The only way is down

Some adventures, you only need to experience once. You go big, you get the T-shirt and you never go back. Like working in Afghanistan or Siberia, or doing Suicide Gorge.

The name of this kloofing route tells you everything you need to know. There are no escape routes and you can’t turn around or chicken out. Once you’re in the gorge, you can only go one way – down. Which means jumping from cliffs into deep mountain pools where the icy water steals your breath.

It was a summer night in December 2000 and my friends and I were gathered around Stephanus and Lize du Toit’s dining room table in Paarl. Most of us were in our early thirties and nervous about the expedition.