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Day 4 of the Rocklands

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by B3 in Rocklands

Day 4 Back to Pakhuis Pass and one of the best areas in Rocklands, Roadside. The weather was again perfect, with highs in the mid 50s with a nice breeze and cooling off towards the evening.

We finally found some nice moderates to warm up on. One of the downsides of Rocklands is that after making a 30-45min approach, the areas are often small and the concentration is not as good as say Hueco Tanks. Roadside is one of the exceptions. Fred Nicole has left his mark here, with such classics as Nutsa V12, Madiba V14 and the unrepeated Monkey Wedding V15. After thoroughly warming up, I flashed a nice slab given V7, although it would probably be V5 or so in Fontainebleau, perhaps a grade harder than Feels like Grit, the classic Joe’s Valley problem. I always try to do a hard slab every area I visit, and this was the hardest one I was shown in Africa. We walk a short ways up the hill and I flashed a short V9 called Unlocking the Secret. When the rock is so good, as it is in Rocklands, even two move problems can be very fun. I also flashed the very classic Out of Balance V7. We didn’t see too many problems at this grade, but this is one of the best I have done in a while. A very tenuous move is made off of a solid heel toe and a very slopey right hand.
Question of Balance V7

Kevin also flashed Question of Balance, and then did Out of Balance V11, a gorgeous variation in a matter of tries.
Kevin Jorgeson sends Question of Balance V11

COME ON!
Monkey Wedding V15 climbs behind the tree on the left side of the boulder, Nutsa V12 climbs the right arete.

My main objective for the day was Oral Office V12/13, which climbs out a very nice sweep of overhanging rock that culminates in a double dyno for the lip. I thought I might have a chance to flash it and I spent about 20 minutes feeling holds and preparing. Sometimes all of this preparation works splendidly, and other times, like this one, you fall on the first move. Such is the nature of hard climbing. It took me a few tries to figure out the first move but I quickly climbed the boulder.
Bernd Zanerl climbing Oral Office
Although this one is a bit short, I really enjoy pure, steep, power testpieces. Chuck shot some great slow motion video of my ascent. I briefly tried it’s easier counterpart, Pendragon V11, but it had warmed up and I was feeling run down from all the climbing. Best to save that one for a later day.
Finally Kevin hiked down and began trying a spectacular project which we called the Air Star Project. A fun set of v6 moves leads to a huge dyno to a sharp flake, followed by a committing V9 over a flat landing. I was really psyched but it seemed too difficult and low percentage for such a short trip. Kevin was more confident and got really motivated. Here is a pic.
Air Star Project

We hike out to a spectacular sunset, enjoying our time in paradise.

W3rd.

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Tags: Oral Office, Out of Balance, Roadside, Unlocking the Secret