2022 Rocklands Rally Results

This past weekend, 5 to 7 August, saw dozens of climbers making the drive through to Rocklands in the Western Cape Cederberg for the 2022 Rocklands Rally and, just as promised, a lekker jol was had by all! 

The vibes started building in the De Pakhuys campsite from Friday evening’s registration, with everyone anticipating a cracker day on Saturday. 

The early start on 6 August was vastly improved with scrumptious, steaming roosterkoek baked fresh by a few Rocklands community members (something that also came very much in handy on Sunday morning). After registering all the competitors, we got a short and sweet competition briefing from event MC Chevaan Patience – and then it was go time!

This year’s Rally used the standard handicap scoring system that gives everyone a chance to win, but included a fun twist in the form of bonus tokens! Competitors had two options for earning tokens: 

(1) Head through to Traveller’s Rest and/or the Hen House at Alpha Excelsior and show some support to earn a 100 point token per R100 spent

(2) Climb one problem in each sector of a pre-set circuit, and hunt down the hidden CityROCK crew for a 300 point token.

This system saw three teams of psyched CityROCKers heading out to Campground, Plateau and Roadcrew to enjoy some climbing and hand out tokens to the few dedicated competitors that took on the circuit challenge. 

A somewhat unexpected maximum temperature of 26ºC got everyone sweating, and after a mega toasty day of sending, the crowds slowly started making their way back to De Pakhuys to submit scores and tokens, chow some nosh, and prep for the partytjie! Meanwhile, the CR crew whipped out the spreadsheets and got the stage set for prizegiving.

Finally, it was time to announce the winners! The energy was electric, with Chev’s banter getting us all in our giggles and the hardest working competitors of the day seeing their cranking pay off with some incredible prizes from Climbable, The North Face, Petzl, La Sportiva, Black Diamond, Traveller’s Rest and De Pakhuys. Unfortunately, no scorecards were submitted for the female Youth and Veteran categories – so if you are in one of those age groups next year, make sure to compete!

The official prize-giving was followed by some spontaneous spot-prize competitions, which included awards for the Worst Spotter, Best Dressed, Best (i.e. Most Disgusting) Flapper, Most Snacks Carried to the Crag, Longest Handstand… and a dance battle.

Once the day’s Rally work was done, the true festivities began with DJ Danx bringing down the house and transforming the crowd of exhausted climbers into a bunch of raving hooligans.

Finally, Sunday came along, bringing some drizzle and a much-needed rest day for the party animals. Those wanting to bring some life back to their broken bodies joined Kimberly Burger for a 60-minute restorative yoga class, after which the 2022 Rocklands Rally programme of events came to an end, leaving all of us frothing even harder for next year.

A big fat thank you to everyone who came through for the weekend, and a huge well done to the crushers that walked away with their well-deserved winnings. If you snapped any great pics or videos, remember to upload them to social media by Sunday 14 August with #RocklandsRally2022 in the caption and you could WIN a Metolius Session boulder pad!

Next up is the Montagu Rock Rally from 9 to 11 September – make sure to mark your calendars, grab your tickets here, and join us to see if we can make the next jam even bigger and better 😉