A Cape Town climber has been killed and three other people injured in a rock avalanche on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Tessa Cousins died and her partner Dirk Versfeld and two others were injured when tragedy struck at around 3pm on Tuesday at the Cioch Direct Climb on the Cuillin Hills.
Mountain rescue teams were scrambled and reported that Versfeld, 56, was leading the climb when a boulder was dislodged. Skye Mountain Rescue head Gerry Ackroyd said the rock had injured Versfeld, killed Cousins and then disintegrated, injuring a couple who had climbed separately.
“An avalanche of rocks came down. You could see all the rocks coming down from afar. I think the lady’s partner was struck on his shoulder. He got knocked down, but managed to return to her. That was where we found them,” Ackroyd said. been about 15m .
He said the woman in the second party suffered back and chest injuries. The man had broken a shoulder and hand but was able to walk down the mountain to raise the alarm.
Police, mountain rescuers and coastguard and Royal Air Force helicopters were used in a rescue mission that ended about 9pm, he said. Versfeld and the two other climbers were taken to the Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford on Skye.
Hospital spokesperson Erin Greig declined to divulge the names of climbers admitted to hospital, but said one had been discharged the same day while another had been transferred to a hospital in Glasgow.
Cousins, who was known for her work in rural development projects, and Versfeld, who had been together for 20 years, lived in Bo-Kaap.
She had four children from a previous relationship and seven grandchildren.
Versfeld’s brother, Tini Versfeld, said yesterday the couple had left for Scotland two weeks ago and had planned to climb and swim while on holiday. They were to return next week.
“It’s a terrible tragedy. Dirk broke his leg but is okay. Doctors will put pins in his leg. His daughter will go to Scotland to help him return home.”
International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela said: “We can’t confirm the accident, but we will be offering consular assistance.”
Cousins’ brother Ben Cousins said: “We know what basically happened, but not much more. We don’t know who the other people are who were also injured.”
Her family said Tessa Cousins was a fearless explorer and climber.
“She loved the earth and the wilderness and learned to farm as a smallholder in Stilbaai as a young woman,” the family said.
In the 1990s Cousins worked for the land rights NGO, Association for Rural Advancement(Afra) and helped pioneer rural appraisal methods. Other NGOs she worked with included the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (Plaas), which has offices at UWC.
“ In all these capacities, she was much valued and loved by many people. She lived life to the full, delighting in the mountains and in the sea, sharing these passions with her dearly beloved partner Dirk Versfeld,” the family’s statement read.
Afra director Stephen Hulbert said: “Tessa was a respected colleague and ally|of mine during the ’80s, when we both worked in remote areas of KwaZulu-Natal. She soon became a good and dear friend.”
Plaas director Andries Du Toit said: “We have been in touch with her family and we feel their pain. She has a long history of working in development, particularly with women in rural areas. Tessa was enormously skilled in designing workshops where their voices could be heard. She was very bold about empowering rural people.”
Autism Western Cape chief executive Helen Hayes said that, since Cousins joined its board in October, she had played a critical role.
“She had a remarkable impact on the staff and leadership of the organisation. She was a uniquely gifted people person and her patience, pragmatism and sensitive leadership will be sorely missed.”
Afra would hold a memorial service for Cousins at its offices on Wednesday.
Details of a memorial service the family planned for next week are to be announced.
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