Hogsback Bouldering!

The Eastern Cape received perhaps it's best new bouldering venue for Christmas! Marijus Šmigelskis dicovered lots of boulders in the amazing forests surrounding Hogsback and started development. Several moderates have been opened and many more lie amongst the trees. Check the topos page for more details...

Emile on Form

Emile Esterhuizen continued his good form and made several more good sends over the rest of December. First to fall was "Believe it or Not" 7C at Topside, impressive considering how short he is. Then, despite the summer temperatures, he moved on to Rocklands and finally worked out how to do "Sunset Arete" 7C, and with that, the sit start, "Nutsa" 8A+ soon followed.

Boogie Nights Repeated!

Marijus Šmigelskis has made the long-awaited 3rd ascent of "Boogie Nights" 8A+ at Topside. The problem was opened by Justin Hawkins in 2000 and had only been repeated by Swiss superstar Fred Nicole. Marijus worked the line over 3 days to build up enough stamina to then send the 18 move roof. Amazingly, the problem then saw it's next ascent the very next day with Emile Esterhuizen, who worked the problem with Marijus, grabbing the 4th ascent.

Dom the Tall!

Dom Riordan has made the 4th ascent of the bizzare overhanging dihedral "Believe it or Not" 7C at Echo Valley in Topside. The problem was opened by Clinton Martinengo and originally graded 7C+, however the moves are fairly reach dependant and taller climbers have suggested a downgrade.

Dom also made a repeat of the "Flaming Pig sit start" 7C at Redhill, commenting that it's relatively easy if you're tall, but desperate if you're short due to a foot lock that can be used by taller climbers on the hardest move.

Chuck Norris

Scott Noy has added another hard problem to Newlands Forest. "Chuck Norris" 7C is a short and technical problem at the Jungle Gym area that packs all of its difficulty into a single crux move. Scott also repeated the Topside classic "Drag Queen" 7C, a problem that some climbers feel is due for a downgrade

The Deviant

Greg Streatfield has opened a new problem at The Classroom in Newlands forest. "The Deviant" 7B+ starts as for "U19 Girls Basketball" and moves left to join "Swim Coach" and tops out as for that problem.

Clinton at Redhill

Clinton Martinengo has repeated "The Untitled Symphony of Self-Destruction" 7C+ at the Vajra area on a solo mission to Redhill. The problem, which reverses Redhill's current hardest "Elfen Lied", was opened by visiting German Johannes Schlemper and has seen only one repeat since, by Emile Esterhuizen.

Seaside Sends

Marijus Šmigelskis has made the 6th ascent of "Ard Ay" 8B at The Seaside area in Topside after about 5 days of attempts spread over the past few weeks.

Marijus and Clinton Martinengo also made a fast send of the right hand finish to "Bubka" 7C+, giving the problem its 4th and 5th ascents. Both lines were originally opened by Jerry Moffat on his visit a few years ago.

The Executioner

At Ikes Boulder in Cecillia Forest, Clinton Martinengo made a fast first ascent of the "The Executioner" 7C+. Clinton almost sent the problem in the last 20 minutes of daylight in one evening session, but kept missing the finishing hold and had to come back the next day for the send. The name refers to the hard dyno that one must execute in order to do the problem, which is then followed by a tricky mantle top out.

Locals Rocklands Repeats

Rocklands saw a lot of local action this past winter season. Here are a few high-lights:

Arjan de Kock spent most of his winter bouldering and managed an impressive ticklist with the second South African ascent of "Tea with Elmarie" 8A+ as well as sends of "Pendragon", "No Late Tenders" both 8A and the rarely repeated sit start to "Question of Balance" called "A Matter of Power" 7C+.

Arjan on "Pendragon"

 Justin Hawkins sent his first 8B "Armed Response" (with "Leopard Cave" now at 8A+) and flashed "Black Spider" 7C.

Ben Harper made a fast repeat of "No Late Tenders" 8A and Shaun Jansa sent the impressive dyno "Black Velvet" 8A. Marijus Šmigelskis also managed to repeat "Tea with Elmarie" 8A+ for his first of the grade.

Marijus on "Tea with Elmarie"

Chaos

Emile Esterhuizen has opened the much tried "Chaos" project at the Mushroom area at Redhill. He discovered a new sequence for the crux move, by moving slightly more right than originally intended and the problem now goes at around 7C/7C+

Roudnitska

At the newly discovered "Outer Limits" area at Redhill, Emile Esterhuizen opened "Roudnitska", similar to a shorter version of "Elfen Lied". The problem took Emile four days of attempts and is about 7C/7C+.

The Exceptionals

In Rocklands, Edvinas Šmigelskis established a new problem at the Roadside area, on the "Black Labour" boulder (just above the "Black Eagle" boulder). "The Exceptionals" 7C+ starts as for "Segregation" (the 7C dyno), but then does a big move left to a small crimp, and then climbs straight up to top out from there.

LLandudno Joe

Joe Möhle opened the bold and impressive "Zero Gravity" at Llundudno. The line involves an intimidating dyno above a slab which leads straight into the ocean below.

Joe on "Zero Gravity"

Previously unreported, Joe also opened the impressive off-width roof crack "Amazing Grace" in a cave in Llundudno in mid 2005, after about a year of on-and-off attempts. The grade has not yet been determined as the problem awaits a second ascent, but it's pretty tricky...

More for Redhill

The recent fire at Redhill has revealed a few more boulders with some good problems. Emile Esterhuizen opened two new lines, "Gom Jabar" 7B+ is a 14 move roof problem on sharp crimps and jugs and "Onime" 7B+ is a powerful line through a black roof.

Then, at the Mushroom area, Edvinas Šmigelskis opened the excellent "High Maintenance" 7C, which climbs the micro crimps and poor slopers to the right of "Eyeball".

Edvinas on "High Maintenance"

The Butterfly Effect

At The Maze in Topside, Edvinas Šmigelskis within a few tries managed to open one of the long standing projects. "The Butterfly Effect" 7C, climbs a diagonal line through a roof on the "Snake" boulder.

Powderburn

Clinton Martinengo has opened a new route on the Lemon Curd Boulder at Peer's Cave. "Powderburn" starts as for "Pink Ideas" then reverses "Thundering Typhoons" to finish up "Opal Moon". The route took him 5 days of attempts to redpoint and he has graded it 32.