Meet the MDT National Committee
Gavin Raubenheimer - Chairman
Gavin Raubenheimer lives in Hilton in the KZ-N Midlands and is a full time guide and mountaineering instructor. Gavin holds a MDT Mountaineering Instructor Award (2001) and holds the SAQA Assessor, Mountaineering Guide, Nature Guide and Culture Guide qualifications. He is a past president of the Mountain Club of South Africa, KZ-N Section and is the Mountain Club rescue convenor in the province.
Rob Thomas - MDT Awards Syllabii, Content and Standards
Rob grew up in Cape Town and Queenstown but now lives in Johannesburg. He starting climbing almost by accident (he'll tell you the story over a beer one day). Climbing was a hobby at first - he got a "real job", first as a soldier and then as a software developer. It took a while for him to decide that an office wasn't where he belonged and make the switch to working outdoors. Passionately involved in mountain rescue since 1994, he still volunteers as much time as he can to the Mountain club of SA's Mountain Rescue team in Gauteng. He splits most of his working time between guiding / instruction and teaching various forms of rescue to a variety of rescue services. Spare time is spent with his wife hiking, climbing, mountain biking and occasionally trail-running. You can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/robthomas.southafrica
Nic Shaw - Standards Setting
Nic Shaw lives the Giant’s Castle area of the central Drakensberg where he runs an environmental and outdoor education centre. Nic is an MDT Mountain Walking Instructor, a SAQA Assessor and is a registered Specialist Nature Guide. He is a passionate trail runner and mountain biker and participates in the MCSA KZN Section Search & Rescue team.”
Walther Meyer - Website
Walt was born in Bellville and because he could not get a job playing in an Afrikaans rock band he decided to become a mountain guide and instructor. He holds the MDT Rock Climbing and Mountain Walking Instructor Awards and is a registered Mountaineering Guide. He is an avid EMS volunteer and a qualified ILS Paramedic.
Jacques Raubenheimer - CDP
Jacques started climbing in1990 and enjoys many facets of climbing, although his favourite is probably multi-pitch trad climbing which, ironically, he gets to do a lot less of as he lives in the Free State. He has opened numerous routes in the Free State and elsewhere in the country, about ¾ of which are sport routes. He is actively involved in the UFS Climbing Club (Momentum) of which he was a student chairman. Currently working at the University of the Free State as a lecturer in Biostatistics, he is a qualified MDT Rock Climbing Instructor and thanks to the climbing wall at the UFS he does manage to get vertical most weeks of the year.
