Aah, the fantastical realm of rock climbing that is Rocklands. To the uninitiated, Rocklands is an area in the Cederberg near Clanwilliam, world famous for a type of rock climbing called bouldering – climbing sans safety ropes and gear, but normally low enough to avoid serious injury.
With the weather slowly warming up the climbing season is drawing to a close, so we thought we’d capitalize on the good climbing weather left for the year and try to finish up some of the old projects. This saturday morning saw myself, Hermann and Gary claw our way uphill over rocky terrain to the De Pakhuys Farm‘s climbing areas. Hermann dispatched the Horny Rider without much fuss, so called because of the large jump required from a sitting position on small holds to a horn-shaped rock feature higher up in crack.
The day quickly warmed up and we decided to seek better climbing weather up the De Pakhuys Pass at the Roadside climbing area. Cooler temperatures = less sweat on the fingertips = more friction and better grip. Hermann gave me the critical beta (climber’s slang for “info”) for the right hand placement on Sunset Arete. The problem (more climber’s slang: in bouldering a climbing route is called a “problem”) starts in a standing position on a good-ish hold for your left hand and a very bad, very small hold for the right – think half a CD case thickness – under an overhang, then pull up and place a left heel on the same level as your hands, before doing the next move. My left shoe kept slipping off my heel every time I put weight on it in the hold. I tried taping it to my foot, but when that didn’t work I made a crude rope from the tape, threaded it through the pull-tabs on the back of the shoe and tied it around my leg. Success! The shoe held just long enough to send the problem.
We also gave Oral Office a few tries: a sequence of hard moves under an overhanging boulder, leading up to a very large jump (in climbing called a “dyno”) to the lip of the boulder. Hermann cranked like a monster and managed grab the lip of the boulder and control the insane swing-out! Now to work the bottom sequence…a good goal for next season!
Sunday we checked out the Sassies Area. So much quality stuff but our fingertips were just so trashed from the day before – we’ll be back, watch this space!
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