Accountant's Project

The classic Topside testpiece, "Accountant's Project" 8A at Her Majesty's Boulder, received it's 5th ascent by Andrew Wood. The problem took Andrew around 3 sessions to complete, but the task was certainly harder due to the unseasonal South-East winds that blow straight off the sea and directly onto the face the line ascends.

Paranormal Activity

The last of Paul Robinson's big Topside projects for this trip fell this afternoon when he completed the first ascent of "Paranormal Activity" 8B+ at The Cinema. The rising left to right traverse took 4 visits to complete, but Paul's previous efforts were stunted by poor skin and strong winds blowing moist air off the nearby ocean.

A Simple Knowing

Paul Robinson has set yet another new benchmark in Cape Town with the completion of the city's first 8C boulder problem in Topside. "A Simple Knowing" climbs 12 moves out the belly of a massive boulder at The Magik Bloks. The single crux move took Paul over 4 sessions to stick and success of the full line came after darkness fell on his 7th day on the climb.

Rachelle in Rocklands

Rachelle de Charmoy had a brilliant month in Rocklands, becoming the first South African lady to boulder 7C+ with her ascent of "Weichei" at the Plateau boulders. Rachelle also managed an ascent of the ultra classic "Kingdom in the Sky" 7C, "Maniac" 7B, and the Fortress's "Much Ado About Nothing" 7B.

On the same trip, Rachelle's brother Benjamin also sent "The Amphitheatre" 8A+ at The Otherside. 

The Steady Plums

The list of new hard problems continues to grow as Paul Robinson's visit to Cape Town enters its final week. The long standing project at St James Park in Topside was his latest contribution after two days of efforts. The six move problem, "The Steady Plums" 8B, concentrates the majority of it's difficulty on moving to and from a really poor crimp to round a bulging lip to the slopers above.

The New Sound

Another hard line has fallen to Paul Robinson with the completion of "In Search of the New Sound" 8B at Echo Valley in Topside. The 8 move problem on tiny crimps up a steep arete took Paul three sessions to send and is located at a fairly new cluster of lines higher up in the valley, which still has a few projects waiting to be sent.

Earlier that week, Paul also established the highball "Cthulhu" 8A+ lower down in the valley, with Marijus Šmigelskis making a fast repeat of the 7C+ stand start of the same climb.

Latest Releases at The Cinema

Marijus Šmigelskis and Paul Robinson have been busy adding more classic testpieces to The Cinema at Topside. Marijus broke a hold on the "Cloverfield" project, the scar left a nicer crimp and allowed him to send the climb with a less reachy alternate sequence to the originally intended line which was rather morpho. Paul then used his height and strength to open the harder variation of the same climb, which he dubbed "Zodiac" 8A+. Lastly, to complete the lines on the boulder, Marijus opened "War of the Worlds" 7C. which climbs the first crux of "Cloverfield/Zodiac", but then heads rightwads to escape through a gap between the boulders.

Paul then made good progress on the "Paranormal Activity" project, sticking all of the crux moves and establishing a stand start at 7C+. The full line is expected to weigh in around the 8B+ mark and Paul hopes to complete it fairly soon.

8B+ comes to Cape Town!

Cape Town received its hardest climb to date with the completion of the well known "razor crimper showdown" project at the Aerial Boulders in Topside by Paul Robinson. Paul tried the line last year, working out all but one of the moves, and returned this season to complete the problem in just a single session. The problem, now called "Mirta", fitted Paul's style to perfection, and features 12 or so moves on tiny incut edges up a 45 degree wall.

The Dropout

As Paul Robinson continues his tear through the boulders of Cape Town, a visit to The Classroom resulted in the completion of the sit start to "Blood and Thunder". Dominic Riordan opened "Blood and Thunder" a few years back, starting in a standing position, but an obvious sit start remained, adding a few moderate moves, but essentially completing the full line. Paul came close to sending the problem from the sit start on his first session, but fell on the delicate foot smears on the last hard move. Returning a week later, Paul managed to send the full line creating "The Dropout" 8B, as well as making the second ascent of "Exam Stress" 8A.

Echo Valley sendage

Topside's Echo Valley has seen a good amount of attention recently with a bunch of new lines being opened and some standing testpieces being repeated. American Paul Robinson has been tearing through the valley, quickly repeating many of the hard lines and is now working on some of the many projects the area has to offer. In between burns on some harder lines, he managed a quick first ascent of "Ladder to Suckcess" 7C+, a heinous jump off a micro crimp. Local legend, Clinton Martinengo has also been trying to keep up, with repeats of "Mintberry Crunch" 8A, and the much awaited second ascent of "The Buoyancy of Citrus". The latter problem getting the upgrade treatment to 8A, after no successes after many attempts by most of the local heroes.

Rocklands season kicks off

Benjamin de Charmoy has started off his season with a repeat of "Tea with Elmarie" 8A+ at the campground boulders in Rocklands. He tried the problem a bit last year, but ran out of time to complete it with so many other projects diverting his attention. Benj is in Rocklands for a few more weeks so we can surely expect more good sends.