BD athlete Paul Robinson reports from the boulders of Rocklands, South Africa

Black Diamond athlete Paul Robinson is on an extended road trip in search of the world’s hardest boulder problems. His first stop on his global tour is the famed Rocklands of South Africa. Below is Paul’s first report, including a photo of Black Eagle, a Fred Nicole problem that had some key grips break and Paul re-established as a V14.

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The search is on down here in Rocklands, South Africa. Having been to Rocklands once before, I was able to send a majority of the hard classic lines, leaving this trip to exploring the far out reaches of Rocklands that boulderers have yet discovered. The main areas of Rocklands lie no more than a few kilometers from the road. The rock does not end where the eye can no longer see or where people have dared to venture. Rocklands has some of the most extensive rock on the planet and the next amazing, five-star line may be right over the crest of the next hill.

I have been in Rocklands now for about three and a half weeks now. The climbing has been amazing the exploration never ceasing. So far I have made a few quick repeats of some classic climbs including Derailed (V14), The Vice (V13), Jungle Bar (V12), as well as a few others. But the climbs that have stood out most to me are the first ascents that I have done during this trip. So far there have been three and all of them have been an amazing journey for me to complete. The first one that I managed to complete was a low start to an existing V9 called Pinch of Herbs. I added in a sit start that added three amazing moves and quite a lot of difficulty. The line itself, I called Herby and rated V11 with a video to come, so stay tuned. The second one that I did was the hardest yet. A few years back Fred Nicole climbed this amazing overhung wall at the top of this great hill and called it Black Eagle. Since then, multiple holds have broken and it became a project again very quickly. I was able to figure out some beta that really made the climb possible so I was very psyched to keep working on it. The crux was a very difficult heel hook and a huge move with the right hand. After three days of work I managed to really dial in the hard heel hook move and send the boulder problem. The climb ended up being about V14 and was amazing to finally send!

The latest project that we stumbled across was this amazing roof that reminded me greatly of Slashface in Hueco Tanks, TX. The rock is impeccable and it did not need to be cleaned at all before we started trying it. I managed to do the stand start in about half of an hour and named it La Grotte Magnifique as I am practicing up on my French with our French friends who we have been climbing with a lot on this trip. The stand start weighed in around V11 and the sit remains a project. I managed to complete a good portion of the moves for the sit but the whole link is going to be quite difficult, possibly into the V15 range. I cannot wait to get back on it and see if I can make any more links!

I now unfortunately have a hole in my thumb and a split tip. So, a few rest days will be necessary to heal me up before I can get back out to the boulders. I have a month left down here in Rocklands and so many more climbs I cannot wait to get back on. I have been getting extremely close to sending the unrepeated Monkey Wedding (V15) and  La Grotte Magnifique low-start project. There is soooo much to do down here and I am psyched to be here with good friends and good weather! Stay tuned for more updates on the BD Journal as I frantically try to heal my wrecked skin.

— Paul Robinson

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