Climbing Table Mountain in Veldskoen!

Why David Grier climbed up Table Mountain for 45 consecutive days wearing the same pair of VELDSKOEN.

1st October is World Smile Day.

Did you know... a cleft palate is the third most common birth defect globally? Children born with a cleft palate may struggle to eat, drink, or speak, and are often socially isolated and bullied.

Operation Smile is a project driven by pharmaceutical company Cipla to facilitate corrective surgery on children born with cleft lip and palates. For these children, a relatively quick, simple operation results in a life-changing smile. Relatively quick is an understatement, a corrective cleft palate surgery takes about 45 minutes. 

That's the inspiration for the #45forFortyFive challenge. 

Inspirational adventurer David Grier and his friend Andrew Stuart undertook to climb up and down Table Mountain for 45 consecutive days. Their mission was to inspire others to be active for 45 minutes a day, 45 days in a row, and make a donation to the Miles for Smiles foundation.   

Did we mention David did his 45 climbs in a pair of Heritage Pinotage Veldskoen shoes? 

Nick Dreyer, Davied Grier, Andrew Stuart, and Brandon Crawley on Signal Hill for #45forFortyFive

Nick Dreyer (VELDSKOEN), David Grier, Andrew Stuart, and Brandon Crawley (VELDSKOEN), on top of Signal Hill for the culmination of the #45forFortyFive Challenge.

David Grier showing his Miles For Smiles VELDSKOEN to a fellow mountain climber

 David Grier, showing the shoes he completed the challenge in to a fellow mountain climbing enthusiast. 

The original David Grier Heritage MilesForSmiles Pinotage

 The Original Miles For Smiles Veldskoen.

The  #45forFortyFive initiative culminated on 1 October 2021, World Smile day. 

To further support fundraising and educational conversations for cleft palate surgeries through Operation Smile, we launched the  Heritage MilesForSmiles Pinotage. They're just like David's, but you need to put the miles on them yourself.

For every pair sold, VELDSKOEN donates R300 to Cipla's Miles For Smiles initiative. 

The Heritage MilesForSmiles Pinotage

 The Miles for Smiles Veldskoen you can order from veldskoen.com