Back at it again. This week was a week full of sends and epic times.
On Monday we had a rest day and didn’t do that much. We had dinner at De Kelder in Clanwilliam. Being vegetarian in these restaurants always limits your choices. Meaning in this restaurant it was onion rings and pizza margarita…
Waking up on Tuesday I looked at The Pass and saw big dark clouds heading our way. Desperate for a session on Nutsa I decided to gamble and headed up there anyway. Together with Minh I walked towards the boulder and found another group of people that where desperate for a session at Roadside. The conditions are cool and humid due to the us being in the clouds. Not ideal for a session on a slopey compression boulder… After falling on the last hard move another seven times I decided to call it quits for today and give Nutsa a little rest. This boulder is really testing my patients. It’s extra frustrating because I know I can do it, it just needs to go…
On Wednesday I met up with 3 different party’s on The Pass again. This time at Roadcrew. This day was awsome. I met up with Marlies a setter from Beest Rotterdam at When The Day Breaks (7B) and after warming up I did it second go. After that I walked around a bit and headed into a musty cave. In this shallow cave there was a sick problem called Une Rime Stupide (7C+). I worked out moves with Efix. The main crux of this problem is a dynamic move to a jug from a weird body position on sloper. The big problem is not dabbing on the ground when you catch the jug. After some ground tries and a lot of dabbing I started to look for different approaches to the crux move. Somehow I found a crazy and shitty kneebar which made it possible to static the crux. After some rest and a few tries it went down. Full of excitement I met up with the triple D Irish squad at Ulan Bator (7B+). This problem felt super hard. There was still one problem on my list for today that I had to try. This was The Bridge (7C). I went up the cliff with Jackson and Mason to scramble and look for the problem. After we found it and put our pads under the boulder, I went in for the flash go. The Bridge is this overhanging board like problem with big moves on good crimps. In my surprise I managed to flash this problem. What was even more amazing is that Jackson and Mason managed to hop on the flash train with me. All three of us flashed The Bridge. It was the best train I’ve ever been on.
Thursday was another rest day full of non exciting experiences.
Friday was a day for Riverside and Mooiste Meisie. After cheering on the bois for a few hours on White Mazda Clan I gave Mooiste Meisie a try. Unfortunately I didn’t really link a lot of the bottom, but I did manage to stick the crux move on my own and topped it out.
Jackson and Mason wanted to go to Roadside later in the day to give some burns on Oral office and Caroline. Caroline was still on my list so I was keen to give that a burn as well. I didn’t have any expectations because I just spend the day projecting an 8B. It was getting late and dark while Max and I waited for Jackson and Mason to arrive with our food. After a quick pizza (again)we walked to the boulders in the dark. Arriving at the boulders the silence was deafening it was a crazy experience. Mason and I got on Caroline and it went surprisingly well. I found different beta for the start with a right heelhook. After getting warm again I gave it some redpoint burns and managed to top this incredible line.
Saturday was a slow as day. One of our friends wanted to go to Kasteelport (7C) I got there around 16:00 ish and wanted to give this boulder a try. It looked pretty straight forward and my style. Big moves on good holds with compression. I jokingly told Max to film my flash go just in case and putting the extra pressure on myself worked cause I managed to flash. Sorry Thomas for flashing your project…
Sunday we headed out to Nardouw a new area quite the drive away from the main area’s. Thomas showed us around some amazing possible first ascents. I managed to FA two boulders. One is called Bohemian Blasphemy (7B) and Wretched Throng (7B+) later in the evening I worked on this open project called The Dyno Project. It is this super beautiful wall that is pretty high and exposed. This boulder is way to cool and I really wanna get back on it and try to grab the first ascent.
Week three went by so fast I realize I only have 2 weeks left and that’s starting to stress me out. There is still so much I want to do and the list just keeps getting bigger.
For this week I choose the song,
I’m really considering extending my trip for a week or two. See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.