Andy Mann is a professional photographer and film producer who has been working his way onto the rock-climbing scene in the last couple years. Last year, he nailed feature covers for Climbing and Urban Climber, produced the documentary film Rocky Mountain Highball, and was recently featured on at Momentum Video Magazine (momentumvm.com) for his work. Right now he is on photo assignment for Climbing, and for the next seven weeks will be living in the heart of the world's greatest bouldering destination, South Africa's Rocklands, with over a dozen of the world's best climbers.

The pieces are in place. Jet lag isn't even the word. Summer, Colorado  > nine-hour flight > London, England > eight-hour time difference > 10-hour layover > 12-hour flight > winter, Capetown: I get into the car on the opposite side, shifting gears with my left hand as I slide into rush-hour traffic, and drive north on the other side of the road.

No sleep. The only thing that could make it seem farther from home is the fact that I cannot recognize a single star in the sky as familiar. I am here in South Africa's Rocklands once again, this time as a photographer.

But let me back up first. I had an epic couple weeks leading into this. No shit; Sheyna and I pushed “The Station Weapon,” my badass Ford Escort Wagon (also known as "Puff the Tragic Wagon"), over Powder River Pass, Wyoming, in a whiteout blizzard. I had the gas floored and we were going about a half a mile an hour approaching the summit of the pass, when Sheyna jumped out in her flip-flops and single-handedly pushed us over the hump by inches. We would have been toast had the storm left over three feet on the pass. So, we coasted down into Ten Sleep Canyon, where we played in the rain, finding dry crags for over a week. Crazy, but overall, it was an amazing trip. We found miles upon miles of perfect limestone walls, and we didn’t see another climber until our final day. As we made the long drive back, I began to prepare myself for what was sure to become another amazing day at the office.