Measuring up to the first ascent of “Dog of Thunder” Grade30+A0 (5.13 A0) Blouberg North Wall, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Story and photos by Charles Edelstein

Blouberg North Wall is an impressive cliff, rising more than 1000 feet out of the African savanna – the so called Springbok flats. It faces north and is bathed in golden sunlight for most of the year. The climate is temperate and allows for year round climbing, often in near perfect conditions. One rarely runs foul of the weather here but summer electric storms can be very fearsome and exciting and heat waves can wilt even the most intrepid climber.

The sandstone rock is of excellent quality and lends itself to traditional gear placements but here and there bold sections with long run-outs favor the placement of the odd piece of fixed gear. Most of the cracks are horizontal rails that traverse the wall at regular intervals allowing for excellent nut and cam placements but vertical cracks and chimney cracks also wander up and provide homes to thousands of swifts.

Blouberg is a wild and remote place but very user-friendly for trad climbers.There are several other rock faces in the area which are mostly unclimbed; one of which is the nesting grounds of the endangered Cape Vulture.These creatures spend hours languidly floating on the thermals and frequently come up close to inspect climbers high up on the wall in the afternoon.

It is here that my challenge has become my nemesis. The main wall is more than a mile wide and it is steepest at the first section on the left (east) side. There are three blank sections on a bulging and then gently overhanging headwall. The cracks and rails that cicatrize the rest of the wall are deficient here, and the holds are thin and far apart. It is my 6^th attempt at finishing the route with various partners over the last 4 years. It is no mean feat to climb at Blouberg with first time visitors rarely managing to climb even one of the moderate routes. Without local knowledge Blouberg presents a serious challenge to all but the most experienced trad climbers. Even the walk in is complicated on poorly defined cattle trails. But once you are there it is an expansive place that captures ones soul and is the most compelling place to climb that I have ever encountered. It draws me back time after time to pit myself against its challenges. It is without equal.

Clinton Martinengo is presently South Africa’s best all round climber but has only become skilled at trad climbing over the last 5 years or so. His tick list of sport routes is un-equaled in South Africa and he has done some of the hardest trad first ascents. We first rappelled the wall 4 years ago to inspect the line. We went down with a drill as we knew that there were blank sections that would be impossible to protect with natural gear. In 2005 I returned with Tini Versveld, the architect of the world class route “Automatic for the People” on Milner Amphitheatre” and further worked the line and the moves but we were completely shut down on seemingly impossible moves. This year we have already returned twice, again with a drill and the experience of Tini Versveld and Tony Dick (veteran trad climber and alpinist) and the young rock-jock Marijus Smigelskis. Both Clint and Marijus are the best rated South African boulderers registered with 8A.NU. Both times we were spectacularly unsuccessful at linking the route despite Clint and Marijus managing to free all the hard moves between them.