Rocklands: A bitter - sweet intro to the bouldering Mecca

Towards the end of this last winter, I was already hearing some talks about a strong crew from Turkiye going to Rocklands this July. When I came back from Fontainebleau at the beginning of May, I was hungry even for more bouldering. I was sure I would continue lead climbing, but somehow, once bouldering was in my blood, I just could not take it out. 

For once, rotating two disciplines - bouldering and lead - meant that you would almost never burn out. Two different outdoor disciplines means you are climbing at least in two different locations. Everybody who's into climbing for more than some years knows that changing places is invaluable for keeping the motivation high. 

But there's more to that. When you push your limit on some lead routes, you might hit a wall at some point. You could gain familiarity, endurance and make winning tactics only until some point. Beyond that, you just need new tricks, a new arsenal of beta, more raw power, and an uglier "try hard face" to unlock the next generation of problems. And I really do think that bouldering might be one of the best ways towards those leaps. Even though I have been lead climbing for a quite while, I must say that bouldering is fairly new for me, and I can classify myself as a beginner of this sport. 

Road Crew Sector

Planning the Trip

I was very very exited when I learne the plans. We already climbed with Musti in Fontainebleau, and it was a quite nourishing - positive experience. The team was Efe, Zorbey, Erkin, Övgün and Musti (Mustafa Eren). Quite a strong team. I surely would not want to slow down anyone, so quite hesitantly, I talked with Musti and Efe and asked if it was alright to join. It looks like I was in. 

One day spent for arranging the place to stay, airplane tickets and car rental. It was very nice that South Africa did not require a visa for Turkish citizens for stays up to 30 days. Our trip would start on 2nd of July and end on July 30th. I preferred renting an Airbnb in Clanwilliam, which is a town close to Rocklands. It's around 30 minutes of drive from Clanwilliam to the farthest crags, and you can reach some of the closer ones in about 15 minutes. Since I would need to work remotely for some of the days of the trip, I would need an internet connection, and a comfortable place. That meant more expenses on my side, but it was okay, much better than staying home. 

Training

I basically had around 2 months to prepare for this trip. From my research, I learned that bouldering in Rocklands was not very similar to what we do in our local crag - Barek Mountain. Barek is less steep, but the holds are much more crimpy. The style is somewhat more controlled, with less dynos, more crimpy and lock-off style. So I guesses I could crimp quite hard, but I knew I did not have a stellar pulling power. 

For that, I could use a bouldering gym, kilter board or something like that. But 2 months was a long time for me, and again, life got in the way in between those times, and I wanted to spend some of that time in Geyikbayiri. At least, returning from Fontainebleau, I had the dare to try harder lead routes and unlock the beta for them, so that I would try them when conditions are better. On that manner, I tried following routes:

• Rainbow Smile 8a+: I solved most of the moves. The boulder problem in the beginning is somewhat mystery to me, however. The upper moves are somewhat okay. I believe I can link it sometime in the future. 

• Corridor of Madness 8a: Wow.. even though the grade is easier than Rainbow Smile, it was a lot harder for me to do the moves. Requires very good conditions, and a stellar foot technique. It is quite reachy for my size, too. I can imagine this would take quite a bit time for me. 

• Scrotum Maximum 8b: I was quite happy to be able to do all the moves in one or two sessions. I believe a hold on the crux was broken recently, but it was still doable. The hold just got smaller. However, I would definitely need winter-like conditions to do this. 

• Poison 7c: The grade is not very difficult, but make no mistakes. For me, the boulder problem in the beginning of this route feels very hard. I was more than happy to unlock the sequence that fits my style. The solution depends on a sloper right gaston. I don't remember the details now, but I am almost sure that my brain will fetch the solution from its dusty shelves in the future when I try it again. 

That completed my 3 weeks stride in Geyikbayiri in which I tried to resolve some of the life problems, and maybe making some of them even worse, but then only returning home with more confusion, frustration, but still excited enough to search for my better self. 

The rest of the training went through weekend visits to Barek mountain with Erkin and Fikret, and some regular Kilter board sessions with Erkin. It was also at this time, that I understood how valuable Akut gym was for us. I mean, Kilter board is okay, but Akut wall has some magic on it that it makes a training a lot like a bouldering session outdoors. I don't know. Is it about the polished holds? The quality and irregularity of the holds? Team up with bro's in Boulderbook? Or is it because the short 10 minutes walk from my house? I guess it is all of them. 

My performance during the last month was very wavy, and often sluggish. I did not want to push it very hard for two reasons: I had this sneaky right ring finger injury after returning back from Fontainebleau. Trying harder things in Geyikbayiri did not make it a lot better, and on top of that, trying hard problems in Kilterboard and Akut gym did not help it either. 

But during that time, in one of the geeky talks with Fikret, he told me about the finger strength training routine he follows: picking weights from the ground. The main difference from the max hangs on fingerboard is lift durations are quite short. You lift the weight from the ground, but only hold it for 1-2 seconds, then release it. On the other hand, in a typical fingerboard max hang rep, you would hang from the edge for around 7 seconds, The other main difference is, since you are picking the weight from the ground, your shoulders are taxed less. This is perfect if you are recovering from a shoulder injury, or if your shoulders are already tired because of other training like weighted pull ups, or just bouldering. Another advantage is you won't be attaching any weights to your body, or you won't be dealing with any complex harness, pulley system to adjust the load on your fingers. 

I quickly measured my max on both hands, and then began a routine, where I do max lifts two days a week. This training was done at the same day when I would go to Akut or kilter board. So, I basically woke up, had my coffee, worked a bit, then had breakfast, and then towards noon, I did a mixed session of max lifts, and assisted one arm pull up training. It lasted around 30 minutes. And then in the evening, around 18:00, I went for bouldering in the gym. I obviously carried some amount of fatigue because of the training at home, but it was quite okay once I adjusted the volume in the gym. 

In the weekends, before going to Barek for outdoor bouldering, I also did some max lifts. But I only used these for activation. I just reached the maximum weight, and then stopped there after 1-2 lifts. The idea was to activate the strength in the muscles, but leave the remaining reserve for the upcoming hard attempts in real boulders. 

I can say that my right ring finger injury did not become worse because of the max lift trainings. Just like Fikret, I would argue that it was contributing positively towards making the injury heal a lot faster. I think the most detrimental thing to the finger injury was hard bouldering gym sessions where it was hard to control the load on the fingers. So, I was healing my finger using those max lifts, and then I was damaging it to some extent using the gym sessions. The key idea here was to be honest with the condition of the finger injury, and then act accordingly during the gym sessions. I observed that the injury did not prevent me from trying hard. But it was mandatory to cut down the volume considerably to prevent any further damage. 

The graph below shows the recent weeks prior to the Rocklands trip: 

My training log chart prior to the trip 

I am planning to explain this new type of logging method in another blog post, but for now, let me suffice to say that the long blue bars upward are my total climbing training load, and the orange bars are cardio load. The purple bars are my "Feel good" score.. Just a metric on how I feel on that day in terms of health and performance. I calculate the training load by scoring the intensity and volume on that activity with a score from 1 to 10. And then I multiply load and intensity to get the training volume. For example, if my intensity was like 7, and volume was like 5, climbing training load would be 5x7 = 35. 

You will see that some of the other bars are pointing downwards. The green one is my average stress level (work, relationship, travel, etc.), the dark blue one pointing downward is the level of my finger injury. During that time frame I only had a single finger injury. So, that bar indicates how bad I felt about my right ring finger injury. Lastly, since I have a chronic back pain problem, the brown bar pointing downwards represents how bad my back pain is. 

From the chart, you can see that my finger injury was quite okay towards end of May.. Those weeks, I was in Geyikbayiri. Even though I was trying quite hard, since it was on lead, and since it was on natural rock, my finger was not in a very bad shape. But still, it got worse towards the end of May, and the injury somehow peaked around the beginning of June. It was that time I had to acknowledge that I had a real injury - not a simple tweak. At first, I did not care a lot about that, because the injury seemed to be around A4 pulley. Normally, I can easily "climb around" A4 pulley injuries. They are not as bad as A2 pulley injuries. But this time, it was getting worse, and when I started the max lifts, I realized that my right hand became actually weaker than my left hand. Normally, I am right dominant, and my right hand is about 10% stronger than the left one. 

From that point on, by carefully monitoring the finger injury, applying a combination of daily no-hang protocols and the max lift protocol, and most importantly, by burying down my ego during the gym sessions, I could manage the injury quite well before the trip to Rocklands. You can see from the chart that after beginning of June, it only got better. But it was not completely healed, though. One month is very short for a finger injury to heal. 

This high intensity - low volume training was also good from one aspect: It somehow guaranteed that I did not unnecessarily peak before I arrive at South Africa. I just wanted to coast the moderate waves of volume and intensity, do not risk any new injuries, and then give it all when I land there. 

So, when the day came, I was quite okay. I was not in my best shape, I was no where near the max strength I have been before, but I had a manageable finger injury, a quite healthy back, and no elbow or shoulder injuries. That was a quite okay for someone at my 45 years old age. 

Going there

I flew to Cape Town from Istanbul with Turkish Airlines with a connecting flight from Ankara. It's about 11 hours flight from Istanbul to Cape Town. The plane ticket to Cape Town is fairly expensive, so one would like to spend a considerable amount of time there to make the journey worth. 

I rented a small car from europcar. My experience with them in Paris was not that bad at all, so I just wanted to follow the same path. Remember that in South Africa, traffic goes from the left, just like in the UK. You sit on the right side of the car. Even towards the end of the trip, I was approaching my car from the wrong side when getting on it. And since the wiper and light controls are in reverse sides, I was often turning on the wipers in the intent of using the turn signals. But I think the worst part of it was getting used to the gear. I had a manual and shifting gears with left hand was feeling quite odd. So, if you can, going with an automatic one would make the complications a lot less. Then again, Rocklands dirt roads are really though on the cars, so driving careful and slowly on those roads is advised.

Carrying crashpads to bouldering areas are a real problem. I would like to bring my big Petzl Cirro crashpad, but it looks like it was exceeding official checked in baggage limits. So, I decided to bring the smaller Metolius crash pad, and I tucked my portable ladder inside that crashpad. Later, I have seen that Turkish Airlines was quite okay with large crashpads, too. If I was going again, I would try it with the large one.

On the other hand, having a ladder was great. We could check the holds on higher boulders and brush them easily. However, towards the last weeks of the trip, no one was willing to bring that ladder to the rocks. We wanted to be light because for some of the sectors, the walk can be fairly long, like 20-30 minutes. 

Accommodation

Our trip was spanning whole July. I was thinking of a half-work, half-vacation stay, where I would spread my climbing and working days over a month period. Thankfully, my job allows me to work from home, and additionally, I can work on the days which I don't climb. Climbing is always hard on your body, and we need to take rest days anyway. Thus, I planed the trip so that I can stay longer, but still work partially during these weeks. 

During my research, I came to realize that there were a bunch of good campings around the Rocklands area. The ones that I know are: 

• Alpha Excelsior
• De Pakhuys
• Traveller's Rest
• The Storytellers

Unfortunately, all of them were over-booked at the time I decided to plan the trip. It was beginning of May while I was planning the trip, and there were just a few places left around Rocklands. I remember a nice place where you would stay in a retro caravan was available, but I could not choose that one because there was no wifi. 

I looked at the places in Clanwilliam, thinking that staying in the town would be better for focusing on work. I found a very nice AirBnb in the town which was quite spacious, and they also had Wi-Fi. The other folks already booked a glamping style place in The Storytellers, and there was no more space available there. So, the rest of the team would stay in Rocklands area, and I would stay in town, within an 30 minutes drive distance to them. In retrospective, I think my choice was quite good. It felt a bit isolated being far from the crew, but for truly resting and focusing on my work, that was perfect. Well.. almost perfect... Until I tested the internet connection.

The street where I stayed

The Internet problem

The one thing I was quite disappointed with the place I stayed was the internet connection. The internet service they were using was not a cable one. It was not a satellite connection either. It was apparently a cellular connection, where there are cellular towers around the town, and the internet was being served wirelessly to houses. But the real problem was their contract was horrendously slow. It was 4 Mbits download and 1 Mbit upload. And the ping times were equally disastrous. I mean, if this was a consistent cable connection which did not sporadicly break and resume at times, it could be okay. But this connection was fairly unreliable and not practical beyond watching some videos from YouTube or browsing the web in some 20 years ago speeds. 

Luckily, my landlords acknowledged the problem, and they upgraded their package to something like 8 Mbits download and 1.5 Mbits upload. Well, that was better, but still not enough for some serious work. Luckily, the LTE speeds with my Iphone was quite decent. I was seeing around 50 Mbits download and 15 Mbits upload, which was quite enough for my needs. My corporate cellular line in Turkiye allowed me to use my data quota abroad for 5 days, and I used that on some days where I really required a strong internet connection. And I can say that it served me quite well. 

I am not accusing my landlords for the slow internet connection in any ways, because seeing how expensive the internet service they were using (Trusc), it was totally understandable. I can suffice to say that with the same price they pay for the 8 Mbit cellular internet connection, I use a fiber cable connection in Turkiye that has a solid 100 Mbits download and 20 Mbits upload. Apparently the cellular services, and other basic utilities like electricity is horrendously expensive in Clanwilliam. 

My Experience with Mtn e-sim I bought from the Airport

At the airport, you will see an Mtn office where they sell both physical sim cards and e-sims. I use an Iphone 12, and it only supports dual cellular lines using an additional e-sim. I was already using the physical sim slot for my Turkiye cellular phone number, so I preferred to buy an e-sim. At the airport, I only bought the e-sim with an initial small data account like 2.5 GB. I think it was ZAR 155 (equivalent to around USD 8.5). I think that was one of the best choices I made. Rocklands area is really rural, and it's huge, so, Vodacom, which was the cellular roaming provider my Turkiye cellular line was using did not have coverage in those areas. But Mtn had fairly good coverage on most of the climbing sectors we have been to. So, I strongly recommend buying an Mtn e-sim at the airport. By the way, later on, I topped my Mtn e-sim by buying additional data plan using their iPhone application. 

My casual working setup in my AirBnb.. So good, if only I had a strong internet connection, it would be perfect..

My precious portable laptop monitors.. 

But this was my setup when things got real serious on my on-call days. 

I work at Microsoft, and apparently, Microsoft employees are not exempt from Blue Screens :) 

Other places where you can have Wifi

In Clanwilliam:

- Thi Art coffee: They have a solid connection around 50 Mbits download. But the bad thing is they close at 17:00. 

- Bella Louise Restaurant: I also remember their speed was quite fine, maybe like 20 Mbits download. They open at 17:00, so maybe you can spend some time in Thi Art coffee, and then jump to Bella Louise after 17:00 :). Keep in mind that Bella Louise is closed in some week days.. Phone them to make sure. 

- The Smokehouse: This restaurant also has quite fast wifi. But it also has some real smoke inside :)

In Rocklands: 

- Hen House: This is the cafe where all climbers stack up like hens hiding from the cold during rainy cold days. Their wifi speeds were surprisingly good enough for most tasks, but when it is crowded, the place feels really cramped. 

- Traveller's Rest: Kitchen closes at 21:00, the place closes around 22:00. You have good wifi. 

- De Pakhuys Campsite: They also have wifi, but I did not work here. Musti used this place a lot since it was quite close to The Storytellers. 

Places to eat

When it is possible, I always prefer cooking at home and eating a mostly plant-based diet. So, on half of the days, I cooked at home, but on the other half where we quit climbing too late, or just to spend time with the crew, I ate outside. 

A typical self cooked dinner at home. Potatoes on air fryer, canned peas and Kale. 

Traveller's Rest at Rocklands

If we were to eat at Rocklands, Traveller's Rest was the only good option that we knew. They cook nice varieties of venison meat, which is a kind of deer. They make nice Pizzas, a quite delicious Venison Blue Cheeseburger that you can have with chips, salad or roasted vegetables. But I think their master piece is the Venison Stew. This is some kind minced slow-cooked venison meat served with rice and roasted vegetables. I believe it is the healthiest dinner you can have around Rocklands, an only with a price of ZAR 140 (USD 7.7). 

Traveller's rest also has a market that you can buy basic stuff, and you can even find climbing tape and magnesium chalk with quite decent prices. 200 gr Black diamond chalk for ZAR 185, or 50 gr Black Diamond block chalk for ZAR 55. We found those prices fairly reasonable in such a remote area. 

But the main kudos go to the waiters and waitresses at Traveller's rest. They were kind and understanding, and we were quite thankful for their attitude. 

Hen House at Rocklands

This is a small cafe which is open until 17:00. They have decent coffee, ultra delicious carrot cake and other types of snacks. I believe they also have a decent variety of breakfast choices. You can easily see some famous climber and share some beta's and talk over some candidate projects while sipping your coffee and trying to warm your hands across the fire. I was quite sad that I could not spend time here  because I was staying in Clanwilliam. 

Bella Louise Restaurant - Clanwilliam

Atmosphere is so good, menu and food choices are diverse enough. They have quite nice beer on Tap, and delicious wines. 

Lamb Shank at Bella Louise.. Wow.. that's big!!!

The Smokehouse - Clanwilliam

This one is a steak house. They made the best steaks that we ate around  Rocklands. But there was a quite strange feeling about the settlement the restaurant was inside. It was surrounded by large walls, and inside was like a five star hotel, with some rooms to stay, and which looked ultra luxurious. I mean, the food was nice, but I just dunno... something wrong... something which needs to settle down. 

Der Kelder - Clanwilliam

This is like a sports pub, located inside the petrol station in Clanwilliam. The first time we went here, there was a live Rugby match, and the place was over-crowded. The waiter kindly said that anything we order now will take at least an hour, so we just went to another place. But later on, when we went there again, there were no sports events, and the place was quite calm. They too, have a quite nice selection of steaks and pizzas, and decent beer on tap. And I believe this place was the cheapest, also because their prices in the menu already included the 10% service charge. 

The free beer I won by showing my Bouldering permit at De Pakuys office

Thi Art Cafe

Located in Clanwilliam. Very comfortable place with good coffee, good breakfast options. Cheese cake and carrot cake. Only open until 17:00. 

Nice coffee and cheesecake in Thi Art cafe

The infamous Carrot Cake

Shopping

The two supermarkets we used in Clanwilliam were the Spar and Pick'n Pay. Pick'n Pay is inside a shopping mall where you can park your car easily and it is a less crowded, calmer place. The street where Spar is located is somewhat messy, and felt kind of unsafe to walk alone, especially during night. Both markets close at 7 pm.

Meat

As I am a plant-based eater at home, I never bought any meat from the groceries. So, I cannot comment about that. 

Bread

I found a very nice low-gi brown bread in Pick'n Pay, and that was the only bread I consumed. Other than that, I think Spar's bakery is much richer than Pick'n Pay. 

Avocados

This one deserves a special mention. I was happy as a child when I saw how cheap the avocados were in South Africa. I could get one for ZAR 12 - USD 0.65, and a pack of 6 for ZAR 42 (USD 0.32 each). And these were quite decent avocados. That meant I stopped eating oatmeal for a month, and ate avocado toast and made avocado sandwiches to bring to the rocks every day. Bring it on baby.. 

If I could carry them, I would like to bring some back home, but my baggage was already too heavy for me, so I said.. ok. But then, when I returned back home, and saw those ugly avocados in my local groceries selling for USD 2 each.. I thought.. I guess I am living in the wrong country!!!

Other Vegetables and Fruits

Sweet potatoes, Broccoli, Cauli flower, bananas, apples, oranges... They were abundant, flesh and all of them were a lot cheaper than Turkiye... But another special mention here is that you can find Kale which is one of the healthiest dark-green leafy vegetables. You can only find it in special organic online shops in Turkiye. But here, you can find a large bag of them for so cheap, so fresh... This place is a vegetable heaven..

Okay, this is a bit too much? What's a soup starter pack? 

If you are a pine apple lover, that one is also cheap and delicious

This box of rooibos tea was a gift from my landlords. Very thankful for that. 

Sweeeet potatoe with its beautiful curves

Legumes - Dry and Canned

As a plant-based leaner, beans and chickpeas are the pillar source of protein in my diet. But I was a bit too lazy to soak them and cook them for long hours. Since I was in vacation, I preferred buying them canned. They were quite delicious, handy and made me quite happy and energetic. 

Cheese

Okay, not everything can be perfect, right. This one was just modest.. The problem is, most of the cheese in groceries is some kind of Cheddar variety. I bought mature cheddar cheese in fairly small amounts. I think I consumed only 400 grams in the whole month. The first one I bought had some coloring agents, so I was careful to buy a more natural one for the second. But the problem here is, they usually have some kind of preservatives and additives in all the cheese... So, in terms of cheese, I would rather prefer Turkiye. We have a larger variety. But, ooops.. Sadly, everything in Turkiye is so darn expensive now, including cheese... 

Nuts

This one was a total disappointment. They mostly have roasted and salted nuts, and it is either hard to find, or too expensive to get raw and unprocessed ones like walnuts and hazelnuts. But surprisingly, Spar had fairly cheap Brazil nuts. Brazil nuts are enormously rich in Selenium, so if you only consume a few eggs a week like me, that could be a nice addition to your diet, instead of taking selenium pills. I would prefer Turkiye on this, because we have very nice and fresh almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, and it's quite easy to find dry roasted tasty peanuts in Turkiye.

Wine

Wine is so good in South Africa, and it is also very cheap. So, if you are a wine lover, you will be very happy during your stay. They have their local grapes called Pinotage, and it is the name of a very popular 7B+ route in Sassies - one of my wanna do boulders when I return back here stronger. Hopefully... 

I am well known for my ultra heathy approach to alcohol, especially when I am focused on climbing. So, that meant I only sipped a couple of gulps from my friends' bottles occasionally, just to taste. That much of it makes me more than happy. I believe any form of alcohol is detrimental to my health, and having it in very small amounts is more than enough for any other benefits like satisfying my curiosity or blending in the current mood on the table. I can't remember exact pricing since I did not buy a bottle myself. But I believe you can find a decent one in the market for around ZAR 100, and ZAR 200 in the restaurants. Quite cheap I think. 

Beer

Not the best beer I tasted. But they have quite a variety, and it's not expensive. So, just try and see what works for you. All in all, I was not a fan of the ones I tasted. 

These Ginger Biscuits became a quick favourite, but I had to gave up on those after initial weeks. Why? Because I cannot stop when I start eating them... 

Got this coffee from Thi Art. Was happy with it. Recommended. 

Drinking Water

This one is big for me. I have to make sure that the drinking water is safe, especially in some remote area like this. When I was younger, I did not care a lot about this. But with time, I understood the importance of this. For example, while staying in Geyikbayiri in a camping in 2020, I accidentally drank water from the caravan tap. Apparently, I needed to get the drinking water from some special tap in the camping. The result is: I got sick from the water, and a full week of 3.5 weeks trip was wasted while recovering from that. 

The water from the tap where I stayed in Clanwilliam was certainly not drinkable. You could see that the color of the water was brown and muddy. I was even not feeling okay to wash fruits and vegetables with that water, and showering with that also did not feel the best. The rest of the crew stayed in Rocklands, and apparently, the tap water there was coming from a type of spring which is cold, and fresh. However, they also reported some problems after drinking that water, too. In the end, we all resorted back to bottled water. 

A bottle of 5 Liter spring water goes for about ZAR 28 in groceries. However, the Spar market has drinking water taps, where you can refill a 5 liter bottle only for ZAR 6.5. I bought an initial 4 bottles from the grocery, and then refilled them occasionally from those taps in Spar. I believe that was the only reason I went to Spar, because I preferred Pick'n Pay for regular shopping since it was more calm, neat, less crowded. Drinking water from Spar tasted quite good, and I do not remember anything bad about it. I used this water for everything like cooking, coffee, tea. 

That's what I mean when bragging about the color of the tap water in Clanwilliam

Actual Climbing

My goal when coming here was to send at least one 7B or 7B+, and send as many as boulders in the 6C - 7A+ range. I believe I fairly achieved my personal goal by sending the following problems:

• Minki 7B
• Tennis Biscuit 7B (felt like a soft 7B)
• When the day breaks 7B
• Cream Style Corn 7A+ (felt more like 7A)
• Unsilky but Natural 7A+
• Modell Robber 7A+ (felt hard)
• Director's Cunt 7A+
• Crazy Leg (stand) 7A (felt hard for me)
• Finders keepers 7A (felt like a proper 7A+)
• Silky Natural 7A
• Todd's Sloper Problem 7A
• Human Energy 7A (ok. 7A if you do the perfect beta, otherwise, hard..)
• Hill Start 7A (one move jump, my anti-style.. could do it in some attempts)
• In the Shadows 7A (flash)
• Arch Valley 7A (flash)
• Esoterrorist 7A (flash)
• Maties 7A
• Chutney Variation 6C+
• The full golden rail 6C+ 
• Chineese food and chocolate pudding 6C
• Golden Zeal 6C (flash) (felt more like 6B+)
• Trackside arete 6C (flash)
• The golden rail 6C (definitely hard.. felt like 6C+ at least)
• The shield 6C (flash)
• Joke of the day variation 6C (flash)
• Finger Wall 6B+ (flash)
• The Stride 6B+ (flash)
• Hair pulling 6B+ (flash)
• Mistaken Identity 6B+ (flash)
• Girl on our mind 6B+ (flash) - a real classic.. like a roof.. but only 6B+.. wow..
• Coal Chamber 6B+ (flash) - so good for the grade.. slightly overhanging, crimpy.. serious climbing
• The ludovician right 6B (flash)
• Wingdings and things 6B+ (flash) - felt more like like 6C
• Le cul de souris 6B (flash)
• Mini Minki 6B (flash)
• Nate's problem 6A+ (flash)
• Cruel World 6A+ (flash)
• Homewrecking Whore 6A+ (flash)
• The Golden Heel 6A (flash)
• Dessert rose 6A (flash)
• Ice Wired Shut 5+ (flash)
• Baboon Bones 5+ (flash)
• The very left finish 5+ (flash)
• Plateau stem 5 (flash)
• Ice Ice Baby 5 (flash)

.. and here are more details from some notable ascents:

When the day breaks 7B (Road crew sector)

This problem was opened by Fred Nicole. Height of the boulder is medium sized. It is a slightly overhanging face with very nice crimps. The crux is a long move to a right hand gaston hold. I used a high right foot, and an intermediate sloper crimp for my right hand. The move looked very desperate for me at first. But since I knew the route was fitting my style and I liked it a lot, I kept on fighting for it, and finally could do it within a single session. 

See this instagram reel for some shoots from the ascent.

When the day Breaks 7B Photo: Efe Alpman

Tennis Biscuit 7B (8 Day Rain sector)

The problem is rated 7B+, but I would say it felt like a soft 7B for me. Regardless of the grade, it is a very nice problem. Starts with a right heel hook and then follows the closed crimps on the face. Finishes with either a long move, or using a small sloper crimp on the arete. It was amazing to watch Erkin flash this one with ease. It took two sessions for me to do it. 

Instagram reel

Tennis Biscuit 7B+

Minki 7B (Plateau sector)

The most climbed boulder in Rocklands. I think I spent around 3 sessions. At first, I was trying with a knee-pad, but it looked like the knee bars in the route was quite doable with trousers, too. So I said, heck.. let's do it like they did it in the first ascent. We sent this boulder in a beautiful night with a strong team up with Erkin and Zorbey. Thanks folks, that support was valuable for me. 

The ultimate classic: Minki 7B (Photo: Erkin Cakmak)

Projecting Lisa's Arete 7C+

While the crew was trying Yosemite Slab 7A+ in 8 Day Rain, I fell in love with this arete problem. It is opened by Lisa Rands in 2006. In the first session, I could do almost all moves except the last move on the top. I checked that last move in the following session using a rope, and then suddenly, I had a 7C+ project. 

I think I spent some 4-5 sessions on it. The holds were quite sharp, and the moves were bitterly hard for me. Unfortunately, my skin did not allow me to try any further. In my best try, I could reach until the last move, but my left foot slipped and I took an unexpected fall. That was my best try. I gave it another session, but it did not improve and my skin was already blasted. So, I had to give up on this boulder and leave it for another trip. Quite a nice reason to come back to Rocklands :) 

My best try on Lisa's arete 7C+

... which ended up by my left foot popping from a gigantic sloping crimp... 

Lisa's Arete 7C+

Other Boulders I tried

I also tried / checked the moves on the following boulders, but could not finish them:

Vanity 7A+ / 8 Day Rain

This one is a very classic boulder. In the day we tried this, I joined the crew a couple of hours later. They already spent some time on this together and warmed up properly. I had to make an ultra quick warm up followed by some desperate quick attempts on this. But this wasn't something that could go quickly for me. It definitely felt hard, so I left it for another session. Unfortunately, we did not plan another session on this block, so I had to leave this unfinished. I believe rest of the team climbed this beauty, Erkin even flashing it. Yes, he's that strong and that good :) Inspiring stuff. 

One of my attempts on Vanity 7A+

Crazy Leg 7B / 8 Day Rain

A very popular classic in 8 Day Rain sector. The problem is the single move 7A jump that I could only do after some 15-20 attempts. After doing that, I worked on the sit start which is graded as 7B. I could easily arrive at the jump move from the sit start in my next two attempts, but I could not stick the jump. So, sadly, this one is also left for another trip. Zorbey and Efe flashed this one with some elegant style and determination. Congrats folks. Later on, Erkin and Ovgun also climbed it quickly. 

The Skink 7B

A very beautiful single move jump in the Golden Virginia block in 8 day rain sector. I was not very close to doing this, but still, I gave some burns on it because it was easy to try, and also because we spent time there anyway since Efe was projecting the Golden Virginia 8A, and Ovgun was projecting Flying Guitar Thief 8A - a single move notoriously hard dyno. 

Born into Struggle 7B+

A classic 7B in Plateau sector by Klem Loskot. Starts with a roof section, then a longish move to a right hand sloper on the roof, followed by some toe hooks and a big move to the lip with the left hand. I can't say that I properly tried this one. I only checked some of the moves while Zorbey was working on it. I just take a record of this one, because it is so beautiful and I would like to place it in my bucket list for my future self, and also for anyone that would be visiting the area. Go try it, do it. If you can't do it like me, get psyched, train more and come back! Congrats Zorbey and Efe for doing this one in some good style. 

Poison Dwarf 7B

A very accessible lowish ball classic on Plateau. It has slopers and nice athletic moves. I only checked some of its moves. Efe flashed it by casually coming to the boulder and asking like "what is this?" and then chalking up and walking it like a warm up! Sick!... 

Black Mango Chutney 7C+

I just tried the moves in the beginning, and tested if I can ever do the left heel hook to reach the high crimp with the left hand. But no.. It's too risky with the injured knee, so I just flashed the other 6C+ variation instead. Efe succeeded on this, and apparently, that heel hook was also tricky for Erkin, so we did not insist on that any further. 

Barracuda 8A

After trying Black Mango Chutney, we went to Barracuda. This was the first time I tried to check the moves on an 8A. I could do the first move but then, the long move to the right hand crimp was too hard for me. Efe did this in his second try. I think he could easily flash it if he watched more before trying. Erkin also had solid tries on that.

Sweet Potato 7B

This one is a low ball with very comfortable landing. I believe someone could project it even with a single crashpad, without any spotters. The first move requires pulling from a sloper crimp and a very high left sloper heel hook. You should transfer weight to the heel hook and then reach for a gaston crimp on the roofy part. Apparently, within us, only Erkin had that kind of strength and delicacy. He walked this one in a couple of tries, and then asked.. ok.. what's next? Oh man...

Un petit hueco dans rocklands: 7B+

A veeeery long roofy climb in Sassies. It's one of the all time classics. The good thing about it is: the beginning is very roofy, and safe. But then, you reach some jugs, and then do some long moves. And during those moves, you gain height, but at the same time, there is a sloping ramp of rock below you, so your landing ground also gains height. So, falling on this one is not so scary. The only glitch is, you need some clever spotter on the top out move, because there, you approach to the right part of the block, and if you fall, you probably will hit the vertical wall nearby. Other than that, it feels quite easy in terms of fear factor. This one feels like a sport climb, and I think it has around 16 moves. 

It was our last day, and my skin and pulling power was not at its best. On top of that, it took a few burns for me to climb the classic 7A nearby (Maties), and it also sucked down my already small power reserve. So, all in all, I could do all the moves, but I could not join them. So, this one also goes into the wish list for the next trip. Congrats to Erkin who could bring this together even after his legendary performance the day before in fields of joy. I believe he climbed around 4-5 routes in 7A+ 7C+ range, and even flashed a 7B+. Surprised? Of course not.. I already know he's that good. But still being able to climb a hard 7A and another 7B+ the next day.. Oh man.. That's even better. I always appreciate his determination, and the way he turns the beast mode on during such times. Well done dude, way to go... 

Pinotage 7B+

This is an all time classic boulder. Just google it and watch videos of previous ascents. So beautiful. Unfortunately, it requires some fresh skin to hold on to the crimps and also some power to pull on the cross move with the sloper right heel hook. I could not even reach to the longish move to the gaston afterwards. But still, I tried it, liked it, and got psyched with it. 

In Retrospective

Let me start with the injury side of things. Interestingly, my right ring finger feels a lot healthier after the trip. During the trip, I used H-taping to support it, and tried to be careful on aggressive crimps. Towards the end of the trip, I can say that my overall finger health felt a lot better than it was before. I can't say it healed completely, but it just feels better. I can comment more on that once I do a set of max lifts. If the right hand strength is better than left, I can say that it's pretty good. Unfortunately, Ankara is very hot now, and I even don't want to move at all, yet alone do any training. 

In the middle of the trip, I had a bad knee injury. I was trying a 7A+ which I could not reach for a key crimp hold with my left hand. I tried to jump, but I could not dead hang that crimp, so I found a very high left heel hook instead. I tried that a couple of times, and I believe during my third and last try, a sound came from my left knee. It was a sound like a velcro opening. It was scary. I quickly jumped off the route and checked it... It wasn't hurting badly, but I was sure something was torn. 

I continued climbing that day avoiding left heel hooks. However, it obviously affected my walking, and it started to hurt even more towards evening. I knew that the damage would be clearer in the next morning I wake up. So, I just tried something that would not make it worse. In the nights, I iced it and massaged it with Reparil gel. In the morning, it was of course worse. I could not lean forward, and could not extend the knee fully. I already began to think of changing my plane ticket and leaving early. But then I texted Durukan Ture (Our physical therapy and rehabilitation expert), and he thankfully called back. He suspected some muscle tear behind the knee, and suggested to rest a few days, massage, ice and then carefully test it in climbs without left heel hooks. The next 5 days, I was supposed to work anyway, so I decided to stay and see how it goes. We also chatted with my friend Ugur Alkan about it since he had a similar knee injury last year. 

I can say that it is extremely hard to cope with the pessimism and frustration that settles on you after such an injury in such a trip. But here I was.. I hoped that maybe I could climb some more boulders which did not require left heel hooks. 

After going through some youtube videos and articles about common knee injuries, I think I had two things in combination: a muscle/tendon tear behind the knee, plus a partial tear in some of the ligaments surrounding the knee. Since the ligament pain was located to the inside of the knee, I think it could be the MCL ligament. This is a ligament that is pretty wide, and it connects the upper and lower bones of the knee structure. My thoughts are yet to be verified by an examination by a sports medicine expert. I already got an appointment upon returning home, and waiting for the day to come. 

A few seconds before I injured my knee
on Flat Foot 7A+ 

A full week after the injury, I could walk better, and I could even make some weak heel hooks on some problems. For the record: I climbed Human Energy 7A, Minki 7B, Finders Keeper 7A after the injury. All of them had some form of left heel hooks, but they were not like taking half of my body weight. They were more like the heel hooks which prevent the barn door effect. On the other hand, I would never try to push hard on anything like Weichei 7C+, Black Mango Chutney 7C+ or Sweet Potato 7B, since they both required quite high heel hooks which are supposed to support most of my body weight. 

Other than that, I had a bad fall on Crazy Leg 7A single move jump on the same day I injured my left knee. Apparently, one of the crashpads slid to the left, and when I fell from the jump, one of my wrists faced the bare flat rock. I think I was extremely lucky that I did not break it. It was bruised, had some pain on the outer palm during a week, and then it was okay. Lucky me. But that was a great lesson: always check the position of the crashpads before each try... These things do slide when they are placed on sloping and slippery surfaces. 

Let me talk about another bad fall situation that I witnessed during Musti's try on The skink 7B. This is a one move 7B dyno. When he fell from the move, his feet put some horizontal impact on the pads, and since the surface under the pads were slippery, the pads slipped, and suddenly a gap was formed in between them. He then hit his knee on this gap. He was again quite lucky that he did not retain any major injuries on this. Musti, however was not that lucky when he took a bad fall in Fields of Joy. Apparently, he was trying a 7A boulder, and was not planning to go further because he only had a small pad, and there were no spotters. He tried that boulder before, and could not do the moves in the beginning. But on that day, he could do those moves, and instead of calling for more pads and spotters, he decided to continue along. He then took a fall, and one of his feet landed on the pad, but the other one landed on a flat rock surface. 

At first, we could not know what the damage was exactly. It was a Friday, and apparently, the hospital in Clanwilliam could not do an X-ray on weekends and nights. Wow.. What? So he had to wait for Monday for an X-Ray. On Monday, he got an X-ray, but the diagnosis was still not certain. The radiologist thought that he broke his heel. After returning to Turkiye, he saw multiple doctors, and they all confirmed that he has broken his heel and would definitely need a surgery which would involve a titanium screw placement. He is now in Istanbul, and planning to have a surgery during next week. All the best wishes to you man. I know that you'll heal up pretty quickly and return to climbing even stronger. 

Zorbey also had a bad fall and twisted his ankle in the second week, and guess what? It was also in the Fields of Joy. I wasn't there, but apparently, there was a rock under the crashpad which caused uneven landing. His heel was on the stone, but his fore feet faced the hollow part, so his ankle was twisted forward. Luckily, he did not break anything, and he could slowly resume climbing after a week with some Leukotape - P support and a sky high motivation. During the last week of the trip, he was already crushing  7C+ problems stronger than ever. I simply cannot believe he started crawling to the rocks surrounding the camping during that week and then cleaned up some sick boulders and done some first ascents. What can I say, bro is just born with a creative mind. You can check videos of some of his feats here on his youtube channel including a nice video edit from this trip. 

As I was the last one to sneak in this strong crew with Musti's kind invitation and Efe's welcoming attitude, I believe I've tried to do my best about not standing on the way of anyone who are trying to achieve his goals. We had some days where we climbed as the whole crew of 6 people, but for most of the days, we climbed in two groups of 3. I think it's a lot easier to find the common ground in a group of 3, so, that separation was something natural. The only problem with that is, there are some high boulders which require all the pads in the world that you could throw at. For some of those, we simply did not try, or we tried to do the required planning. 

For me, in retrospective, I think I could still do better. First, in the day I injured my knee, I was not motivated to climb from the get go. I had a fairly good session two days before on Roadcrew, and I knew myself: I needed at least two days of rest after such a good session. But... On that day, Clanwilliam would have a planned power outage, so it would be harder to work. Plus, the ladder was with me, and if I did not go to climbing, the crew would climb without that ladder. I said.. Heck.. Let me just go and have a moderate day. Maybe only try some routes up to 7A. But man.. On such a place, you are surrounded with so many good boulders, there's no such thing like a moderate day. I started by trying Silky but Unnatural 7A+, and then tried Two Faces 7B+.. And then as the crew was trying that 7B+, I decided.. ok. Easy day, let me try the 7A+ to the right of it. And then the injury came. What can I say? There are things to be experienced, things to be learned... But the damage is done, and I think that would probably cost some weaker heel hooking within the following year, of course if I do not make it worse... 

Then, during the last weeks of the trip, when I began trying Lisa's Arete 7C+, it was also a hard decision to continue trying or just letting it go. I had to choose one. I tried it. Got better on it, but unfortunately, did not have the time to finish it. I am pretty sure that I could climb some other routes in 7A+ 7B+ range instead of trying it. But, that's life.. You just make a choice, and stay with it. I choose, I tried, and I do not regret it.. Ok, maybe I regret a little bit!... These choices are hard, so just go and choose your hard. 

Is Rocklands really Softlands?

I should first start by saying that I am the least experienced one in this crew to make a comment on that. Having said that, in my humble opinion, most of the classic problems are in Rocklands are graded within an accuracy of plus or minus one grade. You know, grading is always hard because there are strong and weak sides of climbers, there are good and bad conditions, and there are some climbers who operate on their best shape and some who could be a bit out of shape. And there are shorties and long climbers. There's dry skin, wet skin.. Endless variations and all those factors affect the feeling of difficulty. 

Ok, styles are different, but there's no comparison to Fontainebleau. Grades in Fonts are consistently harder, but Font is already well known for that, right? 

At the end of the day, I always try to comment about the grade I felt on a particular climb on my 8a.nu profile. Currently, while logging in my 8a.nu profile, I take the following approach: 

• If the boulder felt harder than its proposed grade, I log it as "Hard" but I accept its original grade. For example, Finders Keepers is 7A, but it felt a lot harder for me. So, I logged it as a Hard 7A, but in the description, I stated that it felt like a 7A+ for me. 
• If the boulder felt easier than its proposed grade, I log it with the grade that I exactly felt about it. For example, Tennis Biscuit is 7B+, but for me, it was harder than 7A+, but a bit easier than 7B, so I logged it as a Soft 7B. 
• If I use a knee pad, I state it in the comments. 

I am not saying that above approach is the one that should be taken. This is the one I choose. Any comments about this approach is welcome. 

The Bitter Part of it

The word bitter in the title “bitter-sweet introduction…” is all about South Africa and its history. It is with no question that these lands are a blessed part of the world. It is so beautiful. Looking at the history of the country, it looks like there were native Africans. Then, Cape Town was on the way to the only ocean route from Europe to Asia (since at those times, the Suez Canal did not exist). In 1652, the Dutch wanted to settle a recharging station in the Cape of Good Hope for the vessels. In 1975, British seized Cape Town during Napoleonic Wars, and then in 1806, the Dutch returned but British remained in control. In the end, the place was colonized first by Dutch, and then British.

When Cape Town was colonized, the indigenous Khoikhoi (Khoekhoe) and San peoples — who had lived in the region for thousands of years — were heavily affected. They lost their land, faced violent conflict, economic disruption, and labour exploitation. Additionally, their culture was effectively erased in the intent of “civilizing” their people.

Nelson Mandela came much later — he was born in 1918, long after the Dutch and British colonization of Cape Town and the displacement of the Khoikhoi. But by Mandela’s time, the damage from colonization was already deep and permanent. He fought against the system created by colonization, pushed for land and equality reforms, and he focused on reconciliation, not revenge. Many feared that after the fall of apartheid there would be violent retaliation against white South Africans — descendants of colonizers. Mandela chose truth and reconciliation over revenge, creating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to document apartheid crimes and promote healing.

Despite Nelson Mandela’s presidency, the effects of Dutch and British colonization are still clearly visible today. In the rich streets of Clanwilliam, houses consistently had large walls, and dogs barking to anyone walking across the street. Those houses belongs to the privileged people, and often the unprivileged ones were working as a service people. Waiters in restaurants work long hours with low wages. It is the bitter part to witness all these.. The story of South Africa maybe different, but the result is yet another display of income inequality around the world. Hard to burry your head in the sand.

But overall, regardless of color, especially in Clanwilliam, I found that there is kindness all around. When two people see each other in the streets, they always nod and say hello. So, it is what it is now. Centuries passed, and all the people found a way to settle things, and regardless of color, all people call themself “South Africans”.

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Leaving you with rest of the photos which tell our story: 

First climbing day, first steps into Plateau Sector with the crew. 

Warm up boulder in Plateau

Zorbey checking the moves on Model Robber 7A+

Working the start sequence on Model Robber 7A+

Working mid sequence on Model Robber 7A+

Musti working moves on Poison Dwarf 7B

Whole pads under Human Energy 7A

Scenery from Plateau Sector

Rainy and muddy roads was a thing of our first week

Esoterrorist 7A (flash)

Musti on Director's Cunt 7A+

Director's Cunt 7A+ Photo: Efe Alpman

Director's Cunt 7A+ 

Arch Valley Sector

Arch Valley

Efe, rocketing to the sloper pinch on Sex Etiquette 6C+ on his flash ascent.
This long move was too scary for me, so I gave up on that. 

Musti on Arch Valley 7A

Zorbey working moves on Man or Machine 7C

Övgün on Arch Valley 7A

Övgün and Efe eyeing Hole in One 7C+,
a one move dyno

Efe, almost sticking it in Hole in one 7C+

Övgün getting airy on Hole in one 7C+

And that's exactly how you fall when you don't catch it :)

Pure beauty. Rocklands is especially good after rain.
I mean, both the conditions and the colors.

The way from Clanwilliam to Rocklands

Heading to Roadcrew

Musti taking a break on the long 40 minutes walk to Road Crew

Musti looking like wtf, are we on Mars? 

Pure beauty all around..

In the Shadows 7A (flash)

Thinking about how to do the dyno on Hill Start 7A

Deciding to use the instant-upgrade formula: t-shirt off

Hill Start 7A

Musti also sticking the move right after me. Bro send!!!

Zorbey on High Ball test master piece: 
Tomorrow I will be Gone 7C

The crew ready for departing Roadcrew sector. Unfortunately, climbing in
Roadcrew is not allowed after 18:00, so you must get out before that time. 

Walking the path while exiting Roadcrew

On the way back, I came across young gun Nicholas Allan right after his ascent on
Spray of Light 8C. We did not know each other, but we now know after a
nice talk on the path :)

Efe on his quick send of Two Face 7B+ in 8 Day Rain

Zorbey getting ready to fly on the Skink 7B

Beautiful Spot on 8 Day Rain. Yosemite Slab 7A+ on 
the left, Lisa's Arete 7C+ and Todd's sloper 
Problem 7A on the right.

Erkin joined the crew some 10 days later. Right now, we are helping him to start from the right spot: Warmup boulder of course. Who would knew that he would become a crushing machine only after two weeks? Well I did :D

Erkin, easily flashing Joke of the day variation 6C 

Model Robber 7A+ by Klem Loskot. Really, how did he squeeze on this cramped low space at the start? 

Erkin on his flash ascent on Human Energy 7A

Human Energy 7A

Efe, feeling strong on Born into Struggle 7B+, quickly sending this one. 

Efe on his strong attempt on Throw Your Self Away 7C

Ovgun going the distance to the far sloper on Creeper 7C

Efe, sending Weichei 7C+ with a good style

Minki 7B - first session

Ovgun on the most weird descent I've ever seen in a boulder: Todd's sloper Problem 7A

Efe,  working hard on Golden Virginia 8A

Trying to find a heel hook on Silky but not Natural 7A+

Roadside on 8 day rain. The stones mark the area that you should not step in. The areas are reserved for rehabilitation. 

Musti trying hard on Tennis Biscuit 7B+

Ovgun, Efe and Erkin trying to warm up on Black Mango Chutney 7C+ as I join them a bit later. But wait, how do you warm up on a sharp and crimpy 7C+ (spoiler: you can't )

Erkin, trying to find a comfy place for his left heel on Black Mango Chutney 7C+

One of the trails in 8 day rain. 

Silky Natural 7A 

Erkin, cruising on Silky but Unnatural 7A+

Kliphuis camp site

Musti showing off his colors on a 6C boulder in Tea Garden

Zorbey checking holds on Tea Garden Roof 7C

My front-door friend in Clanwilliam

Efe, managing to stick the desperate right toe hook on a bad sloper in Finders Keepers 7A

Zorbey, refining his beta on Finders Keepers 7A

Finders keepers 7A

First session on Lisa's Arete 7C+

Walking after night session in 8 day rain

Got my first skin problem after trying Lisa's Arete 7C+

Apparently, this would become my go to solution for back pain in South Africa

Using the portable board from Metin Yilmaz (Sunclimbing)

Zorbey on his attempt on Slash and Burn 7B

Ovgun getting ready for the long jump on his project: Flying Guitar Thief 8A

Omg that that's a really long jump.. 

Finally doing the jump on Crazy Leg 7A - stand

Got more wounds because of trying Lisa's Arete. Looking back, I wonder why I chose such a sharp project...

Musti taking a rest after his accident, trying his new outfit: Moonwalker boot. 

Clanwilliam is arguably the place with most Stop Signs

And maybe the best flowers

The next day when we were heading to climbing, I saw Zorbey on the road lying under the car. I thought, well, this man became a true african cause he’s trying to keep away from the sun by sleeping under the car. But apparently, we had a flat tire that we needed to replace. Luckily Zorbey knew what to do, well after desperately trying to find out how to lower the spare tire on a Ford Ranger. 

Trying to give my best attempts on “Un petit hueco dans rocklands: 7B+” at my last day with wrecked skin and tired arms. 

On the way back, Musti trying to take a ride on the long way to the airport terminal, only realizing that the cart cannot make a turn when there is such weight on the front wheel.

Finally onboarding the plane which will take us home

... and getting happy when I see that my monstera gave birth to a brand new gorgeous  perforated leaf during this one month. 

--- end of story ---