B3bouldering.com » Kevin Jorgeson

Rocklands Day 14

B3 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:20:43 +0000

After two solid rest days I was very psyched, to say the least. We decided to go to a small area near The Campground. The burden of flying with so much extra equipment to camp is not worth it, but the campground seemed filled with all kinds of enthusiastic international characters. We made a relatively quick approach to The Alpha Farms and some nice warm-ups and then to a very nice dyno problem called Black Velvet V11.
It was really warm, certainly in the mid 70s and I wasn’t sure I could climb anything. Kevin destroyed this one with his trademark graceful style.

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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Rocklands and Kevin’s Cut

B3 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:37:31 +0000

It was about this time that Kevin Jorgeson got one of the most unique tears I have ever seen trying the Air Star Project at Roadside. Here is the damage, once the blood was wiped away.

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

No additional cutting or shaping was done.

Rocklands Day 3…Hollow?

B3 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:20:40 +0000

Not every day of a roadtrip is incredible. Without the bad there would be no good. The third day started off with a brutal 45 minute uphill hike/scramble to a small cluster of boulders.

Bernd Zangerl had climbed a gorgeous arete at this area. It looked difficult, was graded V12 and I only tried it briefly. This problem is potentially four stars, however I don’t think any one save Kevin was particularly motivated to try. Kevin’s one hour ascent was awesome.

I was super impressed by his technical ability. I feel like I learn something when I watch him climb and that is very motivating. Upon returning to the car about 30 baboons scampered down the hill. They are amazingly human-like. Unfortunately my lens was too weak to get any decent pictures. Regardless, it was a long day that we attempted to salvage by going to The Riverside area, home of Moiste Massey and I didn’t try it. I did manage a cool V9 roof, White Mazda Clan and I tried a gorgeous 4 star V9 with a big move at the top – I got very close but couldn’t commit to the final jump. The Rocklands is 8 hours ahead of Boulder and jet-lag, it seemed, had caught up with all of us.

This day we were hollow, without our muscles or our hearts…

Rocklands Day 2

B3 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:31:32 +0000

The second day we decided to check out some of the main bouldering areas near Pakhuis Pass. There are three main areas that are accessed from the parking lot, Roadside, Roadcrew and The Fortress. We decided to visit Roadcrew, which has such classics as Ulaan Bataar V8, The Power of One V13, Cedar Spine Arete V8, Amandla V14 and several others. It’s about a 40 min hike.

As you head down the hill from the parking lot, the expanse of rock comes into full view.

I felt really tired. We stopped at a nice V9 called Last Day in Paradise, which I flashed. Fred Nicole did the first ascent. The problem starts in a nice jug and heads up and left with a hard move coming off of a small and sharp right hand crimp. The girls worked out all of the moves and they would all eventually send the problem.

Flann sends Last Day in Paradise V9

Stephanie sends Last Day in Paradise V9

One of the most outstanding features of the Rocklands is the scenery. We kept reminding ourselves, as we looked north and east from the pass that “We’re in Africa!”

Flann ponders.

We made our way up to Ulaan Bataar V8. Some have called this the best problem in the world. I was struck by the gorgeous orange streaks. The problem is unfortunately contrived, and while the contrivance is obvious, this certainly takes away stars. Nevertheless, I climbed it quickly and then repeated it. An outstanding problem. Check out the pics.

Ulann Bataar V8

Kevin spent most of the day cleaning and preparing an amazing and terrifying problem. Welcome to Rocklands V4, steps off a ledge to begin with and immediately puts the climber 50ft above the ground. Kevin is one of the most technically solid climbers I have climbed with. His analytical brain seems to be constantly dissecting and constructing. He is one of the best climbers I know. He rehearsed the line several times on a toprope before commiting to the ropeless ascent. With the recent and tragic death of John Bachar, a legend in his own right, it brings the very real issues of free soloing to the forefront. Kevin climbed the line twice. I honestly had a hard time watching and it was difficult to even hide behind the camera to snap a few pictures, but nonetheless I was very impressed.

Welcome to Rocklands Kevin Jorgeson FA