Rocklands

  I took a trip to the southern hemisphere to check out the climbing in South Africa at the world class Rocklands.  The quality of the boulder problems here is on par with Hueco Tanks.  There is potential for more boulder problems than Hueco when this place has become more developed.  The different areas are spread out over a larger geographic area.  The accommodations down here are by far better than Hueco Tanks whether it be camping or staying in a cottage.  The only downside is that the weather is not as good as Hueco.  It tends to rain a fair amount in the Rocklands followed by heat and/or mist, then occasionally there will be a day of perfect conditions in which it becomes cold, dry, and windy.  The mean temperature is approximately 15 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than Hueco when it is in season. 

  The Rocklands proper or the pass is what most people think of when Rocklands comes to mind.  It is by far one of the sectors concentrated with areas that are littered with classic boulder problems of all difficulties.  The sandstone here is impressive.  It yields more steep boulder problems than the sandstone found in the western states such as in Joe's Valley and other areas. 

  There were other areas other than the Rockland's proper and the de Pakhuy's campground.  There were a few areas down the road by Traveller's rest including the Sassies and 8 day rain.  These sectors were at lower elevation and seemed to dry more quickly than the pass.  Further towards town were areas such as the old Kliphuis campground, Champsite, Riverside, and the Tea Garden. 

  Riverside is one of my favorite sectors in Rocklands.  It is a short hike to the boulders from the car, and the warm-ups are great.  The area is scenic, and has a cool water drainage system.  The rock in this zone is immaculate, and yields climbs of all difficulties.  I got video of two moderates in this zone: Baboon Roof and Les Pieds Dans L'eau.  I managed to climb a cool roof in this zone called White Mazda Clan.  Unfortunately I tweaked a pulley on this climb which ended my trip early.  The Wailing Wall was a fun moderate wall that was slightly overhung, and then kicked back to a slabby finish at the top.  The quality of rock on this wall was bomber, and the holds were dope. 

  The Tea Garden was a fun sector close to town, and literally right on the side of the road.  The Tea Garden Roof is a long classic roof climb that I finished with double toe hooks to the lip.  I began projecting Black Shadow on this trip which is an Ultra-classic.  The climbing is fun, sustained, and intense.  This climb is easily one of the best in the world. 

  I stayed at the de Pakhuy's campground during my stint in the Rocklands.  The de Pakhuy's campground blows the camping in Hueco out of the water.  There is actually water and electricity in the campsite.  There is an area for cooking, and the showers are spacious and clean.  The back wall of the showers is actually a boulder the building was constructed around.  There is a bar at the campground, as well as pizza  night twice per week.  People in South Africa eat a lot of meat, and do frequent Bries, which is basically the equivalent to a BBQ.  The downside is that there is not a great place to hang out during rainstorms.  There was a fair amount of climbing accessible from the de Pakhuy's campground.  The Fields of Joy, Plateau, Dihedral Boulders, Campground Boulders, and Arch Valley were all a short walk from the camping. 

  I enjoyed the experience of being submerged into another culture.  The area the Rocklands is located in is farm country.  de Pakhuy's farm grew amazing olives, grapes for wine, and Rooibos tea.  South Africa is the only location in the world in which Rooibos tea grows.  It is a naturally decaffeinated plant that brews a tasty beverage.  Other crops grown in the local area were oranges and grenadillas (passion fruit). 

  This was my first overseas trip out of the United States.  It was cool to see the little differences between South Africa and the States.  The metric system is an obvious difference down south.  I still have yet to comprehend why the United States feels arrogant enough to demand their own measurement system.  I use the metric system in the medical field, and I end up doing conversions constantly.  Another difference is the vehicles and traffic.  Traffic is driven on the left side of the road, and the driver's side of the car is on the right side of the vehicle.  The plants and animals in South Africa were drastically different than in the Northern hemisphere. It was not an odd occurrence to see baboons in the campground. Outlets in this country are three prong instead of two.  The currency is another obvious difference, which is Rands in South Africa.



Baboon Roof from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Les Pieds Dans L'eau from John Cooper on Vimeo.
Manuereheim Roof from John Cooper on Vimeo.

The Roof Is On Fire from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Orange Heart from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Mary's Roof from John Cooper on Vimeo.



Au Bord De L'eau, Riverside.

Sunset from Champsite.

Vanessa on Ulan Bator, Road Crew.

View of a rainbow spanning the pass from de Pakhuy's campground.

Waterfall after a rain storm. 

Dain's Bulge

I went to Cherry Canyon yesterday. The lake under the bulge dried up enough to climb with the use of a tarp. I managed to finish off Dain's Bulge. I worked out the beta on Uptown Vandal and Tiny Dancer. I finished the day off with another quad crown.

Dain's Bulge from John Cooper on Vimeo.
Dain's Bulge.Uptown Vandal.

Supa Roof and Drop Zone

I climbed at Supa Roof and Drop Zone yesterday with Matt. Conditions were cold and windy with a nice overcast. Matt finished off the center line out Drop Zone. I repeated the left line, and flailed on the center for a bit. Afterwards we did some endurance training on the Supa Roof using the lip to climb back around and re-enter the roof. I did a double enduro loop which probably resulted in approximately 100 feet off horizontal climbing. Props to RickyO on putting up a fun jug haul roof back in the day!

Drop Zone Left from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Supa Roof from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Opening day at Cherry Canyon

The forest roads are finally starting to open. I went to Cherry Canyon yesterday with Pat. I thought the waiting game was over but apparently not.

Devastation under Dain's Bulge.

We found a lake under Dain's Bulge. Fortunately there are other boulder problems in the canyon. I finished the Rapture which climbs a cool roof/bulge feature with double toe hooks. The bouldering in Cherry Canyon is difficult to say the least. The boulder problems here are hard. This is the first boulder problem that I have topped out in the canyon other than the inadequate "warm-ups." Topping out a boulder problem in Cherry Canyon is hard, many of the problems are on par with difficulty similar to Serves You Right. Cherry Canyon reminds me of a more difficult version of Roger's Park in Central Texas. The bouldering is on tall limestone cliffs, and the woods are dense.

Rapture from John Cooper on Vimeo.

My truck hit 200,000 miles on the way to Cherry Canyon. I bought the truck five and a half years ago with 94ish thousand miles.

That's a lot of miles (read rock climbing).

We're still waiting for the anticipated opening of Woody Mtn Rd so we can get back to the Choss Roof.

Joe's Valley

I'm back in Flag after a week long trip to Joe's Valley. It was a much needed vacation from nursing school. It was nice to get a change of pace and climb on sandstone, as well as take a break from training for the Rocklands. I got to test out my new tent. It is a huge four person Big Agnes car camping tent, with an additional vestibule that forms a convenient kitchen with seating space.

I repeated many classics including Kill by Numbers, Stand-up Comedian, Planet of the Apes, Low Tide, and the Angler. I did some new classics including Maxipad and the Riverside traverse. The Riverside Traverse is fun and exciting as half of the traverse is above the river. It is an excellent warm up spot.

I finished off a few old projects on my trip. I managed a first try ascent of Resident Evil that I tried a few years back. I climbed on a full value boulder problem called Beyond Life. I surprised myself and sent second try in good style by keeping my feet on for the entire problem. Beyond Life climbs a beautiful overhanging face with a variety of holds including jugs, slopers, sidepulls, crimps, and even a mono pocket.

I continued trying a new climb called Strongbad. It is a roof located at the six mile marker in the left fork. At the mile marker there is a pull out to park in. Turn around so you are facing down canyon and scramble up to a boulder that forms a triangular point up on a hillside on the left side of the road. The climb is down in a cave. Strongbad climbs the roof to a crux move spanning a prow, followed by climbing on the lip to a jagged arete. It is an intense technical climb that uses a variety of techniques including toe hooks, heel hooks, heel toe cams, knee scums, and precise foot work. The crux revolves around a heel smear that forms a heel toe cam for the right foot, and a left foot posted on a small foothold in the roof. The crux move is a long huck for a bad sloper. It was first done by Rocco Bocchicchio a few years back. I was able to send the problem on one of my last attempts before returning to Flag. This may have been the second ascent. I captured video of Resident Evil and Strongbad. The Strongbad video is spliced together with 3 sections to give a better idea of the climb. This deviates away from my norm of one cut videos, but it provides a better viewing experience as well as beta for anyone wanting to try the climb.

Strongbad from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Resident Evil from John Cooper on Vimeo.

Egyptian Sector

I added a new circuit to my regimen at the Egyptian Sector. I captured video of Floorpie, Lumberjack, Saltine Crack Whore, and Action Deluxe (aka the Egyptian). I do this circuit in addition to Pasty Gangster and the Quad Crown.









I participated in a competition for the first time since high school. I competed in the Battle in the Fish Bowl Bouldering Competition (FBBC) at the NAU climbing wall. The more difficult advanced problems were set poorly (meaning that the setters simply put heinous holds far apart with inadequate feet without trying the moves or fore running), but the problems in the easier range were well set. This limitation turned the redpoint format into essentially a flash comp. Overall, the event was well organized and ran smoothly. However, the prizes could have been assigned to each place, instead of on a first come first serve basis starting with the beginner categories. There was a strong field of competitors and surprisingly large turnout in advanced. I placed 2nd in the advanced category.

Priest Draw and Sedona

I have been climbing quite a bit lately. I finished off another long term project at Priest Draw called Pink Lightning. I have been trying it on and off for the past few years. It is superb movement and long, but the fact that it is a link-up takes away from the quality a bit. Nonetheless it is 10 miles from my house so it was a fun project to work on, and use to increase my fitness. I finished off another project called Action Deluxe (aka The Egyptian). This climb is not as good as it looks. It is unique in the fact that it has double gastons in a roof requiring quite a bit of shoulder power and core to do the feet first finish in the water runnel.

I have been doing a lot of circuiting at the draw to improve my fitness. I graduated to doing the pure octo-crown, which is the quad crown twice in one session without falling. I put together another circuit in the Egyptian sector consisting of Action Deluxe, Pasty Gangster, Saltine Crack Whore, Big Ed's Flying Saucer, the climb to the right of Pasty Gangster, Floor pie, Twister, Twister Direct, and the Lumberjack start to Floor pie.

Yesterday I went down to Sedona with Matt to get reacquainted with sandstone for my upcoming Joe's Valley trip in one week. I visited Grasshopper Point and climbed at the Bikini Wall. I fell off the mantle of Viva la Revolution. I flashed Berlin, and then repeated it in good style for video. I repeated Beast from the East, which felt much easier than when I originally did it last spring. It is nice to see the progression from year to year. This is something I experienced on my winter road trip when I finished some projects from when high school and 4 years back. We attempted to cross the river to Stuff Shootin, but the river was too high due to the snow melt from the small recent storm in Flagstaff. We did a small compression block called Happy Puppies, which was not as classic as it had been described to Matt. Honestly, it was not worth the walk to do this climb.





Running a lap on Pasty Gangster.


Trying Action Deluxe (aka The Egyptian) on a miserable snowy day a few sessions prior to the send.

Pasty Gangsta

Puzzlebox

Temps in flag have been great, in addition to a lack of snow. We've been sessioning at PBR and some other roofs at the draw lately. Here's two videos. The first one is Phoenix Sucks #1, and the second video is Huffalufagus. I made some progress on Pink Lightning and pumped out near the end. I hit up the Anvil boulders after my Cottonwood clinical for nursing last Thursday. I climbed Mars Attacks, which is a sick compression problem on a variety of holds. It is a bit short, but the climbing is quality. I don't think I'll be revisiting the Anvils for awhile because I hate that river crossing.

Quad Crown

The Mars Roof Quad Crown is the best workout in Flagstaff. No falls = pure quad crown.