Vilane on top of the world

HE has conquered Mount Everest, the Andes, and the South Pole, and with a trip to the North Pole coming up next month, Sibusiso Vilane is about to become the first South African, and the first black person in the world, to complete the Three Poles Challenge.

The 41-year-old mountaineer from Mpumalanga believes that becoming the first black person to complete the challenge – reaching the South Pole, North Pole and Mount Everest – will send a message of hope and motivation to others that they too can achieve exceptional things.

The North Pole expedition, sponsored by Virgin Money Insurance, is to begin on April 4. Vilane will be dropped off by a helicopter, and will then have to walk 112km to the pole.

“The challenge will be the terrain,” he said. “I will be walking on ice, so there is always a chance that I will fall through into the sea. At this time of year, the sun never sets there, and that has a psychological impact. Polar bears are also a constant threat.”

Vilane described the North Pole as the “grand slam of mountaineering”. Vilane summited Everest in May 2003, and then completed the Seven Summits Quest to climb the highest mountains on each continent. As if that was not enough, he and fellow South African Alex Harris then walked to the South Pole.

“Reaching the summit of Everest was very emotional,” said Vilane. “Because of my limited experience at the time, it was a challenge to even get on the team. But when I eventually reached the top about two months later, I realised that we Africans have what it takes. I had reached the highest point on Earth, and that was very special.”

Vilane was born at the Shongwe Mission in rural Mpumalanga, and moved to Swaziland at the age of four where he worked as a cattle herder. He now lives in Mbombela (Nelspruit) with his wife and four children.

He says he got into mountaineering “by chance”. “In 1996 I was hiking in the Drakensberg and I realised that I had a talent for climbing. I never dreamed I would be ‘the first’ to do anything in my life, but now I can’t live without an expedition. There are so many more challenges I strive to conquer and I think I would die of boredom if I couldn’t do them.”

Vilane described climbing as a state of discomfort that one has to overcome. “I think that builds character. You learn about your own ability and that gives you the confidence to succeed in other ventures.”

Vilane has also conquered the summits of Platthorn, Meltelhorn, Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, in the Alps.

And he doesn’t intend to slow down after returning from the North Pole – he will be running his fourth Comrades in June. “I’ve only just started.”

[email protected]