Welly Dam Quarry the mini-guide

Yes I have been out again – well I am on holiday! In fact I have made a few quick couple of hour visits up to this place during the week both solo top roping and meeting up with others. Being only a short 45min away and being able to practically park at the base of the climbs it is a good place to cram a few routes in.

So yesterday was my third trip here this week and I met up with Dennis, Pierric, Lou and Jen for a longer session. I was keen to get them all to lead (not Jen as she is still just getting into it) so didn’t think I would get too much done myself. How wrong could I be and in fact everyone did heaps, so today I have this very satisfying achy feel in my muscles.

I haven’t given grades for the climbs named below but if you are keen to find out more have a look-see at the on-line guide to for Welling Dam Quarry:

I pointed everyone towards the easier warm up climbs, as they hadn’t had a lot of leading experience yet. Dennis started up the standard warm up, but very good Welcome to Edges:

I went up A Walk in Central Park to set up a top rope. It is a great climb that may spit you off at any stage and that is how it got its name as you never know when you are going to be mugged in Central Park! Rather than seconding the lines Dennis and Pierric pulled the rope through so they could both lead each line (I like their style):

While waiting to jump on Welcome to Edges for a lead myself I explored the local flora and found a little patch of mushrooms. Not much else but grass and weeds but there were some beautiful vivid blue Variegated Fairy Wrens (who were too fast for me to get an image of):

Next the boys jumped on Pocket Knife, one of the newest climbs at the quarry and one that certainly messes with your head with a couple of tricky sections. This time we got to see a few lead falls:

Meanwhile it was Lou’s turn to jump on Welcome to Edges. I have to say she whinged all the way up it but did eventually get there. Interestingly Lou seems to be more comfortable with trad than bolts, which makes sense as you never know how well the bolts have been placed and what condition they are in inside the rock:

Jen did well having a bash at every route that was led, and making great progress on all of them. Most of the climbs were in good condition and dried out after our wet August and September, but some were still running with seepage:

I then jumped onto Shock Therapy, a harder line that I am a tad scared of and usually avoid doing. However, it was a breeze and I walked it much to my surprise. Naughty me forgot to put my helmet on for this lead and I am showing off my shiny bald patch (I knew there was a good reason to wear a helmet):

Pierric is at the crux moves of Pocket Knife here and holding onto a one finger edge with his left hand, which he promptly pulled off! He was still able to get up OK but the big question was did it make it any harder:

Here is the elusive hold that is no longer on your route Chris. I went up it after the boys and managed it fine. I don’t think it has changed it too much and it still feel all wrong at that spot:

Lou was not impressed with me making it look all too easy so wanted to watch me try Attack of the March Flies. A great steep, technical and pumpy line. I’m at the second crux in this image and fell so many times I lost count before I finally managed it. Then in the top section I did a fair bit of yo-yoing getting extremely pumped trying the direct finish, before I finally bottled out and took the slightly easier left variant to clip and pass the last bolt:

I was on this route so long and for occasions the rope didn’t move a lot, so a Ring Necked Parrot decided to use it as a perch. It also looks like Dennis was getting a sore neck, so I must have been there a long time:

By now everyone was getting a bit tired so we decided to go for the last couple of lines. Murky Corner was an obvious choice being not too hard so it was doable to finish on a win but challenging enough to make the boy think:

While Murky Corner got a work out I ran up Ebony Road, to give them something a little more challenging to top rope. It was fun listening to Lou once again complain her way up the route but eventually getting there:

Thanks guys for a great day out