Hi all.
I'm sorry to say that I haven't written any more rubbish story for you, so you'll have to make do with me bragging about my awesome climbing trip.
There is lots of good footage, and many good pictures.
Unfortunately, given that the internet here is awful, and my computer is even worse, they will have to wait till I am in Cape Town until anything might be done about that situation.
I managed to get out to the Rhino Boulder yesterday afternoon after walking past it multiple times on the way to other areas. The conditions had set themselves up to be less than perfect, with clouds rolling through the pass and spots of rain throughout the day that had forced us to bail off of various other things in the area.
It was also damned cold because of the wind.
Fortunately, the wind dried off the rock and conditions were super grippy, every one of the holds on the Rhino is very skin friendly and it was a pleasure to climb.
When I showed up, we met two friends there,one of whom was trying it. She had worked out the beta during her previous sessions on the problem and kindly gave me all the minutia of foot and hand movements that would have doubtless taken me quite a lot of time to figure out.
My first attempt ended about halfway through during a tricky heel-->toe footswap and I landed on the ground with my hands freezing cold and lacking any feeling.
I rested a while and plotted some beta to make that move a little easier.
On my second attempt, everything went about the same. But at the point I had fallen off before, I clamped a bit harder and managed to power on through the moves to arrive at the top in a bit of a knackered state.
Given that the weather was super cold, and I never expected to do it so quickly, there are no photos or video. The other members of the trip will no doubt like to give it a go though, and I will get some neat footage and pictures when the skies are a little bluer and the weather a little warmer.
I also managed to do Cedar Spine on my second session of the trip 2 evenings ago. After padding out the landing pretty comprehensively, and working out the ground moves again, I found myself at the airy crimp move up top and just gave it some beans to reach the good flat holds up top.
I was speaking to some Scottish chaps yesterday and they said that when they were trying the problem, 2 people consecutively sprained their ankles and one guy is sitting in the Pakhuis campground with a cast on his foot from that problem. I'm glad I didnt find this out before I did it, because otherwise I might not have managed to commit to the move and complete the problem.
Ticklist so far:
| Number | Cumulative | |
| 6A | 0 | 30 |
| 6A+ | 1 | 30 |
| 6B | 2 | 29 |
| 6B+ | 5 | 27 |
| 6C | 3 | 22 |
| 6C+ | 2 | 19 |
| 7A | 5 | 17 |
| 7A+ | 2 | 12 |
| 7B | 7 | 10 |
| 7B+ | 2 | 3 |
| 7C | 1 | 1 |
| 7C+ | 0 | 0 |
| 8A | 0 | 0 |
| Problem | Area | Grade | Date |
| The Golden Rail | 8 Day Rain | 6C | 18/07/2012 |
| The Golden Child | 8 Day Rain | 6B+ | 18/07/2012 |
| The Beckoning | 8 Day Rain | 6B+ | 18/07/2012 |
| The Beckoning Sit Start | 8 Day Rain | 7A | 18/07/2012 |
| Vertige | Roadside | 6B+ | 19/07/2012 |
| A Question of Balance | Roadside | 7B | 19/07/2012 |
| Sun Run | Roadside | 6C+ | 19/07/2012 |
| CAROLINE | Roadside | (7C+) | 19/07/2012 |
| Kiesl | Fields of Joy | 7A | 21/07/2012 |
| Dirty Lies | Fields of Joy | 7A+ | 21/07/2012 |
| The Soul Train | Fields of Joy | 7B+ | 21/07/2012 |
| RSA | Close Plateau | 6B | 22/07/2012 |
| Girl on our mind | Close Plateau | 6B+ | 22/07/2012 |
| Poison Dwarf | Close Plateau | 7B | 22/07/2012 |
| Witness the Sickness | Close Plateau | (8A) | 22/07/2012 |
| REST DAY | LAMBERTS BAY | 23/07/2012 | |
| Gegen Den Winds | Fields of Joy | 7A+ | 24/07/2012 |
| FAILED TO DO ANYTHING | Riverside | 25/07/2012 | |
| REST DAY | 8 Day Rain | 26/07/2012 | |
| Hueco Face | 8 Day Rain | 6B+ | 27/07/2012 |
| Whirlpool Arete | 8 Day Rain | 6A+ | 27/07/2012 |
| Mud Puddles | 8 Day Rain | 7B | 27/07/2012 |
| Crazy Leg | 8 Day Rain | 7B | 27/07/2012 |
| Maties | Sassies | 7A | 29/07/2012 |
| Great Escape | Sassies | 6C+ | 29/07/2012 |
| Nothing | 8 Day Rain | 30/07/2012 | |
| Sale in Execution | Fields of Joy | 6C | 31/07/2012 |
| Stinky Pants | Fields of Joy | 7B | 31/07/2012 |
| Maniac | Fields of Joy | (7B) | 31/07/2012 |
| When the Day Breaks | Roadcrew | 7B | 01/08/2012 |
| Hill Start | Roadcrew | 7A | 01/08/2012 |
| Cedar Spine | Cedar Spine Gully | (7C) | 01/08/2012 |
| Riverside Slab | Riverside | 6B | 03/08/2012 |
| Alligator | Riverside | 6C | 03/08/2012 |
| Des Claques Pour Nini | Riverside | 7B | 03/08/2012 |
| Cedar Spine | Cedar Spine Gully | 7C | 04/08/2012 |
| CAROLINE | Roadside | (7C+) | 04/08/2012 |
| Le Bowling Ball | Fortress | 7A | 04/08/2012 |
| The Rhino | The Rhino Boulders | 7B+ | 05/08/2012 |
Cheerios all, 8 day rain later methinks, unless we head to Pakhuis Campground again.
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