Arno and Paul - nice one boys. "Best bit of climbing I've ever done" and "My first TM route" says you guys have a lifetime of adventure ahead of you right hear in Cape Town. There must be a hundred better pitches than that one just on TM! (But that doesn't make Magnetic less than 'excellent').

Arno the chap with the huge camera down on the path was Batch Batchelor. He was filming us from below while Moose and Paul Wooley were jugging lines from the top to film from other perspectives.

As Moose said on Saturday: "very atmospheric".

Andy we missed you buddy! Pity you couldn't make it. We got you on Local Legend and Jason on Celestial though. Moose needs to get the three girls.

Thanks for the info Hilton. That movie promises to be great! Like I said, I barely had enough endurance to make it through the last pitch, so I might hang around on this grade before pushing a bit further, but just for interests sake, what climbs would that list consist of?

_________________
Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

Sounds like an Englishman's description of a pumping South Easter on Table Mountain

_________________
Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

Gees snort are you so desperate for whiskey? I tell you what I'll buy you a bottle if you free solo arrow final completely naked, no not even shoes...

Get this man a whiskey... Quick before it scars us all...

Today Charles (and I) climbed Double Direct. Magnetic Wall is P2. Charles lead the whole thing with hexes only. And all the placements were bomber. And then he climbs it in boots and wearing a crazy wig. That's two bottles of whisky that I am happy to hand over. I am still laughing about it 5 hours later. It was a picture-perfect winters day in Cape Town nogal. Who needs summer anyways.

That is BRILLIANT!! Thank you!

_________________
Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

Freakin radical! Did you then "kiss his a..."?
You guys at City Rock has way too much time off!

_________________
You may still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not. Cat Stevens

Classic

_________________
Climb ZA - Administrator

I love it! The inspiration! The sheer zapsignage warms the old cockles ...

Snort, you are a robber's dog (you can use that phrase as a route name for your next new route in your inimitable genre of "dog" routes). You have an artiste's eye for detail, a sub-cultist's penchant for style:

Note, you young, over-racked wannabe-tradders, the 19mm nut threaded with plastic ski-rope, the hex drilled for lightness (circa '79), the Moac lurking coyly on the right, the holistic skimpiness of the rack;

The wig, the hat, the denim shorts, the socks (should have been red, but Snort is a closet-Goth so we'll excuse the black).

I am dissapointed, though, about the harness (a swami-belt would have been more in keeping) and the ATC on a twist-locker (rather a single oval used with a friction hitch). And i would suggest that variations on style in future such retro-schlock ascents would either be barefoot, or plimsolled, and sans underpants.

It is heartening to young and old alike that the piss be taken, and that that stalwart anti-corporate motto "Ever onward, but never Straight" be invoked.

brilliant piece of writing there keith - "if you bother to write, do it well". put an early morning smile on my face

and two thumbs up for the all round fun on this one. cannot help feeling sorry for us fledgling tradsters who think it is a big deal to lead magnetic wall in prana pants, muira's and a full rack of the latest shiny stuff..... good to see where we want to get to

Ja, nice one Snort and Robert. Hilarious and impressive.
Good job gents

Most flattering Keith! And I am pleased the event provoked you into writing on the forum!.

Yes indeed the harness is wrong and a few other details but Robert needs to practise his photo-shop.

By the way, climbing Magnetic Wall, withMountain boots and without wired nuts and only hexes and large Moak's is solid 21 in perfect conditions. And that's not even on-sight. Must be solid 22 on-sight.

Climbing like this has opened up a whole new style of adventure climbing! You can make all those routes you have styled up much more challenging and interesting. Roulette is next!

mokganjetsi all credit to you in starting this whole thing. It is my life's work to take bottles of whisky and wine off Robert! We gotta have a whisky evening and show some old climbing pics one night.

Ha, I looked out the office window yesterday and wondered if you guys were up there, scaring the tourists! Good job and thanks for the laugh. I appreciate my blue Mastercams and sticky Cobras even more now. Huzzah for progress!

I think this deserves a nicely written article for the news-stream. This stunt was far too cool to be locked up in a forum thread.

Props to all involved.

Hopefully Snort's antics are bringing into focus the efforts of pioneers like Mike Scott, Paul Fatti, Jono Levy, Tim Hughes etc. who were doing stuff like Magnetic, Roulette, Oscillation, Big Groove, Apollo, and many others with those spartan racks, big floppy boots, and huge balls!!!

Serious respect! I'm not sure I'd have the guts to climb anything more than a 12 if I grew up in the 60's and 70s...

_________________
Chuck Norris wears Ueli Steck pyjamas

Good times!
Reminds me of Arapiles, where this kind of sillyness happened a fair bit.
Short shorts, ancient gear, huge sunglasses, big moustaches, a wee ghetto blaster, beaten up tekkies and a lot of laughs - kinda a rest day thing.

We also had a crazy chap from the Bueys lead routes while in a sleeping bag (zip opened at bottom for feet). He was on a mission to get 'First Bag Ascents'. Climbing bums clearly have too much time...

_________________
One life, one body. Use them well.

Robert, I specially wore my retro specs. Margaret fell in love with me wearing these satellite dishes some 26 years ago.

This is enough to get me out of retirement....

On second thoughts can you make that an energy drink?

wow THE leo?
a whole case of energy drinks for you to come out of retirement. and i am sure charles will let you borrow his rather extensive collection of hexes once in a while.
all we need now is for oliver dolby to belay you.

Leo. Let me get this right - for years you have managed to run past all the excellent climbing we have in our back yard, but Snort in a wig and kortbroek is enough to get you out of retirement? Eish. Maybe you really are 'coming out'...

_________________
One life, one body. Use them well.

haha i like

some guys love to to buy good whisky as long as they can share - somehow shorti managed to promise me half a bottle of glenlivet when i did not managed to onsight the route he had in mind for me. he started giving beta when it became clear that i'm going to fall and eventually decided just leading to the top is enough merit half the price. score!

and it seems like a few old bears are shaking off their hibernation!? i'm sure there are more than a handful of younsters (under 40s) out there that will enjoy being mentored by the masters of old. love trad & rad

All this talk of whisky, you guys should come over here and do some routes within spitting distance of the distilleries. We drive past the Glenlivet Distillery on the way home from the mountains.

http://www.maltwhiskytrail.com/ more fun than wine tasting! Do The Needle on Shelterstone in the same getup and I'll drive for the tour.