rocklands trad topo 2014
DESCRIPTION
In June/July 2014, Caroline Ciavaldini and James Pearson paid a visit to Rocklands South Africa, in search of Trad. What they found surpassed their wildest dreams - a seemingly endless potential for new routes, on bullet hard, top quality rock. The couple put up several new lines during their 3 week trip, but these developments are just the beginning...TRANSCRIPT
Duis Sed Sapien
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Nunc Et Orci Morbi Posuere
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Rocklands Trad Topo 2014
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Trad in Rocklands
The Trad Climbing potential in and around Rocklands is immense! Our first trip in 2014, along with the few other parties that have
put up routes in the area, have barely even scratched the surface, and we can’t wait
to return next year to continue the development.
The rock is a very solid Quartzite, that eats
up gear and gives routes that are generally steep, powerful and well protected. There is potential for 1000’s of routes, at all levels
and styles, within 30minutes walk of the road. Should you feel like searching a little
further, the potential is almost endless!
Good luck finding you dream!
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Sectors
After a week or so of hiking and searching,
we focused our attention onto 3 main areas that seemed to
hold a large concentration of quality
hard routes. These “new” areas are not
really “new”, all being next to, or on the way
to, an existing bouldering area.
Prosecco
The longest walk in we did, a whopping 30min! If you are lucky enough to have a 4x4, you can cut the walk down to 10min! Follow the path towards the Champagne Sector (Livin’ Large), but head for the big obvious face on
the left at the top of the first hill.
Fields Of Joy – Crag
Just next to this classic bouldering area is an amazing cliff band. Access as for the bouldering sector Fields of Joy, but continue walking for a further 50m
(up the valley) to arrive at KaKa-Boom. For Path de la Giraffe and Beware the Beasties, follow the cliff band right for ~200m.
Twin Cracks
The area we called Twin Cracks is actually an existing boulder area called “Big and Roof”. You can see the obvious diagonal crack and the striking right arête from the path below. Pass through the boulders and follow the
cairns up the hill.
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C. Vestibulum quam.
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D E F
Sibamba Ngazibini
This route is one of the few Trad Routes already developed in Rocklands. It was put up by Joe Möhle a few years ago and is a real gem of a line. We didn’t develop anything new here, but there is certainly lots of potential both up
and down the valley.
Other Areas or Routes
Fields of Joy – Cody’s Arete
There is an amazing looking arête from Cody Roth, right behind The Barracuda Rail up at Fields of Joy. He told me it was a 7b+ boulder
problem to good gear, and then a run out but easier upper section. I didn’t have chance to try it, but it looks like a great line!
You could protect the start with either Friends or some crashpads, and
once the climbing gets easier, the gear looks to be really simple to place. This could be a great first Trad route for boulderers wishing to make the
transition…
Hope, Faith, and Charity
The obvious big faces next to The Pass cannot be missed. There are several multi-pitch
routes and scrambles that tackle the easier sections of the faces. Some rock is
apparently excellent, whist other parts are… less good. We didn’t have time to check
anything out personally, although Chris Kelk from the camping was raving about the
quality of a route he did last year.
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Fields of Joy
Fields of Joy is one of Rocklands most well known bouldering areas. It sits in a beautiful setting to the South of the busy DePakhuys
Campsite yet it is usually relatively quiet. The boulders lie on a large plateau underneath an impressive cliff band, and it is on this very
cliff we climbed our first routes – just 50m from the boulders!
The climbing is generally steep and pumpy, but with good regular gear throughout the
whole route.
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Fields of Joy - Left
Fields of Joy - Right Fields of Joy - Right
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Twin Cracks
Twin Cracks is named after the obvious zig-zag splitter crack visible from the main
path towards the waterfall. The crack itself is an awesome, burly experience, and was
first climbed a few years ago by Joe Möhle. It’s around 7a+, but don’t let that
fool you into thinking its easy!
Just next to the crack is a Striking arête named “Prepare For Landing”. This was by far the most dangerous new route we put up, and the name will make perfect sense
for anyone wanting to give it a go
Other Potential close by…
Bokmakierie
Prosecco Our entire Rocklands Trad Trip was based on one tip from a friend, about some awesome walls he
had seen up behind the Champagne sector. We wasted no time in hiking up there to check it
out, and discovered… well… not a lot really.
Fortunately on the way up we had passed an awesome looking wall, much bigger than the average Rocklands cliffs, and with an obvious
crack running up the centre.
After checking out this crack, we moved on to the big blank wall on the right. With a LONG run-
out through the crux section, “The Golden Haymaker” is one of my most memorable
Rocklands experiences! A B
Prosecco
Kachiing
Onto The Future
For More Information check out… www.OnceUponAClimb.co.uk
The Trad climbing in Roclands is awesome
and the potential for the future is enormous. We
spent a lot of time searching for the best lines, and were usually
focused on finding routes of high difficulty, but if
you set your sights a little lower, there are 1,000’s of new routes to do in and
around the existing bouldering areas.
This is all without even exploring too much!
Should you decide to walk a little further, or perhaps even drive
around the other side, the rock just goes on and on
and on.
The future for Trad climbing in Rocklands is
very bright indeed, and it won’t be too long before
we are back