Famous Boulder Gone Forever, Pushed Over on Purpose?

The Hatchling was a popular V11 found in Rocklands – the first climber to do it says it was likely trundled

Gripped August 23, 2024

The Hatchling V11 was one of the most iconic boulders found in South Africa’s Rocklands. It was first climbed in 2008 by Noah Kaufman. The big rock, which looked like a cracked egg teetering on a ledge, was popular with photographers. On Aug. 18, American climber Daniel Gajda reported online that the boulder had collapsed and that it was no longer in the location where it had been since the FA. There was immediate speculation in the community that the bloc had been pushed over.

Kaufmann initially said, “I think I knew that eventually someone would push it off the pedestal, but it’s still so sad to see, especially since I have friends who wanted to do it next season… I’m sure there’s video of the trundle somewhere, and I don’t really care who did it. It’s not like there’s a law against it, I mean, it’s a big rock in the middle of nowhere… It’s a pretty selfish act that’s kind of like chipping but in a way it’s much worse.”

Kaufmann later shared a message that was sent to him from a climber in Rocklands, that said, “Hi Noah. The Hatchling was for sure trundled! One or two nights before I saw the photos of the boulder in the floor for the first time I briefly interacted with a drunk/high French dude (or at least French speaker) at the Pakhuis bar. It was his second to last night and him and his friends left the bar ‘to throw down a boulder.'”

The conversation continued on Reddit with some saying that maybe it’s a good thing that it fell over (for the future safety of climbers) – read more here. Only the climbers present at the collapse of The Hatchling know for sure, but no matter what happened it’s always a bummer when a climb, iconic or not, disappears forever.