Sleeplessness, Week 6

Another week another 8A. This week had been filled with a lot of mixed emotions. This will also be the last blog I write from South Africa. I have one more week to go. 

Wednesday and Thursday were mainly resting. Thursday evening I went for a night session on The Wee Baby Shamus to see if I could finally get some links in or repeat the crux move. Unfortunately non of this happend. I got there super late but it was still unbearably hot. I kept slipping off off all the holds not making any progress.

Friday my stay at Alpha Exelsior ended. I had to move. Earlier in the trip I went and visited Nardouw. This is a newer sector with a lot of FA potential. Mario the owner of the land has a cabin that I decided to rent for my remaining nights. Arriving in the afternoon it was very hot. After some unpacking I decided to hit some boulders anyway. There where a couple right below my cabin. To have boulders within a 100m of the place your staying is kinda sick. I did some 7A boulders and did an FA of a 6A+.

Saturday some of my friends headed down to Witness the Sickness my first 8A. I came to support them and to hangout. Later in the day me and Jackson tried Throw Yourself Away Original (8A). After figuring out the top of the boulder We had a nice little send train again. Later in the day we headed up to Plateau and played around on some dynos.

Sunday I spend the day at the the Henhouse resting.

Monday Jackson and I had big plans to go up to 8 Day Rain and finish up some dyno projects. When we got to the boulders we did a quick warmup and tried The Flying Guitar Thief (8A) it’s a cool step up dyno that I tried a couple years ago. What’s hard about this dyno is that after the step up you have to shoot back a lot. After a couple of close tries I tore the biggest flapper of my climbing career and I had to call it early.

Tuesday we planned on going to a new sector called The Realm. With my flapper It wasn’t smart to do some. Climbing so I decided to rest and look at some flowers. It’s flower season in the Cederberg and it is a beautiful sight.

Wednesday I got to The Hen House to see what my friends had planned. We all felt a bit tired but decided to head to Kleinfontein. I wanted to give The Hatchling another go. Arriving at the boulders we all still felt pretty demotivated and tired. After listening to some tunes and gaining some sike we gave our projects a try. It all went pretty horrible so we decided to give some easier problems a try. I flashed A for Epic (7A).

After our shifty session in Kleinfontein we headed to Plateau to try some more easy problems. Jackson did Human Energy and Thomas did a nice little dyno. 

Next week I’ll be in the plane on my back to The Netherlands. I would not have thought that I’d have the feeling of wanting to go back home. But I’m happy to say that I do feel like going home. These long trips are both physically and Mentally exhausting. In the end we all remember the good times but it is also good to remember the though battles we fought here, even if they aren’t always boulders.

This weeks song is going to be:

K. Flay, Can’t Sleep

One more week, I hope to do something cool before I leave what that will be I’m not sure yet.

See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.

Baby’s on Fire, Week 5

Soooo I’ve been a bit lazy when it comes to writing my blog… that’s why it’s late this week. O well. Better late than never. I’m back and I can’t wait to tell you about my week.

After feeling not to great for a longer period of time I was siked to head out again. I decided to head over to Kleinfontein and try The Hatchling (8A) a famous Rocklands boulder. Still feeling a little fatigued I had a pretty good session on it non the less. I think one more session could secure me the top. Afterwards Max and I headed to The Fin (7A). I did a repeat and max did a quick send. After this Max had an interview. 

Later in the evening we decided to go for a little night session on Black Shadow (8A+) this boulder felt incredibly hard and cool. I’m not sure if I could send it this trip but it’s definitely one for the future.

Wednesday I was feeling a bit tired again from the day before. I headed out to support my friends and to chill with them. In the end of the day I decided to give Pinotage a go with my friends and even though I felt tired this went pretty well.

In the evening we had a charity cultural event at the local school. We got lovely food and the kids had prepared some dances for us to look at. It was an amazing experience and all the profits went to a good causes.

The day after it was a rest day again.

Friday and Saturday I spend in Danger Zone. A newer area near Travelers Rest. I was getting a bit sick of all the company constantly around me, so I decided to go for some solo adventures. After a quick warm up I did a cool 7B+ called Shadow Flight. After this I went to Hot Zucchini (8A) this boulder is super cool but felt a little hard and it was a bit hot for the slopey compression. In a little cave underneath this problem I found The Wormhole (7B+) and did this quite quick. At the end of the day I spent my time underneath The Wee Baby Shamus (8A/+) this boulder involves some squeeze on non existent holds into a toe cam to go to another non existent hold. From this position you do a double clutch to a pinch hold. This boulder is one of the best boulders I’ve climbed on in the Rocklands. Unfortunately I haven’t done it yet after two sessions. Some cooler conditions and a fresh body might do the trick tho.

Sunday I went to Oupoort with Jackson to look at some sick dynos. It is getting hot in the Rocklands and you know what that means… time for dynos!!!

First we go to pizza night and watch the lead finals at The Henhouse though.

Waking up early to beat the heat Jackson and I went to Oupoort. First on the list of dynos was Baboon Jump (7A) after both flashing it as a warmup we moved the pads a meter and threw ourselves at Mattias Didn’t See It (8A) I had a dream the night before that both Jackson and I flashed this boulder. And well. Dreams do come true sometimes. Jackson and I had a little flash train on this boulder. Moving the pads another meter we headed into The End (8A) we both couldn’t believe it but an hour had past and we had just done two 8A’s the rest of this day would just be gifts. 

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves in Powerlines. Here Jackson had a project called Final Destination (8A) after throwing ourselves at that boulder for over an hour we walked away empty handed. We threw ourselves at Superpowered (8A+) and Overpowered (8B) but it was clear that the juice had flown. After a celebratory shake and burger it was time for bed.

Tuesday was time for dyno day 

two. Let’s gooo! We had a slow ass start but made it to some cool dynos. I was lucky enough to flash Sex on the Beach (7B+/C) and Jackson and I both topped Barbies Bro/ Ho Ratio (8A) this was such a sick boulder. Starting with a double dyno into a slot finishing off with some technical sloper climbing to finish. After spending quite some time figuring out the top we almost gave up. I went up the boulder to see if we missed a hold and found the shittiest slopey crimp. This was apparently enough cause Jackson did the top with it. I knew it was go time and send the boulder. Jackson followed not shortly after. 

The rest of our day was spend trying this comp boulder called Cinqueiume Soleil (8A) after being a bit of a pussy regarding the first jump I finally stuck it. Only to get scared at the top out and not finish the boulder. It is pretty high and the landing is not perfect. The top involves you throwing yourself backwards and over this little roof. Maybe I’ll try it in the near future on a rope just to feel secure enough on that last move. It is a sick boulder after all.

For this week there is only one song that makes sense to me. If been on fire these past days and this song resembles that perfectly.

Die Antwoord, Baby’s On Fire

I’m gonna need to do some planning if I want to do all of my projects. I’m not a fan of how close my departure date is getting again. See y’all next week. And don’t forget, be nice, think twice and most importantly, crush some boulders.