Easter Bouldering Festival 2013
There is one month to go before the start of the Easter Bouldering Festival. There has been a lot of interest by boulderers of all abilities, hard men and women for the Saturday event, those who are keen to open in the new area and those who are coming to support and watch. This interest is evident in talking to a lot of climbers; the consensus is they want to restore something of what the NBL used to be. The finals done at The Kraal near Swinburne in 2004, Swinburne itself in 2005, Eagles Head in 2006 and 2007 and Redhill in 2008 were enjoyed by all.
[youtube width=”600″ height=”400″]http://youtu.be/FREeQrJW5lw[/youtube]
However rock finals have their problems, plastic is much more precise for selection and where serious IFSC rules can be implemented. Thus to have a outdoor event linked to the indoor event each year covers both and this will justify the long trip and expense if there is more on offer. This year adults can enjoy the difficulty event on the Saturday and then if they want to do the plastic NBL final at City Rock the next day it will give the other average climbers a chance to get some prizes on the opening feast.
We have booked a large section of the local campsite. The campsite has all the necessary amenities and is a beautiful spot in a forest overlooking a dam. The venue is 140km away from Cape Town but not in the direction of Rocklands, more to the East, nearer to the N1. If you know where the proposed areas is or have worked it out, please keep in the spirit of the event and do not go there ahead of the time to practice the problems. One week before the time, directions will be sent only to those who have indicated they going on the Easter Bouldering Festival Face Book page Event, so go to this page and indicate if you wish to go.
Please also invite others who you think may be interested.
Location:
The poster of the event can be seen here and the draft topo of the Saturday difficulty comp can be downloaded here . The topo is self explanatory.
The itinerary of the event is as follows:
Friday 29 March
• Arrive and settle in. As each person arrives, those who are competing must register and pay the comp fee of R100. This includes a T shirt and other goodies, only the first 35 men and 15 women get a shirt, so if you would like to pre register send me an email to info@saclimbingacademy.co.za and I will send you the necessary stuff. Everybody must also pay the full camping fee direct at the campsite office on the day; fee is R70 per adult per night, and R40 per child per night.
• 4pm: Late afternoon tour of the comp area for those who want to view the problems, not compulsory. You will only be able to view the problems from the path. (see topo).
• 7pm: Compulsory briefing and talk/discussion on the environmental impact of bouldering.
Saturday 30 March
• We meet at car park at 7:45 to start at 8:00. Those who attended the viewing the previous day (thus know where the paths/climbs are and know the general rules) may start later if they wish.
• Climb the whole day and enjoy one self, others can watch or climb elsewhere only in the other areas designated for the purpose. Remember to not damage the environment, keep hydrated and be safe.
• All score sheets must be handed to the scorers at the campsite no later than 7pm, late score sheets will not be counted.
Prize giving at 8:30 pm at campsite.
Sunday 31 March
• Meet again at the car park 7:45 for the opening feast. We will have somebody at the car park at 10:30 to show those who want to sleep in a bit,the way, but they may miss the best lines.
• You will be led to the area and the opening will start at 8:30 am.
• Each person will only be allowed to submit 1 to 2 of their best problems (depending on number of competitors). These problems all need to be recorded on a cell phone photo with a brief description. These have to be smsed, blue toothed or sent via Whatsapp with the photos to one of 3 designated receiving phones. All the data will be assembled and linked to a google earth image via tablet at the site.
• Each line has to be actually climbed, no projects allowed.
• The idea is to be mature and not fight over who wants to submit what.
• Grade does not matter, just quality of the problem according to the following categories (these are still draft and subject to change, comments welcome):
o Originality of the line
o Forced or natural line/eliminates required
o Thinking required on problem
o Landing/potential injury
o Aesthetics/setting
o Length of problem
o Environmental impact
• The lines have to be done and submitted by 6pm.
• Straight after this the 10 finalists will be selected who will have to show a panel of judges the location of their problem/problems who will decide the final winners.
• Prize giving at 8:30 as before.
Monday 1 April
• Enjoy oneself, play an April fool trick on somebody with a hangover, climb some more and then sadly go home.
Huge thanks to the following companies who are supporting this event:
Feel free to send me an email on info@saclimbingacademy.co.za or whatsapp/sms/phone on 083 669 3028 if you have any questions.
Neil Margetts
Date: Easter Weekend 29th March – 1st April 2013
Location: Near Rocklands, Western Cape
Entry: R100 p/p
Check out pics of the New Secret Area below:
See also: Die onverklaarbaarheid in onsinnige ontbloting for some debate about the new area.
Y not have a “guys HAVE NOT bouldered 7b and girls below 6c” category too? 🙁
Hi
We have the opening feast the next day where everybody is involved. It will be difficult to manage the large numbers if everybody competes.
Appologies that we cannot accomadate everybody.
Looks awesome!
Dankie manne.Dit is hoe dinge gedoen moet word.Ek waardeer julle inisiatief.Kom ons vat klim vorentoe.
Looking into my crystal ball I see yet another bouldering area “opened”then used and finally destroyed by people who would like to think of themselves as “nature conscious”.Redhill,Topside,the Fields of joy and the Question of Balans boulder…look to the past to see the future.
This event is a terrible idea.
Hi Unio
Thank you for expressing your concerns. The environment is a priority. We will implement something into the program on educating climbers on reducing the impact of bouldering on an area and obeying proper access rules. The opening of new areas (to reduce the impact on current areas) and education is the only way to reduce these effects. Just not going there is not going to happen as the number of climbers wanting to boulder is increasing. I have had a lot of very positive feedback from climbers about this event and making the trouble to produce fun events on our climbing calendar is essential to the growth of our sport.
“Just not going there” will actually happen if you control your urge to spam out everything you find on the internet. The Cederberg is a big a place and enough of it has been ruined by scum wanting to document, publish and claim everything they can get their hands on. They do not need more. Of course you would get “positive feedback” from climbers.. here is anohter gem of area packaged and served up for them so they dont have to go through the effort of applying their minds and exploring new, unclimbed areas.
“making the trouble to produce fun events and educating other climbers”… what, are you the self-proclaimed farther of bouldering? Why dont go produce your fun events in one of your existing, run down, chalked up crap holes.
In the words of Dakine: Go home hoale boy.
Niel,
First of all, the only way to sustainably boulder is to give the fynbos enoungh time to recover. Meaning, very few Pad-people.Your plan, however, of having an event that brings large groups of people into the “staging area”(area surrounding boulders) will destroy the area. Not to mention the future impact.Sadly, bouldering sustainably in the fynbos is not possible if you are more than a handful. You and Guy could have climbed sustainably, leaving no trace, but you chose to promote the event and yourselves at the expense of the environment.You might argue that develpment would have taken place without the event, but at a far slower rate. The event will trigger what already wants to happen.In a few years the neocolonialist climbers will arrive to absorb more by sending, filming, crushing some stone. Maybe even after access has been prohibited due to the impact of the so called educated climbers.
Please don’t claim altruism, climbing doesn’t need you or your development.
A truly Wise Man ounce wrote;
“Given that bouldering happens within a social context, the first impulse is the search for recognition in that social context. Boulders are a necessary but not sufficient condition for attaining this somehwat vague goal. For those fleeting moments the eyes of others focus on your ultimately insignificant achievements and you feel great about your obscure obsession. The tragedy is not that this is both futile and childish (I mean, who isn’t childish?), but rather that we don’t have institutions which translate the various valuations of the area into a proper pricing system. When the price of use is effectively low, then the impact is high – download the topo, tick the boxes, send the classics and move on. Over-use follows, and the character of the area is altered permanently. In this process, the value of the area decreases for a part of the population, and they have no incentive to bargain for a different deal – the damage has been done. The area stays over-used, and the disease spreads to other areas. Maybe the main attraction of big-wall and trad is that we are unable to alter the essence of the space where we climb. And the effective price to access that space remains high due to the necessary commitment and skill. There is a spreading disease in our midst. Maybe the big-walls will offer the much-needed solitude and escape from the urban colonization, the ruthless search for recognition, the scramble for African boulders and the tragedy of the commons. Or maybe future walk-ins will become so far that only the fittest will survive. I can think of many walk-ins that make me very happy indeed. May the mountain gods have mercy on the souls of others that they may have the courage and stupidity to discover their own walk-ins and experience for themselves what the true benefit and cost of exploration is.”
Again I’d like to reiterate that this is an unwise event that will spread rather than dilute the impact of bouldering on our natural environment.
Bouldering does impact the environment but in my opinion only very locally, as in a few bushes and shrubs around the boulders. Its not like the whole Cederberg has been destroyed by boulderers. If you want to be so holier than though about environmentalism you better be riding a bike to work, working in sustainable energy, recycling, not eating meat or fish, taking public transport where possible etc.
I think in the grander scale of things a few damaged bushes at the base of boulders is not the end of the world. That being said I agree we should make climbers more aware of their impact and help them understand how to minimise it.
sorry dont have any verbose overly intellectual but just as meaningless quotes to add
Micky,
“Bouldering does impact the environment but in my opinion only very locally, as in a few bushes and shrubs around the boulders.”
Uhmm, well, this where the activity takes place and thus constitutes the extent of your experience in the area, meaning you will only spend time in affected and damaged environments, in as much that your time in the area is fairly limited to bouldering.
It was never argued that the area in its entirety will be damaged, but the nonchalance in your premise is shocking!
You might not have added a “verbose overly intellectual” meaningless quote but your post serves as a perfect proxy.
If environmental condition is an issue perhaps the easiest solution would be to move the Festival to an already used (and therefore damaged) area who will be less impacted upon by the event? having an event like this is a great idea, and one that had been spoken about for a while.
If the correct channels & permissions have been obtained then I do not see the issue.
If you have a huge issue then don’t attend.
Simples!
Hi everyone
Here’s the deal and why I choose to publish this area.
This area is on private land. The landowner has been extremely cool and given us unrestricted access to his land. I explained bouldering to him and the impact it would have on the vegetation (ie very significant impact in the small area around the base of boulders, plus some paths). He was cool with that and his biggest concern was fires. The same is true for the landowner of the adjacent property where some of the boulders are situated. I even discussed the number of climbers that might go there if we publicized the area. He was totally cool. However, it is worth noting that many of boulders have rock bases making the impact considerably less. I even discussed the number of climbers that might go there if we publicized the area. He was also ok with that.
So access is sorted (provided people have the decency to ask permission).
A big part of me would be very happy to keep this secret and carry on opening problems for the rest of life (there is that much). The problem is that the foreigners in Rocklands were asking about the place in July this year. I don’t know who told them, but the cat is out the bag and people are going to start going there. And one thing is certain – some people will not have the decency to ask for permission to climb there, even if they knew who the landowner is (which is not obvious). By publishing the area we can tell people the very simple rules of going there.
I also figured that having this event in March, would give the locals a few months to climb some of the future classics before the foreigners arrive in July/August…
Cheers
Guy Holwill
PS – I went to one boulder that I believe was developed by Unio et al and the vegetation at the base was completely trashed. So I’m a bit skeptical about his environmental motive. But this could be completely incorrect and if so I apologize.
PPS – There were recently some fires in the area, which damaged more vegetation in a single day than all the boulderers are going to do in several years. Just some perspective.
Bouldering would cause less damage than grazing …which is one of the farmer’s options.
Pines(see pic)/alien veg cause worse damage that any amount of bouldering.
I see the truth is out!! So Unio also knows the secret location, but he unlike Guy wants to keep it for himself!! Perhaps he has put up a huge environmental smoke screen to hide his disappointment that he has to now share! It is understandable that he is so mad, this place is awesome.
I stand ambivalent, lost in many thoughts and feelings.However, by saying nothing I’m betraying myself so here I go…
Mickey your tore flesh, gnashed your teeth and spoke bitterly. “Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself.”Samuel Johnson
Yes,there are benefits to being concise,however, my verbal diarrhea was not devoid of meaning.Maybe you should read it again…
Guy it’s clear that we don’t share believes.I also made no pretense of constant sobriety, but your personal attack is funny.
Hope you enjoy the comp Niel…
I honestly hope this event is a success, even if only to raise awareness of how we should act/treat the awesome areas all of us climbers use anyways.
Great idea, great awareness, maybe we can get a short instructional on the day on 1) how to treat fynbos, 2) not to litter and 3) how to obtain proper access permission in general, etc. Maybe it’ll help prevent any further destruction and area closures. If anything, my ‘looking at the past’ shows me that people probably didn’t know how to go about proper etiquette, and thus did stuff that lead to areas being closed.
This event COULD go a long way in educating the coming ‘masses’ of new climbers. And make no mistake, climbing will only grow and grow, because its cool and fun. The ‘masses’ are coming, if not already here.
Proper education is needed NOW more that ever. This might be THE ideal way of passing along proper info. We HAVE to deal with the influx of new climbers(especially boulderers – its the cheapest climbing option bar solo climbing), so why not support it, full steam ahead, and teach/help ppl along in the right way?
“We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.” – Carl Sagan
Happy bigger picture everyone…. it’s all inconsequential anyway, so we may as well all just play nicely together in our little sandpit.
Hi all, I love nature more than almost anything. I dont enjoy going to rocklands as it upsets me to see the dust and the snapped bushes, the rolled rocks, the tissue paper…BUT..with this new area we have an opportunity to show how responsibly it can be done: strict rules, proper path demarcation, charging entry (necessary) and re-investing funds into keeping up the environment, things that have have not realy been done at Rocklands effectively. This comp can be used to show how it can be done, if someone takes owership..therein lies the problem! The Rocklands has no real guardians, I meet lots of hippy folk who swear its at the very core of who they are..but at the end of the day do nothing to turn things around, prefering to wander further afield and develop there own secret areas in the pretence that they are having less impact. Closing a place down is not the solution, no one person has a rght to enjoy it more than others. I wish Neil all the luck in running this thing responsibily, he’s not an eco-monk like some folk, just a man of action and that is what is needed in this case…but longer term when Neil is not involved will be a problem..Rocklands needs local activists. people who organise stuff, build paths, makes signs, even if it breaks the code of too cool.
Lets not kid ourselves, “training” and “educating” climbers at events like these lasts as long as it takes for the person reading out the rules at the start of the day to finish talking. The focus is on climbing and developing: those come first. What happens after the comp? This area is not access controllable, vast, easy to sneak into, chill walk-ins, very very easy to bundubash between boulders. Sounds attractive doesn’t it? My point exactly. Let the trampling begin
then here;s a challenge for you, you sound like a caring local. Make it your project. Give something back.
Andrew I am indeed a caring local and I am up to my neck in “giving back”, something I feel strongly about. That is not the issue here.
Have you been to this area? If the current state of Rocklands upsets you then you should have equal if not more concern for this area. Like I noted before, it is big, very easy to walk around in without paths and there is little or no chance of controlling access. The byline that it is “close to Rocklands” is also a little misleading, it is much more accessible than that.
Bouldering has been happening here for many years without broadcasting it to the world and also without having to closely guard it as a secret – those who made the effort found and enjoyed it.
It is simple enough to say that it MUST be regulated and rules MUST be implemented and it MUST be managed, but really how is this going to be done in practice? Who is going to do it? If plans are not in place for the management of the area prior to the comp then it seems unfair to enthusiastically throw it open to the world only to walk away and expect others/locals deal with inevitable issues that will follow. Also consider that if it catches on among the foreigners there will be much more people than just the CT boulderers to deal with over the climbing season.
This is not about wanting to hog the area for myself or a few individuals. I have the utmost respect for the organisers who want to provide events like these and the handful of individuals who make the effort to find and develop new areas and I am by no means attacking anyone. Obviously, personally, I would also prefer this competition not to take place. However it seems that it will so I’d like to suggest that those who are enthusiastic about the idea then also step up and throw their weight behind getting plans for access, paths, educating, rules, impact, etc. in order BEFORE the event and not let it turn into the next Roadside.
Fair enough Neil, you make valid points. What you are sayingis that the comp organisers should complete an environmental impact assement (EIA) and have an environmental management plan (EMP) before the comp takes place, actually a very good idea.
Sorry I cant help out down there, too far from Joburg. Busy with our own crags.
A
Why do we throng to an event, rally, comp or festival? Why do we want to climb at any spot when it is at its most crowded? Why stand arould watching the boulder heros do their thing? Why give a f*** what they do? Why not focus on our own climbing?
If you want crowds get rugby tickets. If you want a festival…there is a lame one in a small town near you.
Here in foreigner-land foreigners keep some of the most beautiful areas undocumented (print and electronic) and share them through word-of-mouth, referrals and friends-of-friends-of-friends networks.
Areas that are developed, shared and maintained in such ways have a completely different character and atmosphere from other areas that are documented (in print and electronically) and add much needed diversity to the bouldering.
When done in the right spirit both approaches to bouldering have many merits and probably many faults too. I hope South Africa can continue to have bouldering areas that resemble their pre-bouldering state in addition to hosting climbers from time to time.
EMP’s and EIA’s are very good and are being drawn up for most of the Peninsula bouldering right now, but they must be actively MANAGED otherwise they are of very little value. Once again: who’s going to step up and take long term responsibility for this area? The idea of “educating” etc etc climbers on the day seems noble, but what about the people not attending the comp and not getting the rundown who go there later? Foreigners?
If you have not been there it is difficult to understand just susceptible this area is to overuse and abuse – it is just not practically possible to control access (there aren’t even fences and in some spots you basically park next to the boulders) and nrs of people in any other way than an honesty system whereby the only way the farmer knows how many people are climbing on his land is from what (and if) they told him on the phone. The area has been ravaged by fire several times in the recent past and the veld is sensitive – Guy’s comment earlier to Unio/Jurie about a clearing under a boulder (with only the handful of climbers that go there now!!!) a case in point
The Western Cape fortunately has many similar awesome areas to offer where access and impact can be better controlled and bouldering areas can be run responsibly. If there really is a need for a comp like this or enthusiasm to open a new area then why not consider the following alternatives:
1. Agama Atra at De Doorns: This was an awesome event in the late nineties/early 2000’s and the bouldering potential has not nearly been depleted. The bouldering can only be accessed by organising with the farmer and crossing his land: voila, instant access control.
2. The South African Area near Rocklands: This area has some damn fine climbing and once again the surface hasn’t really even been scratched. It will also offer a solid new climbing area to the Rocklands stable which can dilute the impact on the other areas. Ditto with farmer access control.
3. Kromrivier at Du Toitskloof: Access to this area is controlled via the Paarl/Wellington MCSA (hope they don’t shoot me for this), there is an AWESOME huge mountain hut, walk-in is chill, there are swimming rock pools right near the hut, the rock is bomber, the potential is insane and access is once again very well controlled.
I will be more than happy to help with an event at any of these areas. Please lets not have this comp happen in the “secret” location, it’s just not necessary.
Now this is positive involvement. Excellent attitude and willingness to ‘do something’ about climbing. If someone talks to me like this, I will listen! An excellent example of how to be civil AND disagree with someone’s statements. No sarcasm, just sincere! Good on ya, Niel!
Derek, it appears that you are a master of slicing through through bullshit and cutting straight to the point. I could not have stated it any better myself. Big up.
Derek, not every climber would agree with this. Comps and gatherings can be tremendous value. They bring like-minded people together. Psyche is shared and levels are pushed. Friends are made and new opportunities arise. You yourself were instrumental in helping with the Roc n Road Eastern Cape, a huge effort appreciated by all. Climbing is much more than individuals against the stone in a lonely battle, if you fixated with doing your own thing then why be so active on the forum? Because you are drawn to the community ..because the climbing comminuty is great. If gatherings can be done without harming the environment then they are a good thing in my mind. It does seem as though the environment in this case is senstive. Mr. Margetts, you really should do a short EIA, to see if the long term damages can be mitigated against, if not, then maybe another venue is the sensible option. Pity, as I would have certainly tried come to the new area.
Andrew, sure its diffrent strokes for diffrent folks. The EC R&R helped me realize that comps, gatherings, organized events & large groups of strangers are quite bleak.
Its an easy choice between work or sprouting crap on the forum.
The way I see it, competitions such as the various rock rallies etc simply bring people together. South Africa is not like other countries where the community is huge. We have maybe two hundred active climbers in the whole of SA and with such a small group o people, a competition simply provides and excuse for people that otherwise would have no legitimate reason (Other than to climb) reason to visit the area. We are not a competitive bunch, competitions come with the added benefit of seeing your local hero – possibly the person you look up to in the climbing world – do what you want to do, only better. It gets you more syked, why else do people watch climbing movies or attend talks by famous climbers (Alex Honnald at the MCSA).
The only real way to stop the environmental damage is to stop climbing in Rocklands entirely (Obviously a horrible idea from a climbing stand point).
I know I will get plenty of furious comments for this but whatever. How much damage can one day of, lets be realistic here, 20 – 30 people walking around in the bushes? Fynbos is not a densely befitted biome. Most people will have the brain to walk in between plants rather than on them, not only because of the environmental factor but also because it is simply the easiest way to go.
I am not saying this is a fantastic idea, I mean is this spot is good enough to have a competition of this nature surely it will be developed soon enough. Fynbos is resilient, I mean it requires fire to rejuvenate!
Anyway, that is my two cents, don’t kill me for it 🙂
Craig
…any feedback on how the event went down?
The Easter bouldering festival was amazing. Perfect cool weather and an incredible area.
Saturday’s comp results:
Men – 1st Marijus, 2nd Ed, 3rd Jimbo
Women – 1st Rachelle, 2nd Jeanne, 3rd Clara
Sunday problem opening feast:
Best problem opened by a man: Keith with Jaffle
Best problem opened by a woman: Zoe with Nevermind the Buzzcocks
Thanks to Guy and Michael for developing the area and sharing it with us, and to Neil for all his hard work and organisation, and to the sponsors for prizes…
I’ll second what Zoe says:
Thanks to Guy and Michael for developing the area and sharing it with us, and to Neil for all his hard work and organisation, and to the sponsors for prizes…
Was a fun day out, beautiful area, looking forward to going there again!
The report for the Easter Boulder Fest is here: https://www.climbing.co.za/2013/04/easter-bouldering-festival-report/