Picture yourself hanging by your hands, 216 metres above the Bloukrans River. Now picture staying there for almost 48 minutes.

That is what Thomas van Tonder did on Monday, 26 October, beneath Bloukrans Bridge in the Tsitsikamma. Hand over hand, he crossed 600 monkey bars on a course 280 metres long. It is the longest set of monkey bars ever built, and no one had ever finished it.

No Easy Start

There was no gentle start. The course began with a 45-degree incline, so Thomas had to pull himself uphill, one bar at a time. Then came the arch of the bridge, then the long way down the other side.

He could not stop and he could not shake out his arms. Unlike a normal obstacle course, there was no running or climbing to mix things up. He stayed on the bars the whole way.

Halfway at 30 Minutes

Thomas had planned for a crossing of 30 to 35 minutes. At the 30-minute mark, he was just coming up to the halfway point.

His grip was fading. His muscles were spent. Doubt started to creep in.

So he stopped looking at how far was left. He aimed for the next section, then the one after that.

The way down brought a new problem. Gravity added speed, and he had to control every move to keep his hold on each bar. By the last stretch, the tape on his fingers had worn through.

He kept going. His family was waiting at the finish.

The Finish

Thomas crossed in 47 minutes and 37 seconds. Afterwards, he said, “I just completed one of my biggest dreams and missions for the last two years.”

The bridge had humbled him, he admitted. It pushed him past what he thought his body could take.

Six Months of Training

The crossing was a long time coming. At his home in Hartbeespoort, Thomas built a training rig with almost 50 metres of uphill monkey bars. He trained on it for six months.

It was not smooth. Elbow tendonitis and shoulder problems kept getting in the way. The idea had been growing for about two years, and even after all that work, he said he couldn’t be sure he would make it.

Building the Course

The course itself was a big job. A team from Vertical Safety Systems, led by Richard Lievaart, designed and installed it. The bars could not be fixed permanently to the bridge. So the team created a system with no drilling and no lasting changes, plus separate safety attachments to protect Thomas.

Thomas is no stranger to records. In 2020, he won a Guinness World Record for a rope-climbing feat at the Soweto Towers in Johannesburg. This time, he says, it was about more than a record. As a father, he hopes his children and other young people see what can happen when you set a big goal and refuse to give up.

His own words on the day were simple. “I’m just grateful for it all. We actually made it to the other side.”

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