Day 61: The Onslaught Begins
As predicted, Mike and Raquel have settled into the Rocklands groove with ease. The climbing here is very similar to that of Hueco Tanks, of which we are all very much accustomed to. And slowly but surely, the four of us are beginning to crank. Hard.
After a couple warm-up days, we’ve now embarked on Round One of the onslaught. On Sunday, we headed back to the Plateau Boulders here on the de Pakhuys farm. Raquel quickly cleaned up her send of Girl on Our Mind, 6c with ease, ticking it first go of the day. We lovingly refer to this stellar climb as “The South African Nobody’s”, likening it to Hueco’s classic Nobody Here Gets Out Alive. Next up on the day’s tick list was Mike’s exciting last-minute send of the burley and powerful Minki, 7b, another classic, with comparable Hueco-like features.
Mike crushing Minki, 7b
Following the long and exhausting Minki session, we hiked our tired muscles over to the Hidden Boulder at the end of the day for an expected thrashing on the pumpy Human Energy, 7b. No sends to report on this climb yet, however, I surprisingly managed to squeak out a couple of impressive first-time links from the start. Mike and I are now both at the same highpoint on the climb. After some good rest, we’re both hoping for the send.
April working Human Energy, 7b
Despite some tired muscles, we went to The Fortress the following day. Paul has had his sights set on trying the crazy compression classic The Vice, 8b, a would-be grade-breaker for him (wisely, he decided to rest the previous day while we all thrashed). After only about 15 minutes or so of him beginning to suss out the moves, he and I both realized that this climb could potentially be a possibility for him. Psyched, he spent the entire day working it out and by the end was able to do all the moves.
Paul sussing out moves on The Vice, 8b
In the meantime, Mike, Raquel and I worked on the adjacent Colin the Librarian, 7a , a fun little ditty with small crimps, tight body tension and a big throw at the end. On our best go’s, Mike and I missed the final throw by mere centimeters! Grrr. Too tired. Need rest. We’ll be back.
Raquel keeping a tight core on Colin the Librarian, 7a
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One Response to “Day 61: The Onslaught Begins”
August 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
april and paul
just want you to know we’re following every word and picture and finding it amazing (although it’s like reading another language!) Keep safe and have fun! See you at Christmas!
love
kathy and bill
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