Well played Dave! Glad to hear he is still about

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Brian Weaver opened a new 8b+ (33) at the God No Wall on the weekend; 'Mutation' climbs Beast (31) to 2/3rd height then takes a direct and hard crack to finish.

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TATWOC and the dreaded fixed nut has seen some activity of late. Willem Le Roux and I have been playing on it. A week ago we did all the pitches and Willem onsighted the first part of the last pitch after first testing the fixed nut. We then climbed the last pitch in good style on Saturday.

Now it is just a matter of doing the direct....

Some recent sends via 8a.nu

Dave Richardson
12-06-30 - The Doubting Game (8b) at Umgeni Valley
12-06-30 - Blue Steel (7b+) at Umgeni Valley
12-06-24 - FA of Team Tangerine (8b+) at Umgeni Valley. "Margalef really helped with this line, part of the crux involves a 2 finger match on a steep face. Route bolted by Roger Nattrass"

Alan Hills
Yesterday Alan sent Up For Grabs (8a+) at Oudtshoorn. "I've never had to fight pump like that before! I thought I was coming off at least four times on the send! I really didn't expect to get it this trip, I was actually on my way up to collect my draws because we were pretty tight on time. Luckily, psyche was thick in the air at the crag and routes were going down all over the place! Some seriously awesome climbing. Sick vision Roger!"
12-07-04 - Going Going Gone (7c+) at Oudtshoorn. "Climbs really well! Fun and gymnastic. Went down pretty quickly, hopefully Up For Grabs will too!"

Brian Weaver
Yesterday Brian repeated Jack of All Trades for a 4th time calling the route a benchmark 8a (8a) and Vorpal Sword (8a+) both at Boven / God No!

With no boulders in sight Julia Chen is getting her endurance on! Wonder if she's training for a big wall?
Today she sent Bigfoot (7b)
Yesterday - Sid Vicious (7b+)
12-07-05 - Brother Bear (7a+)
12-07-04 - Behr Hug (7a)
All the above at Oudtshoorn

Gregory Oudhof
12-07-04 - Freak On (7a) at Boven / God no wall
12-07-04 - Monster (7c+) at Boven / Wonderland

Jahne Theron
12-06-30 - Bully for Brontosaurus Direct (7c+) at Chosspile. "Great day! super energy.. Martin, Andrew, Dirk, Steve, and Dave. Thanks "

Below: Jahne Theron on "Decodyfier" (8a) in the Blue Mountains, Australia, Pic by Colin Mclean (click here for more photos of Jahne in the Blue Mountains

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Jason Temple Forbes sent his project at Oudtshoorn last weekend calling it 'Dash' (28). The route is described as demanding, with a long crux section, so be prepared to get your power/endurance on!

The route is the 2nd to the right of Mr Incredible (the route in between is a project belonging to Beth Higgins).

Dash climbs up to chains at a ledge where an extension to the route starts (this 2nd section is still a project and is expected to be hard!)
No tick marks were used in the making of this route!

Warning: Phlip was on Mr Incredible recently and had the crux hanger fall off.
Arrangements are in process to get the hanger back on (if anyone can replace the hanger & nut whilst on lead Climb ZA will give you a bottle of fine wine

Video of the FA by Phlip Olivier

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Nalle Hukkataival just made the first repeat of Paul Robinson’s V15, A Simple Knowing, at Topside - questioning the grade of the problem -- Read more on Nalle's blog

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11 year old Jonathan Brown (ex-Montagu resident) who is visiting from Switzerland sent 'Eddy of Bovidence' 24/7a last week.

After accepting a quick top rope the day before, he went back the following day to work it some more. After a quick warm up on 'Ropeman' a slight drizzle started and he decided to just give it a go. To everyone's surprise (including Jonathan) he sent the route on his first attempt whilst placing draws!

Jonathan also came 2nd in the Swiss Champs Lead and bouldering events earlier this year.

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Alex Honnold made a one day visit to the Scoop in Montagu last Sunday. He flashed the following routes:
Ben Dover (29)
Cool Like That (29)
Monkey Pump (29)

Picture below: He gave Taste The Pain (33) a go but could not manage the bottom sequence.

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Congrats to Gosia Lipinska on sending Monkey Pump (29) at the Scoop in Montagu last weekend.
Twisted Steel will hopefully go down this coming weekend

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Steve Bradshaw reports from Red River Gorge in Kentucky, USA. The word at Miguels (the famous climbers pizza place / camp in the parking lot) is that Adam Ondra just flashed Southern Smoke Direct (9a/9a+) at Red River Gorge.

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What a tough day. Forgot my phone at the base of Roulette, got a sore neck belaying. Drank lots of tea and ate rusks. Walked up and down to the Ledge in prefect weather.

Oh, and by the way, belayed Jimbo Smith as he redpointed his most recent trad project around grade 31 to the left of Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy. He says it is hard. To me he made it look easy. Didn't even stretch the ropes.

He then flashed all of TATWOC 25ish.

He did also try TATWOC direct but that did beat him.

Jimbo is climbing really well.

Aah, awesome Jimbo!

That's the line I'd been working first with Bruce Daniel and then with Guy Paterson-Jones. It was my intended line for Roulette Arete but it was too hard, then did the crack/peapod line a couple of metres to the right which went at 25ish.

If Guy wasn't going to get this line I was going to suggest it to Jimbo and Clinton.

Good work Jamie, and nice one Sniffles for lending a hand.

On the rehab trail I've been doing some of the ancient moderate classics and that's been fun. This past weekend Guy and I did North West Frontal on Du Toits Peak and a couple of weeks earlier Dark Horse joined us and we did Lucifer in Duiwelskloof. Nice adventures.

Go Jimbo!

Nice pic Snort

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Need to brag a little about my NBF. (New best friend).

He not only climbs really well, better than most anyone I have witnessed on TM trad, but he also is bold but sensible and will climb well above his gear knowing he will probably fall off. That is something most people struggle with including me.

He also drinks tea - lots!

He walked up to the ledge rather than slacking it in the Cable Car

and finally,

he put up with me. At least for one day.

Now remains to be seen if I can get him on Prime Time direct next week.

BTW I specially took a camera up but the battery was flat so that is merely a Blackberry pic.

Love the hard trad revival! Well done Jimbo & the rest of the Mohicans. The tribe lives on

Matthew Bush add's 'My Route Down by the River' (31) at Waterworld to his list hard solos this morning!

This route is also know as 'The Jesus Route' (for every time that Stu Brown fell off the crux during a redpoint attempt

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Wowi

Just want to say congrats to Ivan van der Tang that after a hard 6 weeks of attemts he finaly sended his project (29) at Fernkloof this weekend... (must be the pap and T-bone)

To us local climbing boys on the West rand that just started climbing he is a great friend and an awsome climber to look up to...

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Jimbo Smith onsighted Out to Lunch 24 on TM on Saturday. This is not a route that receives many on-sights. In fact I don't know of an on-sight. It is steep, tricky and intimidating.

At least he admitted he got a little pumped..... Makes us lesser mortals feel a little better.

I followed clean in a rush to get to a 50th (Jimbo is still going to baby showers - I am now attending 50th's) and then ran down from the ledge in 20 minutes. Legs still sore.

Jimbo Smith on-sighted the immaculate Uber Huber 26 trad on TM yesterday. As far as I know this route has not been on-sighted since the grade was upped when a hold broke off some years ago. And that's not for lack of trying by a couple of our better trad climbers.

Good going! That route is HARD!

There was some Blouberg action on the weekend:
Craig de Villiers and Tim Dunnet climbed Big Corner (21). The crux was Craig's hardest trad lead - not bad for the fourth pitch of the day. There was muttering about inelegant desperation on a mantle move, but never mind: if you stick the move you get the send. Well done okes!

Julia Wakeling and I did You Only Live Twice (24). I don't think it gets many ascents (like maybe one every twenty years). It has some super high quality pitches, and some loose and bushy ones too. We got a bit lost towards the top and opened a new (we think) pitch and a half that swings out some fun roofs. We got back on route just in time for the crux which kept us well entertained. If it had more ascents it would be a classic (Snort, now is your chance to weigh in with why it's a crap route and the Dog routes further left are soooooo much better).

Please indulge me for the obligatory history lesson. Possibly I'm the only one who finds this stuff interesting, but, as they say in the classics, "whatever, dude":
Big Corner (Fatti, Druschke x 2, 1977) and You Only... (Cheesemond, Druschke, 1979) were the fifth and seventh routes on the North Wall. Paul Fatti was on the FA of five of the seven, including Big Corner. Talk about prolific pioneering! (Peering purposefully up the proud precipice the prolific pioneer pondered the probability of perilously poor protection. The plucky plan he proposed to his principled partner produced a precise pronouncement of pernicious protest: "P**s!" - but I digress...)

YOLT was the first to tackle what would later be christened the Wall of White Light by AdK. Until then everyone had stayed further right on the featured and friendly Moon area. If you drop a stone (safety first and all that) from the last pitch of YOLT it clears the base by about 10m. That's a whole lot of steepness to climb without cams. Bailing would be a dogshow. It must have been a committing first ascent. In '86 Mallory and Curzon freed a version of it. Between pitches three and seven they veered left to avoid some of the steeps that Cheesemond and Druschke had aided. Do any of the ballies out there know anything about the free ascent? Or the FA for that matter? It'd be rad to get some of the stories - there are bound to be some.

In the topo below you can see where YOLT makes a big Dogleg to the right. That's to prudently avoid some big roofs and hanging headwalls. Dog-This, Dog-That and the other Dog-Thingy apparently head up there - no wonder Snort is always going on about it. Looks wild.

Blouberg remains about the best climbing fun you can have north of the Cederberg. We swam in the river, got buzzed by vultures and black eagles, listed to cow bells in the forest far below, pulled on crazy pink quartzite jugs and watched the swifts playing in the dusk. In the dark from the summit we saw the villages light up and spread out across Limpopo. If you haven't been there you're missing out big time.

Nice write up hector! Do you like V for Vendetta btw?

Very lekker Hector! We all like different stuff but I must say it's the big stuff like this done onsight that gets my blood coursing...

You could drop an email to Kevin Smith, Chris Lomax, AdK, George Mallory, Clive Curzon etc. There'll be some good stories out there. Unfortunately Dave Cheesmond won't be able to respond from his final resting place near the bottom of the Hummingbird Ridge on Mount Logan.

I don't know what became of Eckardt Druschke and his wife Romey. The last time I saw them Butch, Dene and I visited them at their electrical factory in Qwa Qwa in about '87. Funny enough I thought of Eckardt and Romey just the other day. I was reading the article about your Fitz Roy trip in SA Mountain and Tony had written "...and it is the first time South African women have made a successful ascent of Fitz Roy". Actually, Romey climbed in via the Californian Route in the seventies.

Thanks for a wonderful motivator to get back to the big blue mountain!

(Hilton - yes I know that Romey Druschke had climbed Fitzroy in the 1978...which makes Gosia the 2nd South African female ascent. I wonder how many Zimbabwean girls (or guys?) have been up it!? Anyone got any ideas? Bailey?)

Rad write up Hector, I've got the concentration of a three year old and I read the whole piece effortlessly in one go :-) thanks!

I'm missing out big time, perhaps this year!

I was with Mallory and Curson on the free ascent on YOLT. They cleaned and worked it from the top in the mist and then we did it bottom up. I fell off the crux and the freed it if I remember. One very hard move if I recall.

Sent Tini and Tony up after that. They thought it was a nice garden to climb. Loved the pellargoniums. Tony broke his wrist at the top when a block came off and he went for a wild pendulum.

Yes the routes to the left are all better and cleaner except for Afterglow that really only has one or two good pitches. The route to the right is also totally shit unless you clean it first - Psycho Reptile. And Delicate sound of Thunder is contrived.

Brian Weaver bags the 2nd ascent of Frazzel today at Waterval, Boven - confirms that the route is grade 33/8b+

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That is a great send - well done, Brian!
Just one comment - I am not sure about whether the grade is now "confirmed" at 8b+. Paul Brouard opened the route at 8a+ and Brian has now suggested 8b+. I don't see any reason for grade confirmation just yet.