Today I headed out with Steve and Leanne to Moses Rocks for a relaxed climb. It’s the place that I first climbed in WA and has a gritstone feel to it, which I like. The routes are plentiful but many are short, so we headed to Hands Up wall which provide some of the longer lines. We weren’t chasing the numbers so aimed at the easy but fun cracks, and there is Steve getting the ball rolling Gothic Streak 15 (HS 4b). It was still a bit damp but there’s nothing like a slippery hold to focus the mind:
I had checked the tides and swell the day before to check our options of where to go. High tide was at 11’ish and the swell was a couple of meters so not too bad. The sea behind, as Steve mounts the hanging headwall, is deceiving and the conditions did limit our options as the other easier crags are that bit closer to the sea and there was more chance of getting a bit wet:
Without warning a wave or two would come in that would send a spray high in the sky. Fortunately with a light seaward breeze we were not coated in a salty sea spray, which happen quite often at Moses:
Most of my recent climbing trips have been to sport crags, so today we were all keen to get some trad gear in and to up-the-anti we decided we could only use tricams. On other days we say just wires, or wires and hexes but strangely we never have a day of just climbing on cams. It was Chris who put us onto these delightful bits of gear, they are very versatile and can be used as bot active and passive gear. They suits Moses really well, with the rounded and often flared cracks in which other gear can be hard to place:
Steve was so taken by these that he went out and bought himself the full range (and multiple thereof) including the big mama sizes. They can be a bit tricky to get out while on second at times, but today there was no problem probably because the cracks are all so open and don’t close in:
I took second lead on Hands Up, another 15 (HS 4b). This one has an even more rounded and flared crack and every time I lead this there are moments on it that make me stop and think. That might be because I tend to stick to the crack and avoid searching too far left or right for those occasional face holds that help the climb maintain the grade. It’s the first time I had used tricams on this climb and was pleasantly surprised at how much better the placement felt compared to using other passive and active gear:
Steve was like a kid in a candy shop loving not only placing the tricams but getting all excited about my placements too. They can look a little disconcerting in a crack that flares as much as this one did so he decided to test a few placements only to find they didn’t budge, and still popped out a treat with the simple tap of a nut key:
The rules of the day were not limited to using tricams to protecting the routes but also the belays. I was quite taken but this setup, so much so it deserved a photo:
While Steve and I had fun on the routes secretly Leanne was trying her had at placing these magical bits of gear. So when we got down it looked a bit like Christmas time with colours tinsel dotted there and there:
On the next climb Steve broke the rule of the day and not only did he use tricams but also two carrot bolts. There is a somehow cam placement near the first bolt but nothing above that until the headwall but the crack is too shallow to take a tricam (and why I know that is another story). So on the basis that without the bolts it would have been pretty well a solo all was forgiven on this sterling lead of Johnny Fartpants 18 (HVS 5a):
Here Leanne is following Steve and the prominent crack to the left is called Wheely Things 15 (HS 4b). This absolute pearler of a hand jam crack is a 3 star classic and was the climb I finished our morning out on. It does have crimps and edges but I tried my best to stick to jamming all the way up (failing at two locations), why you may ask – well I might be lucky enough to get to Frog Buttress in Queensland which is the home of jam cracks so I thought I would get a bit of practise in. Just to make myself work that little bit more I also well and truly stitched it up by placing 10 tricams:
Hope you are all placing some trad gear in and not just clipping bolts
Sandbagged 