South African obstacle course champion Thomas van Tonder took on one of the most challenging endeavors of his career: crossing the Bloukrans Bridge near Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape using monkey bars.
Last month in Tsitsikamma, Van Tonder accomplished this feat—the first-ever crossing of the bridge using monkey bars. He completed the challenge on the first attempt under favorable weather conditions, covering a 280-meter section of 600 bars in 47 minutes and 37 seconds, at an altitude of approximately 216 meters above the river below.
The start of the challenge proved to be the hardest for Van Tonder. Due to a 45-degree incline, he had to climb backward, raising his arms over his head to reach the next bar. This quickly drained his energy, and within just five minutes of starting, his arms began to ache. It was then that he realized the magnitude of the challenge before him.
He approached the attempt with confidence, but as soon as he was on the bars, the water below roared, and cars rumbled overhead, he grasped the reality of the challenge. Van Tonder noted that 'there is no guide, no instructions, and no YouTube video showing how to handle the longest, highest, and most exposed monkey bar in the world.' He added, 'You cannot find this on Google; there are no answers. So we created our own action plan. It was tough. We prepared for this for over a year, with six months dedicated to focused, targeted training.'
Nevertheless, on the day of the test, everything turned out to be more difficult than he anticipated. There were moments on the bridge when he doubted whether he could reach the end. He believes he truly believed in his success only when about 20 meters remained until the finish line. Van Tonder emphasized that the incline was definitely the most difficult part, and he underestimated how much his upper body would tire by the middle of the course. In his view, he would execute smooth swings, jump between bars, and pass the middle quickly, but this did not happen.
Van Tonder stated that the goal was always to accept a challenge that would push him beyond his own perceptions of possibility, without a guarantee of success. The fact that the test turned out to be even harder than expected made reaching the opposite bank even more valuable, as the challenge ultimately justified the ambitious vision he set for himself.
With support from the Red Bull team at the sports training center in Salzburg, Austria, Van Tonder adapted his preparation, focusing on building strength while simultaneously losing weight. His training regimen underwent significant changes: running took a backseat for the last four months, and the focus shifted almost entirely to strengthening his upper body. The main priorities became developing strength and endurance to support his own weight, as well as improving grip endurance.
He described the initial strategy: 'I had a strategy and a plan, with different techniques for different sized bars along the bridge. My intention was to cover the central section using smooth swings, jumping between bars, and maintaining a fast pace to cover as much ground as possible before descending.' However, when he reached the middle section, he could not swing as planned. After several attempts, he was on the verge of losing his grip and did not want to risk repeating the difficult sections. He had to change his technique and switch to a more traversing style, using both hands and making smaller jumps. This slowed him down and significantly complicated the task, as large bars are better suited for swinging than for comfortable hanging.
This moment made the middle section particularly difficult and led to greater fatigue by the time he reached the final stretch, which caught him off guard. Furthermore, his safety trolley got stuck on some branding, forcing him to stop and deal with the issue. He noted that at this scale, even one detached cable tie from a hook on one of the branding sections can cause a problem. Nevertheless, Van Tonder believes the entire safety system went very smoothly, and no serious issues arose.
Van Tonder reported that the only change he would make to the course is to reduce the size of the bars in the middle section to match the sizes on the ascent. Otherwise, he believes every aspect of the preparation was meticulously planned and executed, including rigging, emergency rescue plans, nutrition, weight management, and physical conditioning. He feels nothing more could have been done to prepare for this challenge.
He urged people to draw inspiration from this experience, wishing that his children would one day see that their father did not give up. He concluded: 'This was my big dream, my big vision, and I hope that other people with crazy, unusual dreams, visions, and plans will find something in this. Make your dreams big enough to scare you; otherwise, they are not big enough.'
