Day 86: Rehab
Five days lounging in J-Bay plus 1 “warm-up” climbing day plus 1 delicious chicken and dumplings dinner equals a well-prescribed rehab for Paul’s knee. So far so good anyway. Yesterday we spent a full 8 hours climbing on the Road Crew and Roadside boulders. And we’re back in action baby.
Getting right to business, first up on the day’s ticklist was Paul’s send of Purple Nipple Clan, 7c, a twisting slopey little-known gem under the Umbuli Roof. The famous Umbuli Roof, 7c problem, adjacent to Purple Nipple Clan, was what drew Paul to the roof in the first place, promised as a classic from the guides and fellow climbers. But upon entering the roof Paul was immediately drawn to the slopey non-existent orange holds of Purple Nipple and instantly bailed on trying Umbuli. Good choice. He briefly worked out the moves 2 days prior on our “warm-up” climbing day and yesterday made quick work of it, sending on his first go. No dropknees required on this climb.
Paul ticking Purple Nipple Clan, 7c
Next on the agenda was my quick work of the beautiful Roof on Fire, 6c+. The aesthetics of this climb are of the Rocklands norm: a boulder sitting precariously on a tall narrow pedestal, it’s bright orange underbelly roof propped up by only a sliver of an edge. I had tried this gorgeous problem previously when Mike and Raquel were visiting, but was a bit weary of the 8 foot or so cliff over which your ass hangs when you pull onto the climb. For whatever reason (perhaps being all psyched up from Paul’s Purple Nipple send or perhaps the hearty fuel of the chicken and dumplings dinner kicking in), on this particular day the aesthetics overpowered my wussy-ness. I erased the cliff from my peripheral and cruised the moves and ended up loving the climb so much I sent it 3 times that day.
Roof on Fire, 6c+
Left foot toe-hooked, right foot pressed
Pure rock climbing enjoyment: sticking the big move at full extension
Let ‘em cut and hold the swing
Match it up and cruise to the top
Totally jazzed from the morning’s ticks, Paul and I then hiked on over to the Roadside Boulders, hoping that our psyched spirits would cruise us up some more boulder problems. It was Paul’s turn now and his sights were set on the short, yet wicked powerful, steep and crimpy Caroline, 7c. Paul had tried this climb two other times since we arrived in Rocklands, but never after a rest day. Bonus. However…..his previous beta included FOUR dropknees, two of which were right knees. Negative bonus, times two. This seemingly significant fact didn’t seem to phase Paul though. He quickly worked out some new beta and within 30 minutes eliminated all four dropknees and climbed the problem bottom to top, straight on. The grade of 7c at Rocklands translates to about V9/10 for all you Vermin Scale climbers out there. And with a dropknee free send, probably pushes it closer to the V10 side of the grade. Alas, it ain’t The Vice, but still a worthy tick.
Paul crushing Caroline, 7c, dropknee free
More amped than ever, we next moved on to A Question of Balance, 7b, a climb that I’ve tried probably 20 or so times now. Just as the name implies, this problem requires a mystic balance-y move off of a left heel-toe-cam that I have yet to figure out. Unfortunately, I have no send to report on this one yet. I did however, feel signs of improvement. Sometimes the slightest inch of progression can feel just as good as a send.
Paul then decided it was time to seal the day off with a slam-bam finish with the dead vertical infamous Roadside highball Creaking Heights, 6c. Again, just as the name implies this problem is well, high and creaky. One must delicately move up the thin seam in the face on little sidepull crimps and slanted nubbin feet. About three quarters of the way up (in the leg-breaker zone), the climber is then faced with an enormous juggy stalactite feature, hanging down in the widening seam, beckoning to be grabbed and yarded on to gain the lip of the massive boulder. Only, the climber is not allowed to grab it. Because here is where the “creaky” part come in. Yeah, the stalactite flexes. Yikes. Fortunately though, if you keep it cool and just plain climb like a rock climber, the creaking stalactite-free finish isn’t so hard….or so I’m told anyway by Paul. Cause I sure as heck didn’t go up there!!! I used all my meager bravery reserves up on the first move of Roof on Fire, remember?!
posted by arr
This entry (Permalink) was posted
on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 5:55 am and is filed under Bouldering, Rocklands-South Africa.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0
feed.
You can leave a response
, or trackback
from your own site.
Leave a Reply