Two Weeks Off...

Well sports fans! It's been two full weeks since I've done any climbing. What I have done has been a lot of work on my master's degree, a bit of horse riding, met some new friends, went to a new town. Good times.

Look at that pretty girl, she even appears twice!

Last weekend I spent with Yvette in Barberton. This was an absolutely fantastic experience. I met some of her med school friends with whom she is on a 6 week course with currently. Barberton is one of the prettiest areas around! Nearby is Kaapsehoop, which has some really awesome horse riding and a fantastic pancake shop! It also has some really sick bouldering, but that will have to happen some other time.Yvette and I rode horses for 2 hours on the Saturday! It was fantastic to be there, to ride and to run too.

I did manage to make it out to eZemvelo yesterday... Felt sick strong! Boven is coming up this week, so I'm gonna be hitting Lab Rat and hopefully a few other really good lines. I need to work up my endurance again so I have a feeling that I'm gonna be on Godzilla, Monster and Jack of All Trades too just for fun.

Rocklands Round Up

Maniac (7B)... What a spot Caroline!!!!


That's what they look like when they are in good shape!

James Barnes on Feel the Flow (7C)

James crushing Black Spider (7B+)

Wow, it has really been more than a month since I posted on here... So much has happened, I've met so many people. I think that rather than giving you all a blow-by-blow of the trip I'm gonna tell you about the most important events, the highest highs and the lowest lows of the trip.

I guess I should probably start with Rockstock... That was quite a night. Justin Hawkins was wearing hotpants, singing along to Justin Bieber, it was really hysterical. Caroline Sino and the rest of the Spice Girls were having a good time, the Italian Mafia was out in their afros threatening grievous bodily harm, all-in-all it was great. Tequila was flowing, as was the jagermeister. The best part of the evening was getting to know everyone there just a little bit better.

Burger night at the Henhouse! Wow, there was a lot of wine, Jenga, human flag attempts on a slippery pole. Great night. Becky you are the best host!

My birthday was really fun... It was unplanned for the party part, but ended up going out for dinner with James, Joe and Colette that evening. It was really awesome to share the occasion with such great company. Michele, Stefano, Marco, Riccardo and Adam took me out for dinner another evening. It was really aweful service that night at De Kelder, but we made up for it with the company and the inexpensive wine...

Low points... Hmmm, there definitely were some. It was a crushing feeling to get there and have my skin get annihilated so quickly every day. I would rest properly and I would tape the fingers when necessary, but I found that no matter what I did, my skin was just too soft. I often would climb one day on and the rest one day just to let the skin grow. This was about the best strategy that I could employ to optimize my Rocklands experience.

My bouldering highlights were the days I spent working the hard lines, like Out Of Balance (8A), Nutsa (8A) and Wittness the Sickness (8A). I spent a lot of time on these problems and all of there were within my grasp, I just was not quite up to them. I also tried Green Mamba (8A) which wasn't too inspiring but Joe Kinder took some cool pics that illustrated my attempts...

Out of Balance (8A) was my major nemesis on this trip. I spent upwards of 5 days on it, climbing Question of Balance (7B) 8 or more times each session while trying to stick the crimp at the end of the boulder problem. It is amazing how easy that 7B became once the moves felt so wired in the brain. I struggled with the problem initially, as did James. It felt a lot closer to 7B+ than 7B, but when you get the body into the right position and the heel-toe cam in place, the moves all become very static.
Photos by Joe Kinder and Colette McInerney

An Amal Roof (7C) was a really fun problem, I did it the same day as Petit Heuco dan Rocklands (7B+). I repeated it first go after the break too. The first move was so much fun but I was really tired so it took me a long time to get it wired...

Photos by James Barnes

Nutsa (8A)! One of the classics in Rocklands. Here I am spotting Joe on his send... Thanks for the pic Colette!

One of my biggest accomplishments on this trip was Stretched and Pressed (7C+). I got on it on my first day of the trip and struggled severely with the big move on The Rack (7B), simply putting my feet in the wrong place time and time again. I was think I was just tired from the 16 hour drive the previous day. I fought for this one. Claimed it on my second day on the problem. Thanks Colette for the awesome photos!

Thanks Paolo Antoniotti for this awesome portrait from my first session on Stretched and Pressed!

I tried Ghost and the Darkness (7C+) during my last session at Sassies on my second to last day of climbing in Rocklands. I'm a little disappointed that I fell off on the last move and couldn't pull it back together for the send...

Awesome pic Colette!

Here's the ticklist:
Stretched and Pressed (7C+)
Throw Yourself Away (7C+) I injured my ankle badly while I was camming it in the roof. It caused me a great deal of pain for the rest of the trip and I am still not back to 100%. This is really irritating as I want to do the Shadowfax project (8b+?) but there is a right foot cam! Uggg.

An Amal Roof (7C)
The Bushoning (7C) okay, so maybe this isn't really 7C but it was still fun to do in 20 min.
Sunset Arete (7C) My first 7C in Rocklands
Cedar Spine (7C) perhaps the most amazing problem that I have ever done.
Last Day in Paradise (7C) Did this one and Cedar Spine on the same day, as did James Barnes!

Petit Heuco dan Rocklands (7B+) sweet roof climbing
Ulan Batar (7B+) I got this on my last day in Rocklands... It was an epic fight, that's for sure...
Bushmaster (7B+) flashed this, not really 7B+, more like 7A+.

Panic Room Direct (7B) dorked the first move and then cruised it second go... Don't be scared by the top out, I could do it in the sun.
Crazy Leg (7B) almost a flash! Overshot the dyno.
Minki (7B) pretty fun.
The Rack (7B) was my first 7B of the trip and it was a stupid fight...
Poison Dwarf (7B) GOOOOOOD problem!

Flashed Springbok (7A+) and Les Pieds dans L'eau (7A+) both were a lot of fun and seemed to happen quite effortlessly.

Beer Belly Bandit (7A) this is a slab arete! FREAKING HARD.
Maties (7A) flash
Sunset Traverse (7A) flash --> The ultimate warmup in the sun
Colin The Librarian (7A) first boulder problem in Rocklands...
Love Actually (7A)

Lisa (6C+) flashed the slab!

If there are two 6Cs you MUST do: Creaking Heights (flash) at Roadside and Perfect (on sight) at 8 Day Rain.

Then there are a lot of the lower grades, mostly onsights and flashes for warmups. If you want to read more about these problems look up my 8a.nu profile.

Once I got back from Rocklands, I wanted to see how I felt on a rope again. NOTE TO SELF: 6 weeks of bouldering wrecks your endurance. I would recommend doing some rope climbing in between all of the bouldering.

I managed to get out on the rock this week: went to the Lost World and did an awesome roof problem opened by Wesley Black called the Three Amigos. I'd imagine it is around 7C. The next day Illona and I hit the Chosspile where she was crushing on Fossil Fuel, this is one line that will get her back here! I worked out all the beta that I needed for Anduril (8a+) so hopefully I'll wrap that up tomorrow...

The First Week in Rocklands

Rocklands! Such a beautiful place. I've never seen so much potential for hard bouldering as I see here. The problems here are often very sharp or at least very coarse on the skin. This first week has been such a hard adjustment to me. I'm used to walking up to 7C and crushing in a few hours. In the first week I haven't been able to achieve a single send above 7B. I think that it is possible that I tried to walk up to the boulders and push too hard too fast. As a result my skin started to suffer from the first day and I've been playing catch up ever since.

A small panorama of the campsite

The drive was an epic. We drove along the N12 until the Google Gods told us to turn. James and I quickly remarked at how cool the drive was and the road was in such great condition. 30km later we found out why: they had just laid the road and we were all out of luck. We had only 500km left to drive but the next 130km would be on dirt, with no cell reception. I quietly panicked in my head thinking, "Oh shit! Oh shit!" We hadn't seen a road sign in an hour and I was thinking we were out all this way on a dirt road and were going to have to back track. Fortunately we had just filled the tank in the last town so fuel wouldn't be an issue. We plodded on and eventually discovered we were actually on the right road, according to Google. At the next town we found a tarred road, cell signal and the GPS was back online. After debating at a crossroad for a few minutes we figured it out and were back on track. We drove on for another two hours before hitting the turnoff to Clanwilliam. I was excited. Only 140km left. 100km of which turned out to be dirt and relatively slow. It all paid off when I saw the De Pak Huis sign. The steak dinner in town was well earned for my 16 hours of driving.

Our campsite with Matt and Rachelle

The first day was really awesome. We headed up to the Fortress with Benji. Warmed up with a quick send of an project of mine (from 3 years ago when I was still a little boy), Colin the Librarian which is quite a tough 7A. After that I fell flat on my face trying the 8A extension: Fat Eagles Can't Fly. Benj told me not to worry, it's really hard and he hadn't been able to figure it out either. Up next was Stargate (7C+). I struggled with a crossover so found different beta to avoid it. This made me happy, but left me suffering on the next moves. I think I was really tired still from the epic drive. I was psyched to try Stretched and Pressed (7C+). I did the finish move really easily, first try so I thought that the problem would go down really quickly. I was wrong. The Rack (7B) had a really tough sequence for me that I couldn't wrap my body around for the better part of and hour-and-a-half. First time I made it through the move I made it to the top out move but I was too tired now and couldn't manage the mantle, a skill which I would soon realize to be quite good at...

Me sending The Rack (7B)

Day two spent trying Cedar Spine (7C), Last Day in Paradise (7C) and Ulan Batar (7B+) with no success on any. By the way: Last day in Paradise is razors in a roof: tape or perish. I completely dorked the beta on Cedar Spine and was really tired by the time I got to Ulan Batar. All in all, it was a learning experience. I did manage to fight my way up a 6C called Demi Loon though.

James on Last Day In Paradise

Day three: rest! A trip to town for shopping was in order. Jonathan, Robbie, Matt, Rachelle, James and myself all climbed into my car and went to town. The nightmare came to light when we tried to pack everyone into the car with groceries afterward! I was very happy to be driving.

Day four: Champsite and Riverside. Matt and Benji did Kingdom in the Sky (7C) at Champsite very quickly. It is an awesome problem with decent crimps for fingers and horrible footholds. My skin was still not happy even after the rest day. I managed to flash a 6C+ slab called Lisa. This was fun. At Riverside I jumped on Au Bord De L'eau (8A) with Benji. Very cool problem that revolves around two monos in a nearly flat roof. I love it! The holds are very coarse so I'll need to go back when I have some more skin. White Mazda Clan (7C+) was the last thing I tried. I could do most of the moves and I think I did it pretty much in overlapping sections except for the final move which I didn't manage till later.

Me, Rachelle and Benji on Kingdom in the Sky (7C)

Day five: Plateau. I woke up early and went up to the Plateau. I did a bunch of easier boulders for warmup, onsighting a bunch of 6B+. I was on my own so I only had 2 pads with me and no spotter. It was kinda nice though, I missed being up early in the morning and being psyched. No one else in the campsite is really a morning person. I moved over to Minki (7B), worked out the beta and sent it. Went back to Poison Dwarf (7B) and worked out the moves. Couldn't send it in the morning session though as the finish was in the sun. Got it really quickly in the afternoon session though.

Day six: Back to the Champsite and Riverside for some sending action well, other people's sending action. I managed a 7A which had a really tough mantle to start off the day, then Rach sent Kingdom in the Sky. Benji crushed Au Bord De L'eau! I was psyched. I got back on White Mazda and did all the moves this time and got in some good links but it wasn't gonna happen on my third day on.

Day seven: Rest. I went for a 5km run in the morning to go visit Benji at the Hen House and then went into town again to do a grocery shop. Matt and Rach left this morning for Cape Town with Arjan so the campsite is feeling a little empty. It was great having them there. Matt and Rachelle are such great people, so psyched and so much fun to be around...

Day eight: Fields of Joy! I love them! So awesome! Warmed up on a 5C/6A slab which was fantastic. Then did Panic Room Direct (7B) second go. Worked on Macho King (7C+) with Paulo and Michele Caminati, the super strong Italian we've all seen in CORE. We all spent about two hours working out beta and getting it dialed in. Michele then sent the problem and they headed down the mountain. I tried to flash Barracuda Rail (7B) but failed on the last move. Oh well, moved down to No Late Tenders (7C+) where I met an awesome American couple. Mike managed to send in a while and Becky worked on Dirty Lies (7A+) which is really fun too. I fell off the finish jugs on my flash when my foot slipped. DUMB ASS! Oh well.

Today: I got my ass kicked on Who The Fuck is Minki (7C) couldn't get my heel to stick on the inside sloper. Gave up and then tried Throw Yourself Away (7C+). I was psyched to be able to do all the moves in 5 minutes and do overlapping links right off the bat. I might hit it for a late afternoon session if the pads are back by then. Benji nearly flashed it and Joe Mohle crushed it first try today. GOOD FUN. Well, wish me luck!