Yellowwood, Newborn - Journey Journal

Objective

Sleep on a wall. Climbing for breakfast. It must be big.

Crew

Sarel Janse van Rensburg, Alex Bester, Wesley Black, and yours truly.

Location

Tucked away in the Du Toit's Kloof mountain pass (Western Cape) is the alluring Yellowwood Amphitheatre. She offers an enticing 250 metres of protected climbing up solid sandstone and has given traditional climbers a good run for their money since the 1950s. Between the myriad lines that follow the natural weaknesses of this formidable wall is a single row of shiny bolts extending all the way up to the tippy top. This is Newborn. It is hard, steep, has a halfway ledge and is possibly the best modern multi-pitch sport route in the country.

Conditions

It is January 2016 and the Cape has all but melted with temperatures reaching well into the 40s. The cliff is north-facing and starts to bake in the sun from about midday, however the erratic south-easter ultimately decides the day and can cause conditions to pale.

Ok, so I guess I just need some sunscreen, a hat, sleeping bag, and maybe some warm socks to help with morale if the conditions turn baltic. Cool.

Water Availability

Yellowwood does provide her visitors with a natural hydration option by means of a drip located near the base. This is seasonal (winter rainfall) and with the current dry spell it is safe to assume that the last drop has dripped.

Approach

Okay so sleep at the base, climb for breakfast, sleep on the wall, repeat.

Great.

Motivated?

Yes!

THE MISSION

A few days before we were to start up the scree in earnest, a quick three-man mission in a sweltering 36 degrees saw 40 litres of water deposited at the base. Go team!

Special mention has to go to the last-minute addition of a helping hand to team Aquarius - Javier from Mexico.

Funny story actually.

Flying solo and curious to see what South African climbing has to offer, Javier made his way to Cape Town - where we were based at the time. South Africa has a small climbing community and it did not take Javier long to get hooked up with his ilk. It went along these lines:

On Saturday around midnight and in the middle of packing chaos Alex received a phone call. I heard him convey our mission for the next couple of days in nonchalant bullet point format and afterward turned to announce, "we have a Mexican psyched to climb in Montagu, I told him to send me his location and we can pick him up tomorrow on the way."

With Alex's Corsa bakkie now hauling three big boys, with big-boy legs, I headed straight for camp in Montagu to put some 'post-workout' on ice. When the guys arrived from operation water drop I had barely introduced myself to our newest member before it came to light that there had been somewhat of a misunderstanding.

Following the phone call to Alex the previous evening, Javier jotted down something like: Yellowwood tomorrow, quick up-down, traditional climbing area, possible mission to Montagu sometime later. With all his belongings on his back and ready to hike up to Yellowwood and go trad climbing for the day, Javier discovered the true agenda. His quick excursion had now morphed into a week long dirt bagging trip, with nothing but the clothes on his back and trad gear for protection. Javier (or 'Gawie' as he came to be known) was sure in for a fun week of sport climbing with the Klein Pretoria crew.

Montagu

With hundreds of sport climbing routes on the solid Cape Fold Belt, Montagu has something for everyone. When word got out that we are heading here our Cape Town friends did not need much persuasion to navigate 200km east and join in for a week of climbing and catching up. Gawie was in luck - all friends come with benefits and in his case this meant camping gear.

While we had a great time cragging around the klowe of Montagu our minds were all squarely fixed on that golden amphitheatre waiting for us in the Du Toitskloof. Climbing wise, we knew little of what lay ahead for us and we couldn't help ourselves from comparing all kinds of hypotheticals we may encounter when tackling the airy pitches of Newborn to what was in front of us. "Imagine", was the word of the week and was used in every possible scenario. A great 'big wall conditioning' tip from Alex was to stay in your climbing shoes for an extended period after each climb.

THE CLIMB

Newborn pappie!

30 January

Day 1:

The big day dawned, and then continued for a bit until it was decided. A late afternoon hike up to the base will see us spend the night to have an early start the next morning. From here on out it was head down and as Joe Dirt would say, "keep on keepin' on". Once we arrived at the base, headlamps and coffee were the first order of business, which was followed by a hasty dinner and plenty of pillow talk – minus the pillow of course.

Day 2:

Sleep was fitful as we were all riddled with nervous energy and before the first bird could even think of chirping we were up and swinging into action.

Sarel and I were tasked with the first shift and we got through the initial pitches in good style while below Alex and Wes were getting some 'on the job' experience in the art of hauling gear (and how best to retrieve dropped items).

It took about three pitches before I finally felt awake. Climbing for breakfast. Having the slumbering mind wake up to the leading of the responsive body sets the perfect state for pure climbing. It is possibly the "cheat code" to absolute climbing joy. The standard safety checks were done on the ground. No mental capacity is spent on overthinking, second-guessing, or what-ifs. It's just climbing. All the while the crisp air floats all manner of delicate sounds and smells – what a place to be.

We arrived at the ledge shortly after lunch, all quite keen to take refuge from the growing intensity of the sun. The ledge was the perfect size for a huddle of four and as the sun warmed the surrounding rock it also became the perfect microwave oven. The tarp system needed to be deployed at once!

Ledge life may have been hot, but that couldn't stop us from feeling like the coolest kids on the block. We were stuck here for the rest of the day and that was just perfect. Having invested quite a bit of effort into the water provisions each throaty gulp of that sweet nectar was met with great enthusiasm and satisfaction. The air was still and the day calm. The lack of a breeze soon elevated the tarp system to a kind of sauna which may have been the reason our conversations began taking a more creative turn as the afternoon wore on.

As the afternoon gave way to evening we began to arrange ourselves along the ledge, finding comfort in whatever way we could. It was now close to sunset and just one pitch above us the crux pitch loomed large in all its golden glory. All that time spent speculating about this one particular section of the wall seemed so far away now that it was time to get down to business. The sun had almost made it to the western horizon but before lights-out the crux pitch was surveyed and prepped for the next day.

Day 3:

Best night of sleep ever! So good that we all overslept. The plan was to be on the wall as early as possible, but hey, coffee first. The tranquillity of this beautiful morning was just sublime and with the added promise of some cloud cover creeping we figured, "What's the rush?" A second cup of joe was of course the natural next step.

Once all the gear was packed and ready to haul it was time to climb one pitch up and get everybody into position. The second day of climbing was in the hands – and feet – of Alex & Wesley while Sarel & I were to follow with the gear and remaining water. Fixing a rope from which I could dangle formed part of the previous day's prepping so all I had to do now was get up it and wait for the crux pitch action to unfold beneath me.

Trading turns on the pointy end of the rope Alex and Wesley threw themselves at Newborn's crux. There were close calls between them and it was on Wesley's second go that he stood tall and committed fully to latch the hold (image above). Access granted and up we go!

From this point it took us about seven hours of climbing, bird watching, jumaring, cheering, and hauling to reach the top. A detour back down to the halfway ledge in order to retrieve my seemingly suicidal lens cap really helped reinforce the perfect absurdity of being in a a two dimensional universe. You gotta go up, to go down, to go up, only to go down.

I was the last to top out and after finding my feet on solid ground I only had to follow the trail of discarded harnesses and climbing gear to find some team high-fives and an already rigged shady chill spot - that's why I always call Alex.

Team send of Newborn.

Special thanks to the dear friends who made this not only extra special but possible: Theresa & Ryan de Jager, Nico Venter, Elzanne Janse van Rensburg, Niel de Lange and Gawie! And yes, Gawie did get his trad on at Yellowwood Amphitheater. He was joined by Niel and they had an epic adventure, worthy of another writeup.