Thomas van Tonder crosses 600 monkey bars under the Bloukrans Bridge arch, 216m above the river

Thomas van Tonder has crossed the arch of the Bloukrans Bridge hand over hand, swinging along 600 monkey bars hung 216 metres above the river.

The South African obstacle course racing world champion set off at 10.21am on Monday and reached the other side 47 minutes and 37 seconds later, according to Red Bull, which staged the attempt as Red Bull Bridge Bars. The course ran for about 280 metres along the underside of the arch, the concrete span on the N2 between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape that is better known for its bungee jump.

Harder than he planned

The route followed the curve of the arch: a climb at up to 45 degrees, a short flatter stretch at the top, then a descent that steepened again towards the finish. Van Tonder had expected to finish in 30 to 35 minutes, he told TimesLIVE.

"I underestimated how long and how difficult it would be," he said.

Red Bull reported that he broke the course into sections and told Richard Lievaart, who ran the rigging, which bar he was aiming for next.

"From the middle segment to the end, I was unsure if I'd actually make it," he said.

His hands held up.

"Nothing is broken, nothing is bleeding, which is to me, success," he told TimesLIVE.

Built without a single bolt

The bars were rigged by Richard Lievaart and the Vertical Safety Systems team. The bridge could not be drilled or bolted, so the structure was hung with no permanent fixings, and Van Tonder was clipped to two independent safety points. Van Tonder told Red Bull that some of the crew had rigged through the night before the attempt.

"It is an absolute relief to know that Thomas is safe, and absolutely everything we did worked," Lievaart said afterwards.

Six months on a home-made rig

Van Tonder grew up in Hartbeespoort, where he trained for six months on a rig of almost 50 metres of uphill monkey bars. The Citizen reported that the preparation left him with elbow tendonitis and sore shoulders. He already holds a Guinness World Record for a 90-metre free-hanging rope climb, set between the Soweto Towers in 2020.

He told Red Bull that becoming a father was one of the reasons he took on the challenge, and he called the crossing "the pinnacle of a year of work".

Red Bull describes it as the first crossing of the Bloukrans arch on monkey bars. A replay of the attempt is on Red Bull TV.