Media release for 2011

Cold weather did not deter hundreds of adventurers from enjoying the Gravity Adventure Festival held over the weekend in Kleinmond. There were numerous events, catering to almost everyone and there was just enough rain to fill up the river but not to put a dampener on any of the festivities. Disciplines included adventure racing, trail running, adventure swimming, SUPing, whitewater kayaking, mountain biking and rafting. Kids’ events included a bike ride, run and paddling race. Catering, great coffee, chilli poppers and a full bar service kept tummies full and the awesome performance by top band, Hot Water, followed by Hey Mr DJ, made for an excellent Saturday night party. Saturday night also saw the screening of the three finalists in the adventure short film festival as well as a lucky draw for four great prizes. Read on for more details …

This is the ninth year that the Gravity Adventure festival has been held in the beautiful Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, Kleinmond. Originally held as a kayaking competition, the festival expanded year on year until it reached its current format. It can rightfully claim to be SA’s original and possibly biggest adventure festival. The focus has always been on true adventure – non motorised sports that take place in nature – and this year’s event confirmed the event’s reputation as a well organised festival with something for everyone.  Friday night saw good rains fall, which topped up the Palmiet River nicely in preparation of the weekend’s paddling events but cleared in time so that the rest of weekend was not rained out.

The festival kicked off with the Spur River Rumble, run by Quantum Adventures. This is a short course adventure race involving river crossings, running, paddling and lots of fun! It’s accessible to anyone as it covers only 6km. See www.quantumadventures.co.za for results.  The first heat was made up of all 37 teams who had entered the inaugural race of the WCAD Series – a revival of long course adventure racing in the Western Cape. This event saw them completing a 100km+ course in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve including a mountain biking, running, hiking, ropework and micro-navigation. The final team came in after 2am after hours of tough competition.

 The Winter Trail Series trail runs were next – three distances, the short course at 5.5kms, the long course at 12kms and the XL at 21.7km. The XL run followed a new route this year, after fire damage in the reserve made last year’s route unusable and the feedback from the runners was very positive. Visit www.trailseries.co.za for full results and report. The Cadiz River Mile Swim saw 20 swimmers brave the rapids of the Palmiet for a swim with a difference – after diving in below the bridge on Clarence Drive, swimmers made their way through two small rapids, sustaining some bumps and bruises along the way! From here, it was an open water swim in the chilly waters of the estuary to a shallow water run for the finish at the festival hub. This event always attracts swimmers who are keen for something a little different and this year’s event was no different.

The Nasih SUP challenge was a new event for the festival, in keeping with our approach of always keeping it fresh and innovative. The planned surf challenge was cancelled due to monster 5m surf on Saturday and the estuary sprint took place in cold and windy conditions on Saturday afternoon.  Demo boards were available all day which allowed many festival goers to try out this awesome new sport.

Saturday afternoon saw the festival’s flagship event take place – the PaddleZone Whitewater Kayak races. There are two disciplines, a head to head downriver race and a more technical sprint challenge. Competition was tight and spectators were treated to some exciting paddling on the final rapid, Judgement Day.

Saturday night was party time! The spacious Bedouin tent from Tentation provided ample space for everyone and held off an evening shower or two completely. Comfy seating, courtesy of ARK Inflatables’ Pumpseat, was great for chilling and TriActive, Caffe Pronto, Limebar and Lauren and Ant’s Chili Poppers kept everyone satisfied. The CapeStorm Film Festival provided the audience with the opportunity to vote for their favourite short adventure video – this year saw footage from the Transkei, Iceland and KZN, with the amazing icebergs and waterfalls of Iceland being most popular. The party heated up at about 8.30 with the Castle Lite Hot Water jam – this amazing band got everyone dancing within minutes and only broke for a few minutes to allow us to give away four awesome lucky draw prizes. Innov8 shoes provided a great pair of running shoes and Gravity Adventures provided an awesome all inclusive Orange River Rafting trip for two people. Fluid Kayaks supplied a ‘Buddy’ sit on top kayak and ARK Inflatables gave away a ‘Minnow’ rubber duck. Four very happy people went home with some great prizes, courtesy of our sponsors. After that it was back to the music and Hot Water had the crowd eating out of their hands, ending with a spectacular rendition of ‘Tribal Man’ complete with crowd surfing and an athletic finale from front man, Donovan Copley. After that, Hey Mr DJ provided just the right mix of music to keep the crowd dancing until the early hours.

Sunday dawned sunny but chilly and almost 200 cyclist turned out for the Sportsman’s Warehouse Mountain Bike race. This race followed the traditional route through the Palmiet Valley – a beautiful course that is usually closed to the public. The route was more technical than usual due to recent fires and winter rains and provided a challenging yet fun race. Meanwhile, the kids’ events were taking place at the festival hub and around 20 littlies completed a bike route, a trail run and a paddle – the adventurers of the future! The final event of the festival, The ARK Croc Race, proved to be as popular as ever and around 65 teams of two braved the rapids of the Palmiet to see who would get down fastest! Thrills and spills abounded and provided great entertainment for competitors and spectators alike.

Thank you to all our sponsors as well as hosts, CapeNature’s Kogelberg Nature Reserve and Hangklip-Kleinmond Municipality – we hope to see you all again next year!

Limited Edition Festival T-shirts now for only R70.00. Hoddies R175.00

There are some T-shirts and Hoodies still available so we are selling them at cost!  Orders can be done through Gravity Adventures

WOW, thank you for a wonderfull weekend, my family and I really enjoyed ourselves. The organisation was great, well done to you all on a supurb event. Can’t wait for next year.  Merrick Southworth

Just wanted to thank you as well for a awesome Festival. We camped both nights and really enjoyed it. This is one festival we will definately support in the future. Willie and Talita Richards

I just wanted to write and say thanks for a great weekend. Awesome organisation and everyone I have spoken to had an awesome time. Rowan Walpole

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Andrew and Marie-Louise Kellett
Race Directors
Owners Gravity Adventures 021 683 3698