Ntaba - Home of South Africa's Adventure Media & Info

Modern gear utilizes microporous or hydrophilic membranes combined with a water-repellent DWR exterior. Manufacturers apply these via coatings (budget-friendly and lightweight) or laminates (durable and high-performance). Laminated constructions typically feature either 2-ply designs with a hanging liner for everyday comfort or 3-ply unified layers providing maximum durability and protection for extreme alpine conditions.

Cheat Codes

Delving deep into an Alpinist's Bag Of Tricks on Mt Kenya

If pictures could talk... Having been stopped on our first attempt we returned to The Diamond Couloir with a full bag of tricks and a revised attitude of being prepared to do what it takes

The Magaliesburg: A Photographer's Canvas

In search of 'the look'

Trystan Firman

Adventure

Climb & Fly

A new "hybrid" mini wing out for its first public display of usability in the desert climbing hub of Rum where the team of three climbed up walls and flew down to the valley.

December 9, 2021

Adventure

min

Jeff Ayliffe

Adventure

Air Zimbabwe

Alois Marume left Zimbabwe in search of a better life, a life with opportunities and meaning. This would be a flight of fancy for Alois.

December 9, 2021

Adventure

min

Some call it black-magic others refer to the secret cult of Gore-Tex. What is truth, what is myth?

Trystan Firman

Waterproof-Breathable Fabrics

October 24, 2026

Catie Monteiro

Photographing a classic Matt Climber "hang 10"

October 18, 2022

After much huffing and puffing on the steep approach, we made it up to the hilltop in good time. I packed out my camera while we debated an important question – which pair of tights would pop the most?

An interview with SA trad legend, Tinie Versfeld.

Mark Johnston

Are Totem Cams really a cut above the rest?

October 22, 2022

Tinie Versfeld has a reputation as one of the hardest trad climbers in the country. He also has a reputation for being pedantic about what gear to include in his rack! So we were interested to discover that he has added five Totem cams to the mix. Mark Johnston chatted to him to find out why.

22 days of projecting spread across 3 seasons, this is the story of the first 9a to be climbed by a South African

Catie Monteiro

The first South African to send 9a

October 16, 2022

In June of this year Mel Janse van Rensburg clipped the chains of Speed Intégrale in Switzerland, becoming the first South African to climb 9a. It took the 20-year-old climber 22 days over three seasons to send the route – his greatest climbing achievement since taking down South Africa’s hardest sport route, Mazawattee (8c+) in 2020.