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Rocklands, South Africa 2007
Todd Daniels and Lisa Rands at the Sassie Boulders, Rocklands. This year, the trip to South Africa was all about first ascents and new areas. With ridge after ridge of rock to explore and no clear end to bouldering possibilities, we spent days hiking in search of new sectors, all the time hoping for something a little out of the ordinary. Over 2000 problems have already been established at Rocklands, mostly in small pockets of densely concentrated blocks scattered widely across this vast area. This is similar to the distribution of boulders in the far more exhaustively developed Fontainebleau region of northern France -- only without the trees and, on the whole, with much better weather, though it must be said on this latter point: not always ...
Todd Daniels and Lisa Rands seen through a rain-soaked windshield after looking for new boulders, Rocklands. From June to August we based ourselves at the Lorraine Farm, the very same area that last year turned up the famed Sassie boulders, now known by visiting Austrians and others as "The American Sector." (See my article in Rock & Ice #155 viewable on this site's previous Rocklands piece ). Traveling companions Todd Daniels, Jeff Sillcox, and Nate Peach initially helped us in our quest, but the trip began ominously: A 40-year-record downpour lasting an unheard-of eight straight days saw our bedraggled team deteriorate in both body and soul through the gluttony of Tennis Biscuits (irresistibly sweet and crunchy South African cookies) and the disturbing pages of The Raw Shark Texts (a twisted novel about a madman hunted through an underground labyrinth by an imaginary shark). We were also about ready to don "Wellington boots" inside the house, running with water as it was from time to time, and Todd had to move out of his bedroom when awakened by a steady drip, drip, drip on his forehead. Even our landlady showed up in a pair of galoshes, which she swore she was wearing even in her own house and we believe her.
Clouds clearing at sunrise, Lorraine Farm, Rocklands. Nevertheless, all was not lost: the very day the weather broke, a search for new boulders by our intrepid crew (other than Jeff, that is) turned up an astonishing untapped area just ten minute's drive from our lodging. Rushing back to base and shuffling pads and climbing gear into cars at the house roused even the downhearted "Jeff-a-lump" from the couch of gloom. Over the ensuing weeks the new-found sector, suitably christened "The Eight-Day Rain," revealed a treasure-trove of jaw-dropping lines. Among the 75 or so problems climbed, many were moderates, with the striking Whirlpool Arete soon acquiring a reputation as one of the best v2s anyone could ever hope to climb.
Lisa Rands stepping up high on the stellar Whirlpool Arete (v2) at the Eight Day Rain sector.
Lisa climbing another beautiful arete from the sit (v7/8). It is currently unnamed. There were also double-digit projects to be tackled by the dozen. Lisa Rands contributed the tall and enticing Lisa's Arete (v10 sit-start), which she picked out and climbed, yet failed to name. Matt Wilder, joining us just at the ideal moment, after the rain had stopped, claimed many top-end firsts most notably The Ark (v10/11) a looming prow truly biblical in scale. Matt's psyche for the send saw him boldly commit to its highball crux above a slanted slab of rock with just a trio of small pads below.
Dan Archambault making the second ascent of The Ark, a spectacular v10/11 at the Eight Day Rain sector. French superstar Tony Lamiche's flying visit lent an extra cutting edge to the household's first ascent team. Earning honorary American status with his mispronounced slang and grating accent, Lamiche immediately set about dusting projects and last year's test-pieces with equal abandon, often in just a few tries.
Tony Lamiche sticks a crazy hard dyno on the Pinotage Boulder at the Sassies. This new line climbs the wall immediately left of the blunt arete named Oliphantshuis.
Shosholoza, a Fred Nicole first, was one stand out from the previous season--a singular line up the underside of a dramatic perched boulder made famous by the video Specimen. None who have seen the film can forget the over-played footage implying the problem is nigh impossible without being the sole proprietor of Nicole's forearms. Lamiche climbed Shosholoza (rating unknown, but likely around v12) the same afternoon that he also flashed Panama (a proposed v13 from 2006, though believed easier), and climbed a host of other hard lines, ticking them off and returning to the house bouncing with so much energy it seemed he had barely warmed up. Indeed, judging by the four-days-on-one-off schedule he maintained for his two-week trip, he never did turn on the heat. At the Eight-Day Rain, Lamiche contributed three hard lines, including The Quintessential (v13/14), a pure and perfect two-move wonder involving a hard lock off and a mind- and body-bending dyno, the left hand traveling a full six feet controlled by a tiny right-hand crimp. This was a long move, but not so long as powerful, given the beyond-45-degree angle, and not even so powerful as plain mystifying. Lamiche completed this in his inimitable style over the space of a couple of hours. Wilder, determined to repeat the feat, flung himself at it again and again over the next three weeks before his well-earned second ascent.
Matt Wilder on The Quintessential (v13/14), Eight Day Rain sector, Rocklands. Meanwhile the hunt for new trophies moved to a ridge of rocks northeast of the Sassies dubbed the New-New area. Lisa returned here after the initial buzz to pick some plum highballs including her Backbone (v10), named for the bleached antelope bones and skull sitting beside the line. Forced into some brave deadpoints and an all-out effort, Rands screamed her way through the upper moves for the first ascent. (See the news section for a photo.)
Lisa making the first ascent of Orange Blossom, at the New-New Area, Lorraine Farm, Rocklands. -- Wills Young |
