interview with Scott Noy

Last updated on 14th September 2009

Scott Noy has been bouldering in Rocklands since 2002.  Since he arrived he has made it his mission to document the bouldering in Rocklands and has subsequently been producing an official guidebook for a number of years.While there is still no official publish date, I did get a peek at Scott's work-in-progress and it certainly is a master piece.

Scott was born in Cape Town and lived in Wellington for most of his childhood.  He studied Sports Science (BSc) at Stellenbosh University and it was here that he was introduced to the sport by two visiting climbers from the Elbsandstein in Germany.

Since then Scott has visited Rocklands annually.  In the early days the "Stellenbosh crew" would make the weekly pilgrim to the Kliphuis Campground to climb with the internationals visitors who generally stayed for the season.  The unique opportunity to climb with top climbers from abroad and the sense of exploration and discovery appealed to Scott.

Scott told me about the chance discovery of bouldering at De Pakhuys.  Apparently a friend of Klem Loskot had fallen ill and decided that he should recover at Connie's farm, Alpha Excelsior.  It was during his recovery that he went for a walk and subsquently developed 280 problems in 2 months!

I asked Scott what he thought about the future of Rocklands.  He said that that access is a very important issue for Rocklands as it is a World Heritage site with a very fragile eco-system.  The reality is that Rocklands is now an internationally recognised bouldering destination and communication between the public and the community which includes climbers, The Mountain Club of South Africa, Cape Nature, land owners and farmers is integral in ensuring that Rocklands is protected and responsibly enjoyed by all.   Scott also said that he was encouraged by the amount of development that is still taking place in Rocklands as this will lessen the impact to the environment by spreading the climbing.

As for the bouldering, he recognises that Rocklands is a world class destination because it offers the quantity, quality and variation of bouldering that will suit any style or grade.

So what does Scott love about Rocklands?  The freedom, the sense of exploration and development, the enjoyment one gets from sharing a camp fire with like-minded individuals, the opportunity to socialise with various cultures.  Rocklands is his 'happy place' where the hardest decision to be made is where he's going to climb today.

Favourite bouldering problem:  "Very hard to say but Maniac 7B at Fields of Joy has everything a good line should have".

Last but not least I asked Scott about the Rocklands guide book.  In 2006 Scott published a guidebook for Paarl rock climbing so this is not his first endeavour.  The Rocklands guidebook is his contribution to Rocklands and he would like it to communicate the history and culture of Rocklands as well as provide information on codes of conduct and access.  He hopes that it will inspire people not just provide information and that it will be a worldclass guidebook.  He has currently reached the crux namely, the raising of funding for its publication.

After Scott finished his Biological Anthropology (BSc) at the University of Cape Town last year, he spent 6 months climbing in Western America.  If it's the bouldering season in Rocklands you will most probably find Scott bouldering or chilling at the De Pakhuys campground.