Centenary Hut Restoration

I'd also like to participate as best as possible. I have not used the hut before, but would like to do Corner Pass at some stage next year, so it would be great to chip in. One question I would have is which camp to use as the base for lugging all the materials to? Injisuthi or Giants?

@ Biomech: IMO, I would definitely say Injisuthi camp.

Whilst I cannot run with this idea at the moment (i.e. be the 'champion'), please also keep me in the loop if anything is ever organised to sort this out. Depending on work commitments I may be able to (hopefully) make it.

Another idea. Why not just send all the tools and materials with Andrew P who is going to be there over the Easter weekend? He seems to like challenges in the Berg. He can make a dump of about 10-15kg worth of equipment and tools for a party to do the work at a later date

Definitely Injisuthi. It is much closer to the hut. Bannerman Hut is about 12km from Giants, then add another approx 8km from there to Centenary Hut,including that slog up to the base of Judge Pass around 2500m.

Ps. shockingly I am yet to do a pass at Injisuthi

As John Mark pointed out, I am there over Easter. Load will already be a bit heavy, but I assume there must be some mess such as broken glass I can try carry out...

Should I maybe carry some putty up and stash it?

I'm loving this idea
@ghaz, knocking frames straight and removing old putty as already been stated is a lot harder than one thinks, nonetheless many hands make light work and with a decent group we can tidy it up on phase one and then go from there, count me in ( work dependent and son dependent)

I have approached the committee of the Mountain Backpackers Club on this matter and although they have not all replied, it seems there is a fairly positive response to sponsor the materials for this project. An amount of a few thousand rand has been suggested by me but they would like a more definite figure.

Some of you may know Dave Sclanders of bergfree.co.za . He restored Bannerman Hut about ten years ago out of his own pocket, with the help of a few friends. Bannerman Hut was in a similar decrepit state at the time and being a professional guide he wanted to take his clients there. He replaced all the windows with transparent polycarbonate sheet, epoxied in place. You can now throw a large rock at one of the window panes and it will just bounce off. He rawl-bolted or chained all the bunk beds to the adjacent walls and replaced the springs with chipboard sheets, also bolted to the beds. There is now nothing to steal in Bannerman Hut and the door is left unlocked at all times, with just a catch to keep it closed. It can be locked from the inside when someone is staying there. I spoke to him recently and he is prepared to be an advisor on the restoration of Centenary Hut.

He suggested that the first step would be to visit Centenary and measure the size of each window pane. There are a few different sizes apparently. We could then have the new polycarbonate panes cut to size ready to be epoxied in place, which would be on the following expedition there. Dave mentioned that it is very difficult to cut the sheet without power tools. The repair of the bunk beds would then follow, and then the ceilings, which have been ripped out. There is some cement patching to be done and the pillars supporting the veranda roof need repair, although there is a central steel pole inside each one.

Someone on this thread mentioned replacing the broken windows with glass. I don't think this is a good idea as they will just be broken again.

As said we need a champion handyman to lead the expeditions to the hut and supervise the work. It would be an advantage if this person was an MBC member who could handle the financial side of things as well. I believe there is an MBC member who regards Injasuti as his favourite Berg area and frequents this forum as well, but I will keep quiet as he might just volunteer.

Dave Sclanders has approached the EKZNW Officer-in-Charge of the Northern Berg about this project plus the use of the Jeep track from Giant's Castle which comes very close to Centenary Hut. I don't think he has had a reply on this yet.

I'm sure this will all happen in due course once the project leader has been identified. We are relying on VE members to volunteer for much of the work but several MBC members are likely to join in as well. I will mention this to someone on the committee of the MCSA, who originally built Centenary Hut back during the 1980's I think. They may also want to help.

Bobby