Sit down start. Tiny diagonal finger crack rising from right to left. Bad feet. Reach, Bump, Core up! This is my current, open, boulder project in Oukaimeden in the Colony sector. This problem looks easy and stays pretty low to the ground but the moves are hard. This is the boulder project that currently consumes my mind. I day dream about it. Hovering inches off the ground, thin mountain air, clouds sailing by. The problem is, I am currently 4,000 miles away in Virginia, USA.
I am sitting in a comfortable, air conditioned coffee shop, watching cars drive by a heavily trafficked McDonalds, dreaming of bouldering in Oukaimeden. This bouldering area in the High Atlas of Morocco has become one of my favorite places to climb…to be. So quiet and peaceful. So much bouldering potential. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy to be back in the States for a little while. My family is enjoying a much needed break catching up with good friends and family while Marrakech is baking in 110 degrees Fahrenheit. But I can’t help but day dream about MY open project sitting and waiting for me to chalk up and try again. I have worked the moves in my mind countless times recently, trying to figure out the key that unlocks the problem. I continue to work out hard on the pull up bar in my parents basement. I am trying to figure out how to squeeze a trip to the local climbing gym in my busy schedule. Yet still, I dream.
There is something inside of me as a climber that is so enticed and addicted to developing new bouldering areas. Climbing on something new, cleaning it, figuring out the moves. I’m drawn to creative exploration. And a real part of my dream is that one day, MY boulder project (hopefully soon to be sent) will become someone else’s project. There is too much amazing rock to boulder in Oukaimeden to continue to be overlooked by the climbing community. I know there have been a few groups from Spain and France that have explored this area. I haven’t been to Rocklands in South Africa yet and hope to boulder there one day. In the mean time, there is some fantastic bouldering in North Africa too, namely, Oukaimeden, Morocco and I live in Marrakech with direct access to this beautiful mountain paradise. I will be back soon, working the moves, pulling hard, figuring out that final move, discovering the needed foot hold that will unlock the project. Soon I will return to MY project. But right now I am 4,000 miles away, dreaming.
Good friend from the Mountain People, James Kniffen working the start on Open Project in the Colony, High Atlas, Oukaimeden, Morocco
Group of friends bouldering together in the Colony, working on open project.
