The next day was warm and and I absolutely flailed on The Vice and I knew I had mentally checked out. There were two more days and I spent them hanging out in the sun, reading, taking pictures and laughing with the crew. It was a nice end to the trip.

Tomorrow I’ll be Gone V10

Here are my final thoughts on the climbing in South Africa, as straight as I can tell it. The rock quality is amazing. The lines are amazing and Rocklands delivers world class problems in both regards. The scenery is awesome and it seems to be a safe destination. I was disappointed with the amount of exploring I did and that I didn’t find one project that looked interesting. The amount of climbing there has been over exaggerated in my opinion. Where Font was lacking in outstanding, proud and obvious lines, it makes up for in concentration of quality rock. Switzerland trumps both areas in my opinion. Nevertheless, Rocklands was incredible and I am glad I got to share my experiences.

Kevin on The Power of One V13, Matt Wilder FA

The Power of One V13

Wolfdrif

Roadside, Sunset

This trip would not have happened with out the support of:

Here is shot near Pakhuis Pass, where we saw some baboons a few times. This is driving up the east side of the pass, Clanwilliam is one the west side, at least another 20 minutes from here.

The Tea Farm is the closest area to Clanwilliam, and although it is only 5 minutes from the road (which would make it by far the shortest approach in the Rocklands) there are really only two problems there.

Tea Farm Area from the road. Black Shadow climbs out the dark cave, underneath the large orange face, in the center of the photo.

Black Shadow V13 is the prize. It climbs a really nice overhanging feature on perfect sloping edges and pinches. It seemed really hard and I struggled on several moves. Nalle had tried this problem last year at the end of the day, but came back this day to finish it off in an hour or so. I finally figured out my beta and surprised myself by doing a good link. My confidence was high and I was psyched to try it from the start. There was a very tricky toe hook that was the crux for me. Two difficult bump moves off the same right foot, the first one easier for the short, the second one easier for the tall.

Kevin Jorgeson on Black Shadow

I must have fallen 6 or 7 times from the start on this move. I refined my beta and got the send. Of course it is in my nature to question things, and I could question the grade on this one. However, it was very much my style, I was climbing well and motivation was high. This is the hardest problem I have ever climbed in a day, unquestionably. Such a sick boulder and one of the best problems I climbed, or saw while I was there. A world class problem for sure and one that I would recommend to anyone who is capable.

Black Shadow 8B

We spent the rest of the day in Clanwilliam running errands. Clanwilliam is quaint, in its own African way, and although the scene certainly is different than in the US, I never felt threatened while I was there,

There is a charming internet cafe, where we ate lunch, but unfortunately the connection speed is glacial, hence the lack of updates while I was there. The nicest grocery store in town is The Spar.

The Spar

As is often the case when traveling internationally, the fruits and vegetables were a bit lacking. The meat was acceptable but perhaps a bit more fatty than here in the US. I would say the quality of the food was similar, if not worse, than that of The Vista, in El Paso. They did sell Red Bull, and high fructose corn syrup free Coke.

Clanwilliam

One of the best things about traveling to South Africa is the exchange rate. I think we figured we were spending around $36 per person, per week on groceries. A nice bottle of wine would cost about $5, and in fact I purchased the most expensive bottle of wine in the liquor store for about $15. We would often cook red meat over a fire and the wine was a nice touch. A nice way to wind down before the weather turned south.

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View from the Sassies

My initial burns felt much better than the first day, and then I changed the left foot smear. It made all the difference and soon Icmade the huge move to the good crimp. Once I latched the hold, the motivation came on strong. There are a few moments in my bouldering career when I have entered this deep zone of focus. Everything slows down, each second becomes pure and clear but at the same time I feel detached and indifferent. A perfect moment for a perfect rock climb. I don’t ever expect these moments, but I enjoy them when they come. This was the highlight of the trip for me and made me feel content with coming to South Africa. I was so happy to climb this problem! Everything else would be a bonus. Chuck got some great photos.

Shosholoza V12

Shosholoza V12

On the way out we stopped at some amazing San rock art. We hear that some of the paintings were potentially 80,000 years old.

Just another facet of South Africa which adds to the incredible experience.

Black Velvet V11

After throwing myself at this one and flailing, I took a break. If it wasn’t hot yet it got hot and I hid in the shade. I tried cooling off and dried my hands with liquid chalk, which seemed to help. I really hate climbing in the heat, but I was psyched and wanted to take advantage of my time. I used different beta by dynoing to a terrible sloper, throwing my heel on the lip. It seemed to work out and although desperate in the warm weather I topped it out. I thought I would probably spend the rest of the day taking pictures.

The Alpha Farms

Some of the rock in Africa is incredibly streaked

Fields of Joy

We hung out for a while before deciding to hike to a new sector. It was probably 15 minutes back to the campground and then another 45 minutes to the Fields of Joy. Today the hiking was a bit much and not all were so joyous upon our arrival. I checked out some of the problems and thought I’d like to try and flash a really nice roof called No Late Benders V11. This is a really long problem with awesome sculpted holds. I fell off the last move on my flash go, rested for a while and then climbed it. Here is Nelson on the stand start No Late Tenders V10.

I really value efficiency when it comes to sending. There was too much hiking this day, but it’s nice not to climb that much and tick two hard problems quickly. It was a good day at the boulders.

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Nalle on some initial attempts.

Here you can see the top of the arete

Please check out Chuck Frybergers blog here, for more pictures! I imagine this will appear in an upcoming Chuck Fryberger film.

Atlantic Ocean

We ate a very lackluster lunch there, at a restaurant called Isabella’s. The food was heavily buttered and fried and of a general poor quality. The slow service gave us time to enjoy the heavenly smell of thousands of bird droppings from nearby Bird Island. The highlight of the Island were a couple of comically odd signs.

Bird Island

Bird Island

The ocean was nice, but the view was tempered by the awful smell. I captured a few photos, but after a quick stop in a tourist shop, we were all ready to leave.

Lambert’s Bay

I would never recommend a visit to Lambert’s Bay proper while visiting the Rocklands, however it seemed there were miles of untouched beach north and south of the small town and I imagine some quiet solitude could be found there. If nothing more, I was ready to get back to the rocks and pull down once again.

For fans of The Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa, a fact I was not aware of. We saw a Brandywine River as well. En-joy.

There is exposed rock everywhere. Unfortunately, it was about 3 hours of hiking and I didn’t see a single problem worth going back for.

The South African Veld

Roadside

The thought crept in that the potential in Rocklands I had heard so much about was not there. This was the third day of hiking and I hadn’t seen anything yet. The Cederberg is a gigantic range. I imagine other parts of the range are rife with good bouldering, however the area around Pakhuis maybe mostly tapped.

Anyways, I was tired and should have rested. Back at Roadside I tried Nutsa briefly and again fell off the last move. I knew all of this climbing was catching up and it was time to take time off and rebuild some skin and energy.
I decided to take two days off, which was a tough decision but one that ended up being a good one. One of the most important aspects of climbing well on a road trip is time management. When the weather is good its hard to say no, but I knew if I wanted to gain some momentum, time off was imperative. My first rest day was spent at the Sassies.

I read my book, took pictures and spotted. It was just three of us, and a nice break to pull away from the group. Steph crushed Petit Hueco, a great V8 with a slopey top-out.

Wildflowers at the Sassies

Stephanie on Petit Hueco V8

it was a perfectly relaxing rest day. The others had gone to a new sector and I was psyched to hear the report.

Kevin makes a huge leap to a very sharp hold on the Air Star Project

No additional cutting or shaping was done.

View of Pakuis Pass from The Fortress

I was impatient on the 9th day and although I didn’t feel fully recovered we went back to The Fortress and I made no progress on The Vice V13. Chuck put the camera down and crushed a direct finish to The Vice called The Vice President V13 that Fred had added a while back. For myself, I always find it challenging to sync up the natural cycles of my body on a road trip. The older I get, the more prevalent they become. I was so tired that I struggled to do the moves on a V10 called Stretched and Pressed. Kevin made very quick work of this awesome three star roof and it was inspiring watching Nalle flash it.
Stretched and Pressed, V10 flash, Nalle

Nalle tip-toes his way up the dicey finish.

The 10th day should have been a rest day but sometimes it is so hard to say no to such amazing boulders. I was tired and my skin was wrecked. I briefly tried the Leopard Cave V12 but it seemed confusing and motivation was low. The group seemed more psyched on talking than climbing, and that was fine by me. I did manage to fall off the last move of a classic arete at Roadside called Nutsa V12 and it certainly felt like something I could come back to. Less than halfway through the trip, that was a nice feeling.

This cart would take supplies down a two-track road to a small town from Pakhuis Pass.

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Back at Roadside I met up with a bunch of Americans. They were trying a very nice problem called Caroline V10. It climbs this alligator-back, pinching the ridges and scales. It took me a few tries to figure out the drop-knees and body positions but I managed to get the send.
Collin Horvat sends Caroline V10
Sarah Marvez on Caroline

I then went over and finished off Pendragon V11, a problem I had tried perviously, done all the moves on but failed to link. It was nice to have a short, but very productive, climbing day. I find myself resting more than I would like in an attempt to keep my body from wearing down. One of the challenges of traveling for a month is that I really want to maximize my time. By throwing myself at everything I see, I ruin my muscles and my skin. So today I called it early and began resting.