 of the UIAA member federations were represented at the General Assembly meeting.
UIAA COMMISSION CORRESPONDING MEMBERS
The MCSA is now able to play a proactive role in the proceedings of certain of the UIAA Commissions through the formal appointment of Corresponding Members. Present Corresponding Members are Dr Lance Michell on the Medical Commission, Ms Jacq Wetselaar on the Mountain Protection Commission and Ms Petro Grobler on the Youth Commission.
ANNUAL DINNER
A successful and very enjoyable 1999 Annual Dinner was held on Saturday night 18 April at De Oude Kraal just outside Bloemfontein. Mr Mark Asthrup the guest speaker, made use of the occasion to interpret the Drakensberg issues and their impact on climbers and hikers. The dinner also marked the occasion of the 100th anniversary that women where permitted to become full members of the club.
AWARDS
The decision to award the Gold Badge of the MCSA to Adv Francois Junod (Honorary member of the Magaliesberg and Johannesburg Sections) was ratified at the AGM. The presentation was made a few weeks later in Johannesburg
ANNUAL MEMORIAL SERVICE
The annual service led by Rev. Trevor Tyers chaplain to Diocesan College, was held at Maclear's Beacon on Table Mountain on Sunday 27 February 2000. Due to the inclement weather in the morning and the cable car not running, the orchestra, the brass band from Picketberg had to make their way up the mountains sans instruments and attendance was possibly not as good as it was it could have been. But the weather did do a round about and the afternoon was beautiful.
National Web Page - http://www.mcsa.org.za
The national MCSA web page is established and work has begun to update the presentation. The web page agreement is still with Ntaba Environmental Services.
Through the continued efforts of Ms Petro Grobler and Mr Schalk Cronje the web page is proving to be very useful in the speedy distribution of information to members. Most sections now have their own established pages linked to the main web site.
EXPEDITIONS - Convenor: Prof John Moss
1999 Has been an active mountaineering year for the club and has seen a number of MCSA members on Expeditions to the Greater Ranges (Asia) as well as the Andes, and many other peaks and mountain ranges around the world.
The Club extended its heartiest congratulations to Johannesburg Section member, Cathy O'Dowd, on becoming the first woman ever to have summited Everest twice - once from the South Col (1996) and this year via the North Ridge.
Through application to the MCSA Expedition Subcommittee, a number of these Expeditions received financial support in the form of either an air ticket(s) or grants made from the national Expedition Fund. Andy de Klerk teamed up with a small American expedition in late May on a tough mission to climb a new route on the SW Ridge of Gasherbrum IV. At about the same time Tony Dick, Chris Lomax and Jeremy Samson attempted the SE face of Shivling in the Garhwal Himal. Both these expeditions were thwarted by bad weather. The ever active Ulrike Kiefer joined a German Expedition on the standard route on Ama Dablam. Unfortunately this attempt was also frustrated just below the summit when one of the party was struck down with pulmonary oedema and had to be evacuated. Members also made ascents of Denali (Mt McKinley), Mt Vinson and Mt Elbrus as well as of various summits in the Cordillera Blanca. A large group from the Johannesburg section visited Mt Kenya during July
The start of the new Millennium, year 2000, saw various parties on Aconcagua and another all woman team climbing on Mt Kenya.
SEARCH AND RESCUE - Convenor: Mr Lester Coelen
YOSAR
Funds from the Nat S&R Fund were made available for Mr Dylan Morgan to attend the Yosemite S&R station as an observer.
ACCESS AND LAND ACQUISITION
Problems of access to mountain areas appear to be escalating throughout the country and all sections are having to make concerted efforts to retain the access privileges which they previously enjoyed.
The legal procedures for the purchase and registration of land and servitudes acquired by sections are being reviewed by Cencom.
MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT
UIAA Mountain Protection Day
Various small projects were undertaken by sections on 19 September 1999 to promote UIAA Mountain Protection Day, but no underlying national theme was adopted.
COMPETITION CLIMBING
National Competition Circuit
No national competition climbing circuit was organized during 1999. Various unofficial climbing and bouldering competitions where held in various parts of the country with most of the activity being for the juniors. The Magaliesberg Section hosted a very successful and exhausting Rock Rally event on 31 July.
The Sport Climbing Competition and Development Trust appointed Mr Doug Ward onto the Board of Trustees to assist in reinstating a sustainable national competition climbing circuit.
Following some previous dissatisfaction over the time taken to process Mountaineering Development and Training (MDT) accreditations, there are now more positive moves to extend the MDT structure to a national one. Additional regional Management Committees have been established in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
CLIMBING AND MOUNTAINEERING
MCSA contact with other Southern African mountaineering clubs
Informal contact was made with the Mountain Club of Kenya (MCK) and the Mountain Club of Zimbabwe (MCZ) on the MCSA's behalf when Dr Ed February and Mr Andy De Klerk were invited by the MCK to climb in Kenya. Both clubs had indicated that they would welcome closer contact with the MCSA and the MCK had expressed interest in possibly setting up reciprocity agreements with the MCSA. The MCSA has now formally corresponded with both these clubs and also the Mountain Club of Malawi suggesting positive actions to achieve closer ties between the clubs.
Meets
The annual Joint Meet between the northernmost Sections of the MCSA: Amajuba, Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Magaliesberg, Free State was held at the White Umfolozi River - KwaZulu-Natal. The Eastern Province Section organised an informal national climbing meet in April 1999 at Tarkastad.
Easter Mini Camp
The Free State section organized a highly successful national mini meet in the Qwa Qwa region early in April.
July Camp
Congratulations to KwaZulu-Natal Section with the 80th July Camp, and in particular to Kay Nixon who keeps the ball rolling and the spirit thriving. The camp held in the Wonder Valley near Champagne Castle was again a well attended and highly successful event.
MCSA Millennium meet
Congratulations to the Organising Committee (Mr Gabriel Athiros, Ms Jean Mason, Mr Greg Forsyth, Mr Tunney Kirk, Ms Denise Moody, Mr Philip van der Spuy) for the superb Millennium Meet held from 26 December 1999 - 2 January 2000 at Tandfontein Base Camp in the Koue Bokkeveld. It was surely an historic occasion and it all went very well, creating good mountaineering opportunities for participants from many of the sections around the country.
GENERAL
Youth Meet Fund
Flowing from a funding proposal for UIAA Youth Meets initiated by Ms Petro Grobler, a Youth Meet Fund has been established to provide financial assistance to members under the age of 25 to attend any form of overseas meet or mountaineering expedition.
SAA Concession airtickets
The new SAA Corporate Agreement is still in force. A positive effort is being made to use travel Rand credits in view of an indication by SAA that the minimum value of tickets that the corporate body has to purchase may be significantly increased. An effort has also been made to encourage all MCSA members who are also SAA Voyager members to submit their Voyager numbers to the Hon Secretary if they have not already done so.
LECTURE TOURS
American speed climber Mr Hans Florine paid a very successful visit to the country giving slide shows and conducting a series of climbing clinics.
PUBLICATIONS
Journal
The 1997 centenary journal, published by the Johannesburg and Magaliesberg sections early in the year, was extremely well received.
The 1998 journal, which is being published by the Cape Town section, is reported to be back on track after problems were experienced due to changes in the editorial team.
Cencom ratified the basic language policy applicable to the Journal, viz that, if an article is up to standard, it should be published in the language it was submitted in.
Journal index on the web page
An electronic index is now available on the Web Page covering the 1894-1991 Journals. This is in the same format as the published indexes, which were compiled on the basis of authors and subjects.
From the Summit
A single issue of From the Summit was published in August.
Mountain leadership guide
The Magaliesberg section is publishing a revised edition of its mountain leadership guide. The publication is in progress with only a few chapters still outstanding
Calendar - Special 2000 edition
A special millenium calendar was printed depicting mountains of Africa.
BANFF FILM FESTIVAL
Mr Nic Good's new film "Oceans of Fear" won first prize in the climbing film category at the Banff Film Festival. An air ticket was made available to enable Mr Good to go to Canada to attend the presentation. The film has subsequently won the overall best film award at the Vancouver Film Festival.
Efforts are being made to get this film festival back to SA in the coming year.
PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
The CT section promotional video was produced and plans to convert it for national use are in place.
CAPE TOWN CLUBHOUSE MANAGER
Rose Ferguson has taken over from Renee Barrange who left for the UK end-1999.