Americans need some Rocklands beta...

[elwood54]

Hey guys,

Two New Yorkers and a guy from California are heading to Rocklands in a few months and could use some quick advice.

We'd like to leave out tents at home, and could use a recommendation on where to stay in Clanwilliam. I bought the new bouldering guidebook, and based on what I could find online it seems like Laughenis Guest Farm and Traveller's Rest are the cheapest indoor options. Can anyone provide any feedback?

Also, we're have a difficult time finding the sport climbing guidebook (to Rocklands) here in the States. Would we be able to find one in town?

Thanks so much,
Michael

[mokganjetsi]

he mike, i would recommend rather staying at de pakhuys - it is slap bang in the middle of the bouldering action (fantastic bouldering within easy walking distance) and a 5min drive up to the main rocklands areas; whereas clanwilliam is about a 20min drive. de pakhuys is also where most climbers stay and its always fun to hang out with the crowd there. camping and chalets available. just google it.

there is some sport route descriptions for rocklands on this site; but what you're really looking for is "western cape rock" : https://www.mountainmailorder.co.za/ind ... uctId=1982

i can also highly recommend a day trip or two to truitjieskraal for amazing sport climbing. the cederberg also has some world class trad venues (wolfberg & tafelberg). check it out.

good luck!
mok

[Xenomorph]

www.cityrock.co.za has many copies of the book you seek, I could organise one for you! :-)

[Warren G]

pak huis has stock of the book. think klein kliphuis has accommodation available- not sure if the rooms in pak huis are free. KKH is still fairly in the thick of things. would rather stay in KKH or PH than town as the drive could get tedious. PK is very busy, so if you want more company then the 3 of you i would stay there, there is a pub etc and about 100 people on the wknds

[elwood54]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I have just booked an accommodation at De Pakhuys. We were also planning on renting crash pads from them, so it seemed to make the most sense.

We will be there for about a week, and then head to Cape Town for a couple of days before flying up to Waterval Boven for a few days before heading back home. It seems like we will be able to buy a sport climbing guidebook at Pakhuys, so we'll hold off on getting that here in the States.

mokganjetsi: we will look into the sport climbing at truitjieskraal...but we're going to leave our trad racks at home - we are trying to travel light on this trip!

Anything else that we should know before heading over?

Thanks again,
Mike

[Nic Le Maitre]

The sport climbing at Rocklands is fantastic, almost all the routes are 5 star but there are not that many routes, the bolters have cherry picked lines and left the rest. I'd recommend spending most of your time bouldering.

It would totally be worth your while to check out the climbing at Truitjieskraal, it really is fantastic.

It is perfectly possible to drive from Rocklands to Truitjieskraal (about 90 min drive), spend half a day there and then drive back to Cape Town. Especially if you drive back to Cape Town via Ceres (about 4.5 hours, including the 3 hours on gravel). The road is gravel until just before Ceres, but it is usually in good condition and it won't take much longer than the other route and you will get the chance to ogle the miles and miles of spectacular unclimbed sandstone cliffs.

Enjoy SA

[paddy]

and about a zillion boulders (would that be overstating it?)

[mokganjetsi]

the boulder pad rental at de pakhuys is dirt cheap at only R10 (USD1.50) per day. the pads there are "left behinds" and donations so they are unfortunately not in the best shape (but still functional) and given the low rental rates they are in great demand. may be worthwhile to bring just one or two of your own pads in case you have to qeue up for the rentals.

ps: all pad rental income is donated to a local community school

[Chris F]

and about a zillion boulders (would that be overstating it?)

Give or take a squillion or two I think that's pretty accurate.

[Chris F]

Anything else that we should know before heading over?

Yes, you aren't staying for long enough and will want to change your return flights!

[shorti]

Going to the Cedarberg without your trad rack is like taking a date to a wedding...

[paddy]

[quote="shorti"]Going to the Cedarberg without your trad rack is like taking a date to a wedding...[/quote]

Could be fairly spicy if you took your bride as well.

[Turtle]

Not only can you buy all the guidebooks you need from CityROCK, but we also rent out some decent pads as well.
http://www.cityrock.co.za/

[johannlanz]

Just note that in terms of sport routes at Rocklands, the Western Cape Rock guide does not have the latest information. So download the pdf topos from the route wiki on this site, which will supplement the book by providing additional, newer crags and routes.

[elwood54]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Turtle - I do not see prices listed for crash pads? I'm not sure if our rental car will be large enough to store the three of us, plus pads, but it is an interesting option.

johannlanz - Thanks, we will make sure to print out any relevant topos.

We're going to be there in a couple of weeks...does anyone know what temps we can expect?

Thanks again,
Mike

[andrew p]

I am no expert on rocklands but I think I am right in saying it will be warming up now. Winter will be over by mid Sept. Probably not ideal but atleast the crowds have mostly gone and in the morning and in evening you will get some nice temps.