Climbing at The Gym

This is not typically what you think of when your climbing at the gym but this little area is called The Gym. It's located just below the Restaurant Crag and Gaper Buttress, the areas that were first developed here at Boven - see pic below. The Gym is in a narrow canyon slot and above the big waterfall that we hiked to the previous days. On one side is a steep and powerful section with climbs like Monkey Monkey 19/10a with a burley start and a short and stiff 24/11d called Lithium which Glenn cruised with ease. The rock is quite polished near the base from when the water level rises. The other side has a black slab wall which get's nasty hot in the sun and is referred to as the dark side for good reason. I noted an early ('93) Cartwright route called The Dark Side and decided to give it a run. It's a nice face with tiny little holds to make it good and technical as well as some high stepping and goes at 22/11b. I wired it in a couple of runs and I have to say nice job Mr.C. Only thing it needs is new top anchors as that 6mm chain has seen its day.

Upstream from the gym is a small waterfall and great place to swim and cool down. The hole there is deep enough to leap from the top of the falls into the pool. Further down the canyon is a narrow slot that has a couple routes on the right side with hanging belays. Glenn thought it would be cool to have a boulder traverse running down the canyon and set off to explore.

Later that day Glenn and I found ourselves on a classic line on Triple Tier Crag's He-Man area called Too Early for The Sky. A moderate that should be much much longer. It basically climbs high and directly above the large waterfall that we hiked too early in the week.


A nice day at the Restaurant Crag (left) and Gaper Buttress (right) with the now defunct original restaurant above.


Dieter and Nick getting set to jump on Monkey Monkey

Glenn Preps for his Lithium - spot the obvious jug

Chris using the force on The Dark Side

Cooling my feet after a hot run on The Dark Side while Dieter monkies on!

Glenn Bouldering the slot

Glenn Following "Too Early For The Sky"

Boven Hiking

Local hiking in Boven is wonderful and this trip is to a local waterfall that lays below Triple Tier Crag. It is a well secluded place and took about 45 minutes to reach. The day was nice and hot so swimming underneath it was magic. Last time Gustav was here he saw a Mozambique Spitting Cobra swimming in the water as well. They both avoided each other very well and shared the place. This is a place that just doesn't exist in real life anymore and so I must have been dreaming.

Slightly above this waterfall is the Triple Tier Crag and some awesome climbs. The walls are some of the bigger and longer ones at the Restaurant and a great deal more exploration can happen here.

Mandela's House on Fire - Swaziland

Swaziland was more than accommodating. I found the food great, the people very friendly and knowledgable, plenty of activities and a great place to stay called Mandela's House on Fire. It's a very artistic place with a great B&B, wireless internet (yes high speed!!!!), awesome breakfast, top notch restaraunt and a more than funky club/band venue.

The pic below are from the Dali inspired? venue next to the B&B where they throw great parties, concerts, plays and dances. There is also an adjoining Rural Women's Store which helps promote and export goods made by local villiage women. This provides the women a place to export their crafts and products and I noticed that the maps in the store displayed shops in Seattle and Vancouver that import items produced and marketed thru this shop. These are great opportunities for the rural villiage women who desparately need income.

A funny thing happened after the first night I stayed at the B&B. I woke the next morning to find this young chap washing the bakkie. I asked him why he was doing this and he told me that the car was too dirty and it needed a bath. He said that it is embarrassing to have an unclean car and he didn't want me to drive this dirty car in Swaziland. I told him it was due to the poor road conditions in South Africa and that they didn't have as nice roads as they do in Swaziland - he looked a bit puzzled. Nonetheless I guess it was time to have the bakkie cleaned because as I came thru the border in to Swaziland they almost didn't let me in. The border guard asked me where was my car registration ie. license plate. I told him it was there on the front bumper. He asked me to step out of the car and show him. I walked around to find that the plate was totally invisible as it and the bumper were caked in about 1/2 inch of mud. I had to chip away and scrape the mud off to show him the plate. All the guys standing around had a good laugh and the guard asked me why my car was so dirty and why I didn't clean it. I told him the same thing about South Africa's roads and he agreed!

Rafting the Usutu River - Swaziland

The Great Usutu River flows thru Swaziland and is the largest river in Swaziland. It flows from the Mkonda River and with the Pongola River into the Rio Maputo in souther Mozambique. It is well known for the awesome white water kayaking and rafting that it offers. I took the opportunity to hook myself up with a Swazi-Trails river guide to take on what they claim are up to grade 4 rapids. The day started out at the Swazli-Trails office where we jumped into a van with a couple of "croc boats" on top. These are basically inflatable canoes which take two people per boat in a similar fashion as a regular canoe; front man for stroke power and the rear man for steering and stroke power.

The river ride lasted a full day and included a break at a big waterfall for lunch. We ended up portaging the waterfall as it was almost suicidal to try and run it. The stories of crocodiles ensured that I was determined to not let our "croc boat" flip and end up in the drink. I am happy to say that Gustav's earlier instruction on picking lines thru rapids paid off well, my boat never went over. There was also a fair amount of calm water paddling which helped to make the day a good shoulder workout.

Unfortunately I didn't have a dry bag nor a waterproof case for my camera so I am limited on the photos. Sorry folks, I guess I'll just have to go back and do it again with Gustav and some kayaks!

Sibebe - Swaziland

My time in Swaziland included a trip to the largest granite dome in Swaziland. The place is called Sibebe Rock and is up the Mbuluzi River Valley and found amongst the Mbuluzi Mountains. Sibebe rises about 300m above the valley floor and the slabs of granite are quite steep in places.

After a quick discussion with one of the locals - did I mention Swazi's speak impecable English - he pointed out the route to the base of the rock but after that I was on my own. The rock itself reminds me of a large granite dome in Canada located in the Cocquihala (sp?) called Yak Peak. I prepared myself based on a prior discussion with Swazi Trails' guides and took a litre of water, good friction runners and a stop watch. They informed me it typically takes 4-5 hours car to car so I figured that it would mean about 2 hours up and a little less down.



Looking up at the base of the dome, the summit looked closer than what I had imagined but then looks can be deceiving. I flipped the Chrono on and started my ascent. The friction on the face is great and there are just enough ruggosities to keep the feet well secured. I can see how this would freak a non-climber out but with the La Sportiva trail shoes I was wearing and the comfort factor high I had no problem keeping a nice pace. 2/3 of the way up I snapped a couple of shots including the view down the face. Off I was again and crested the summit to touch the big boulder at a little over 24 minutes.
The summit is covered in great granite boulders with a ton of bouldering potential and the views were great looking up and down the Mbuluzi Valley. Game trails run all over the summit so continuing to trail run was a joy.

One thing that must be considered is that the rock is pretty hot and the heat is fairly intense. Do not forget to hydrate on this run. Eventually I made my way down and around the west side slabs. The only casaulty on the route was this little guy. I guess he never had the common sense to pack his own water.

Gold Rush Bouldering

Gustav invited me to join him, his wife and the French entourage from Reunion to go bouldering in a new place called Gold Rush not far from the town of Graskop. (Reunion is a small island south of Mauritius that is administered by France.)

The rock is mainly sandstone and the bouldering area is being developed very close to a beautiful river. The idea is to track the sun and stay on the shady faces throughout the day and if it get's too hot then there are the options for swimming.

A few of the problems that we climbed were on boulders that looked like heads from the movie Alien. Most of the stuff was French bouldering grade 6a-6c which translates to V3/V4 in the US system. Gabo sent a great dyno problem that would be about 7a and another high ball boulder around 7c.

Dreamers 23/24 (5.11+)

Finished my project at the Rainy Day Crag and called it Dreamers. It goes about SA Grade 23/24 which translates to 5.11+

Below are pictures of Glenn doing a second ascent of the route. It's tricky to onsight since the route dances about before the crux a wee bit. It starts on nice big holds and runs up a corner and then out on a face. Heel hook and a nice reach to a big jug brings one into the crux corner. Get the left undercling and stem out to the left wall, get a thin finger lock and start working the stem higher and higher until able to move into the next good holds and into a clipping stance. Once thru that section its on to happy holds and some more steep terrain. The route runs about 20-22 meters and over hangs about 5-7 meters. It runs thru the most obvious line on the steeper Rainy Day Crag and stays dry in the wettest of down pours. I'm waiting for a few more ascents before finalizing the grade.

Enjoy!

Two Wheels Strike Again

As luck would have it I am graced by the presence of another 2 wheeled steed, a Yamaha XT350 courtesy of Charles. It has been nice to have a bike to race up and down the road to Tranquilitas but tonight in the rain I had a hard time keeping the wheels lined up and the rubber on the road. The rain turns the road to something as slick as ice and the clay like soil sticks to the tires and doesn't clear so traction is all but lost. Needless to say I made it in one piece but I had to take it very slow.

This would have been a great bike to have when I did my riding in Thailand as it is more of the on-road/off-road dual purpose style.