The highlight was opening 2 new routes at BobbejaansBerg. Darryl was kind enough to lend me his drill and give some good advice. We placed 5 bolts to replace faulty ones, then proceeded to bolt what I consider the best grade 10 I’ve climbed so far – probably a bit biased but hey, what the hell!

We then bolted an access route to a freestanding boulder where I’m aiming to put up a project for myself – hard for a armchair climber like myself, probably in the 20-21 range.

Watch this space!!!

Ursula doing the "Preying mantice ninja move" (not an officially recognized climbing move, but it proved effective in the end)

Someone also decided to removed some hangers, which I replaced on the day. A few bolts needed tightening too.

Francois in touch with his inner baboon. The surprised look is a result of realising what the sticky stuff he felt earlier actually was

Other semi-related news:
The Boven Rock Rally is coming up next month and Gustav has afforded me the opportunity to be a part of the organisation pending some work to be done by this coming weekend – hopefully a big announcement on SANCL.org next week!!!

Summer is coming and the time to go to Wellingtons Dome is running out as the summertime temps will be unbearable.  If that does not materialise, I’ve got some unfinished business at Swinburne, and I’m still keen to check out Harrismith – dug up that guide book earlier this week: there’s a 3 pitch grade 14 with my name on it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, things are pretty much status quo. After SEVERAL day’s cleaning, the place is starting to resemble a state called clean. Some more grass to be cut, and ooh, while I’m on the topic let me phone the shop for a B.F.T. – the “T” is for torch……and the B is a capital, bold “B” at 15 000 000 candle power. Who needs a gun when you can singe retinas at 50m?

<phone call>

hmmmm, so much for service. As the specific BFT is discontinued, they won’t ship the stock between branches, so I’ll have to take a 200km drive to the branch that still has stock and back if I really, really want it. Thanks Outdoor Warehouse for service that makes the government departments look reasonable.

Right.

That’s it, I’m done.