South Africa

Expectations – “a belief that someone will or should achieve something”

Mina and I had planned a trip to South Africa a year ago after watching a couple of videos of Sasha DiGuillian climbing Rolihlahla and Paige Claassen climbing Digital Warfare. They looked like world class routes in an incredible place. Both came in at a hefty 8b+ so it was a tall order even thinking of climbing both in one month but we could try and it would be fun trying together.

However, things don’t always work out the way you planned and a back injury for me put an instant stop to my hope of trying these routes. In the run up to the trip I had taken a step back from climbing, I had been very much on the outside looking in. I hadn’t been down the wall or out on the Peak limestone for months; instead I had been enjoying the fundamental reason why I got into climbing, being outdoors. Walking in the mountains with my parents, evening swimming in the sea and pottering around Sheffield enjoying the great British summer sunshine! Removing climbing and the constant drive to succeed allowed me to appreciate and see the other things around me. Instead of having tunnel vision of clipping chains or chasing the feeling of ticking something hard I was looking elsewhere, I was looking out the window.

I knew I had to go on this trip with no expectations but this is always easier said than done. I didn’t want to spent my time in South Africa frustrated and disappointed because I couldn’t climb hard. So instead of focusing on what I couldn’t do and what I had failed to achieve, I shifted my attention to what I could do and all the amazing experience I was having. I am incredibly privileged and lucky to live the life I do and I had one month in Africa, a country I had never visited, with some of my favourite people. So, in no particular order, these are some of my none climbing highlights of the trip:

1. Being outdoors

5 of us stayed in a little chalet at Tranquillitas Farm situated above top the crags. We basically only slept in these and the rest of the time we spent outside. Breakfast in the sunshine, followed by reading/ chilling, stretching then climbing all day and a BBQ to finish. It felt so good to spend all day everyday in the fresh air.

2. BBQ

Following on from the previous mention of BBQ, we ate amazing steaks most nights cooked over a fire.

3. Frogs

Most nights would be filled with the singing/croaking from the frogs who were chilling 200m away at a muddy pond. They were making incredibly loud noises for such small little guys. We were greeted by quite a few different frogs whilst in South Africa.

4. Storms

I have never seen such amazing lightening storms as the ones at Waterfall Boven. It says in the guide book once you hear the first crack of thunder you have 20min to get out of there or take shelter. One of our first climbing days was cut short by a massive thunder storm, we all filled up most of our phones and cameras with videos and photos of mainly nothing but occasionally an impressive lightening fork was captured.

Photo: Rob Greenwood

5. Safari

One of the highlights of my trip! It was absolutely amazing to see all these animal roaming around the national park. We were lucky enough to see the big five (buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino) along with giraffes, hippos, lots cool birds, monkeys and various breeds of antelope.

Photo: Charlie Woodburn

6. Stars

Most nights were clear and there was minimal light pollution so the night sky was beautiful.

Photo: Alex Haslehurst

7. Incredibly inventive nicknames conjured up over the month

Luckily everyone had a robust sense of humour as any sign of weakness shown usually ended up in a less than flattering nickname being thrown around.

8. Being tired

Having not climbed much before coming away I would say the majority of the trip was spent being tired. However extreme tiredness when shared with Mina often resulted in hilarity, ridiculous conversations and bullying Nick.

Less than impressed tired belaying in a sand storm. Photo: Alex haslehurst

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Anyway back to the climbing – the main reason why we were there. The valley is filled with beautiful red quartzite walls, the climbing style is reminiscent of trad rather than the limestone sport climbing style I am used to. Big features such as aretes, corners, cracks and grooves made me feel like I should be placing gear rather than clipping bolts. I found I had to drop my grade and was redpointing climbs I would normally onsight or at least attempt an onsight on. It took me a while to adjust to this but luckily Waterfall Boven plays host to five star routes from 6a – 8b+ so there was plenty to go at.

Photo: Rob Greenwood

We also spent a week in The Free State climbing at The Wow Prow. An impressive 25m high boulder perched on top of a hill. The orange rock is covered with pockets and beautiful dappled grey streaks. The line of the crag is ‘Digital Warfare’ that has just enough pockets to make it climbable; it is one of the most impressive climbs I have ever seen. It is a small crag with only about 10 routes on and I think it is fair to say we all got pretty shut down here! We had a great time though and I am really glad we put aside the time to go and check it out.

Photo: Rob Greenwood