8A at Magik Bloks

Visiting American Paul Robinson has opened the "Marlboro Man" project at the Magik Bloks, an area in Topside developed by Maciej Fijalkowski. The main boulder still has 3 projects to be sent as well as a possible extension to the start of "Marlboro Man" through the roof of the underbelly of the boulder. Paul also extended "Kill the Batman" into a delicate highball finish to create "The Classy Pirates" 7C.

UPDATE: Arjan sends Amandla

Arjan de Kock has made the first South African ascent of "Amandla" 8B+ in Rocklands! Arjan began working on the Fred Nicole testpiece last season but had to abandon his efforts as the weather got too hot. Success on the line came fairly quickly this season with the cold winter temps. Check out the clip:

Prize Roof at Turtle Sent!

Joe Mohle has opened the harder extension to his own "Eyes on the Prize", bumping the grade up to 8A at The Turtle Boulders in Topside. The extension carries on through the length of the roof after reaching the second to last hold of "Eyes on the Prize", adding a further six moves, to specifically gain a triangular pocket with the right hand before topping out. This latest addition to the Turtle cave (which now boasts 3 problems from 7B to 8A) has been named "GI Joe Kung Fu Grip" after a humorous lyrics in a Sublime song.

New Additions to Cape Boulders

Marijus Šmigelskis added two new problems over the past few days. At the "Through the Core" boulder in Echo Valley in Topside, he climbed "Fat Sally" 7C, which basically does the first move of "Pudgy Bitch" to the gaston, then you jump to the flat jug instead of matching and heading rightwards.

Then, moving to the CBD, he scoped out a new boulder above the road directly above the Roysten Vasey parking area, opening several new lines, then hardest of which is "The Bro Code", offering five moves up the steepest side of the boulder, at around 7B+ or 7C.

Clinton on the return

Clinton Martinengo is recovering well from a severe shoulder injury. Lately, he's been focusing on the vertical and slab lines at Llandudno to minimise the impact on his healing shoulder. He managed to claim the second ascent of "In The Making", opened by Joe Mohle several years ago. Although the line lacked an official grade, it was widely accepted to be in the 7C or 7C+ region. Clinton managed to do the stand start in one evening session after 3 months of barely any climbing, and returned at dawn to get optimal conditions a few days later to succeed on the sit start.