Rocklands

I've been heading out to Rocklands quite a bit lately, for the past three weekends in a row actually. It's been great to get out there, and despite the high temps its not too bad, as long as you manage your climbing properly, by climbing at the right times as well as on the right problems.

So I managed to get a taste of some of the harder problems in Rocklands, like "Quintessential" (8B), "Derailed" (8B+) and "Ray of Light" (8B). All of which are brick hard, and way out of my league at this point in time. What I did notice when trying the moves on these hard problems is how inspiring it is to know that these moves are possible, and that they hopefully will be possible for me one day. Quintessential feels particularly like my style, i.e. short and crimpy, and so later in the Rocklands season I think that's going to be in my sights, although my fingers are going to have to be in superb shape to handle those forces. So last weekend in Rocklands I managed to send "Who The Fuck Is Minki" (7C), which is actually a really cool line, with lots of body climbing, and a sweet left hand cutloose at the end.

"Who The Fuck Is Minki" (7C) Photo by Duncan Fraser

I got super close to a send on "Cedar Spine" (7C) only to fall off on the last holds... Next time I plan to give the top-out a better look so I'm a bit more efficient on it. Otherwise it was so much fun progressing on that problem, and the height keeps you on edge when you're doing those moves up top. Another line to finish on one of the coming weekends is "Kingdom in the Sky" (7C), but I think after mastering some footwork that line will go down fairly quickly.

"Kingdom in the Sky" (7C) Photo by Duncan Fraser

Duncan almost sent "Ulan Batar" (7B), after getting through the initial moves, so hopefully that'll go on the next trip. He also worked "Who The Fuck Is Minki" (7C) and managed to do almost all the moves, so that send is looking close too. This last weekend was really relaxing and enjoyable in the end, after lots of laughing with friends, and taking some time to simply enjoy the experience of being out in Rocklands. So on Thursday night the plan is to head back out, and my plan is to finish off "Cedar Spine" and hopefully get onto "Desperado" (8A) at the fortress, which is apparently short and crimpy. But for now it's to Stellenbosch for the WP Boulder League, we set some rad problems the other night so I'm keen to see how they go down, and hopefully the mats are back, otherwise we're gonna need some amazing spotting...