There was a blue sky and we had a few days of dry weather so it seemed like a good idea to head out. With other things to get done Lou and I didn’t want to be out too long so we plumped for Smith’s Beach, due to its easy access and short walk-in. On arrival at the car park I noticed that the swell was up and thought it may be a bit wet in the zawn……………..
Sure enough when we got there the swell was creating waves that headed straight into the zawn swamping the bottom half like I have not seen it before. The right wall with the easier lines that I was hoping to jump was sodden:
Unperturbed we were still keen to jump on rock, then I realised that I had left my shoes at home so I squeezed into Lou’s shoes (only one size down) and jumped on lead. I got a bit unnerved on the first lead what with the wet rock and extremely atmospheric conditions, so ended up off line and onto a climb with a horrendously slopey and reachy top out. I bottled out and escaped right, but I didn’t let Lou off that lightly:
After one line of soppy rock, but with the great friction Smiths offers we were eager for more so we jumped onto one of the crag classics – the line I intended for the first lead. The waves came in sets and some were enormous and poor Lou got a bit wet while belaying me, but don’t stress we were sensible and made sure we were both anchored in at all times:
Strangely for short periods the ocean seemed to calm down and the zawn for a while was not covered with white water, but it never lasted lie that for long and the sound of the waves was relentless:
For the final climb we decided to head further up the zawn away from the treacherous waves up a direct, rounded crack that offers plenty of friction holds with technical balancy moves. This side was fortunately in the sun so wasn’t quite as wet. A perfect climb for a day like today and a great pitch to finish our quick morning climb:
As is the norm when climbing at Smiths, with it abrasive rock and need for jamming we both left a bit of bark behind on the routes. But we walked out with big smiles on our faces thankful for yet another great experience:
Sandbagged 