Thursday, October 30, 2008

October Hits

Marijus Šmigelskis has made the 3rd ascent of "Accountant's Project" 8A at Her Majesty's Boulder in Topside. The short powerful line was opened by Jerry Moffat and has seen only one other repeat, by Clinton Martinengo, despite attempts by some strong climbers. A poor quality clip of the send:


Emile Esterhuizen has just become the third South African to boulder 8B with his send of "Black Shadow" 8B in Rocklands. Emile worked the problem over the past few months after returning from a bouldering trip to Japan. "Black Shadow" and "Armed Response" are the only two 8B that have South Afican ascents and both were opened by Klem Loskot.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Koeberg 2nd Ascent

Marijus Šmigelskis has made the second ascent of "Koeberg" 8A+ at Bonnydoon in Topside, which was opened by Emile Esterhuizen earlier this year. The line is a likely candidate for Cape Town hardest problem and both Marijus and Emile agree it's harder than "Ard Ay" and "Boogie Nights" (the other two 8A+ problems in Topside). Emile's other desperate testpiece, "Möwe" at Redhill, is claimed to be harder but is unrepeated as yet so time will tell. Marijus used a completely different sequence for the crux move, using a fickle heel hook, instead of turning 180 degrees to get footlocks like Emile's sequence on the opening ascent.
Marijus on "Koeberg"