May Hits

With conditions improving in Rocklands, Evan Wiercx and Scott Noy both sent "Born Into Struggle" 7C, with Scott also sending "Louder Than Bombs" 7C and "Sean's Roof" 7C. Jon Reading send "Arch Baby" 7C and the ultra-classic "Cedar Spine" 7C.

Shaun Harris briefly tried "Pudgy Bitch" 7C+ at Echo Valley in Topside a few months ago with no success but returned for a quick send after one sessionl. He also did the TDA linkup "Caveman" 7C.

NBL 2009

The South African National Bouldering League Finals were held at a brand new sector at Redhill, dubbed Coppermine (check out the results here). This new area is a tremendous addition to the Cape Town bouldering scene and already features some instant classics. Marijus Šmigelskis managed to open "Pandemonium", which is certainly one of the proudest boulder problems on the peninsula- tall, hard and beautiful. The line was originally graded 8A, but a new hold was discovered by Andrew Wood the following weekend which resulted in altering the crux move drastically and dropping the grade to 7C. Either way, the line remains a super classic must-do...

Andrew Wood on "Pandemonium".

Classroom Action

The Classroom has seen a lot of activity lately with the cooling temperatures of autumn. Dominic Roprdan extended "Fromage et Baguette" to create "Dikfer" 7C and Greg Streatfield made the 5th ascent of "Swim Coach" 7C+. Dom and Shaun Harris both repeated the campus/slam dunk/dyno "U19 Girls Basketball" and consensus is being reached that this problem needs an upgrade to 7B+ or 7C. Marijus Šmigelskis finally managed to link the starting crux of "Swim Coach" into "U19 Girls Basketball", after washing the holds and waiting for a cold day, to create the condition dependent "DPR" 8A. Clinton Martinengo made a fast repeat of the problem, confirming the grade.

Marijus on "DPR"

April Hits

Shaun Harris finally managed to get some time off work and got out to Rocklands. He managed to send "Weichei" 7C+ and "Who the Fuck is Minky" 7C, both with a fair degree of comfort. Julia Chen sent the classic roof problem "From The Secret Laboratory" 7A at the Fortress.

Mat Rowe made the second ascent of "Black Hoodie Rap" 7C at Redhill after a few trips to work the line. Mat used a slightly different sequence than the opening ascent and the video can be seen below:

 

"Dikfur" 7C at the Classroom got its 3rd ascent by Greg Streatfield. The problem is a fairly long link-up of "Fromage et Baguette" 7B+ into the top-out of "U19 Girls Basketball".

Marijus Šmigelskis made the 2nd South African ascent of "Leopard Cave" 8A+ at Rocklands after two days on the line. He nearly sent the line in a day over a trip during new years but a large cut on his hand prevented success.

National Boulder League 2008

National Finals took place in Harrismith at Eagle Mountain (previously known as Mount Everest) on 26 April, the problems were top class and it is definitely an area worth returning to.. The results are as follows:

Mens Open
1. Edvinas Smigelskis WP
2. Herman Lombard NW
3. Benjamin de Charmoy KZN
4. Mathieu Schneuwly KZN
5. Donovan Willis MP
6. Andrew Wood WP
7. William Fleming GP (JHB)
8. Trent Burnett KZN
9. Jeremy Hewett WP
10. Damian Chatteris KZN

Ladies Open
1. Dominique Dix-peek GP (JHB)
2. Illona Pelser GP (PTA)
3. Julia Chen WP
4. Debbie Mulder GP (JHB)
5. Bridgitte Lourent KZN
6. Rachelle de Charmoy KZN
7. Ilse GP (PTA)
8. Catherine Beneke GP (JHB)
9. Elme GP (PTA)
10. Emma Boyd GP (JHB)

Boys U18
1. Willem Potgieter GP (PTA)
2. Diedeleff Gertenback GP (PTA)

Girls U18
1. Candice Bagley KZN
2. Jasmin Pillay KZN
3. Kate Fairfield WP

A big thank you to Dave and Sean and the rest of the team who organised an awesome weekend as well as Mount Everest Game Lodge/Resort for hosting everyone!