Whaleback Boulders

On Saturday I headed with Kym to Whaleback Boulders. I’d been there many years back with Craig and the wave washed shelf on which the boulders sat was wet, as was the rock. So we didn’t enjoy the place too much and I never really thought to go back. On this trip we parked away from the bouldering area due to the track having been churned up too much, but it was only a short rock hop along the coast to get there:

Today, while the rock pools still had water in them, the shelf was high and dry and the rock was also in perfect condition. It’s a place with slopers and smears so the rock condition is critical, and we really couldn’t have picked a better day. We warmed up on a few easier problems to get used to the rock and style. Kym has been here a few times so I was following his lead and we started on two V1s next to each other called Supplies! and Dolphinius:

We then moved just round the other side of the same boulder to try out a V2 and V3 called Bacon Balls and Slippery Crab. The V3 is one of Kym’s favourite, which he is one in the image below, and as the name suggests is full of slopers but also requires real body tension techniques to maximise the holds. I tried this one numerous times but kept failing only making it two thirds of the way up:

Then it was onto an unnamed V4 that is a one move wonder but man it is a big move, Kym made it look so easy throwing up and catching the magic hold first time. I tried over and over but kept falling short of that hold and much as I shouldn’t I am putting it down to Kym’s extra 4 inches of reach. Knowing full well it all came down to my technique simply not being up to scratch:

Before we got too tired Kym recommended the classic V3 named A Crab Called Wanda (Direct). A juggy traverse leads to an imposing hanging arête on which there is a small flake and a somewhat rounded top out. It was one for which I needed to spot Kym so unfortunately no action shots to show the exposure of this route:

I was stoked to get this one with only two attempts. It felt as highball as I wanted to go and it really focused the mind as you balanced on the arête reaching up for the last slopey holds. Fortunately as the hand holds got more slopey some good edges came for your feet, I breathed a very big sigh of relief as I pulled over the top:

It was then time to get really silly starting with this nasty V8 finger crack called Claw of the Crab. Needless to say we didn’t get it, and Kym at least managed to get his feet onto the break at which his right hand is at. After that it was hard to figure out what to do next, the crack gave a wicked finger lock but the thought of falling on it was worrying:

So being shut down by a V8 there is of course only one thing to do – jump on a slightly easier problem. So we aimed for Bad Boys at V7! Even getting the first moves was nuts, then there was this crazy reach/lunge out left from a horrible sloper to a better hold which Kym manage to get. The image indicates he is jumping from the ground, but that is not the case and I didn’t even get close. After that move it was too hard to hold on so the next sequence is yet to be discovered by Kym (and probably never by me):

There is a route that Kym had never tried yet so he was keen to try a real slab route so we went on the The Long Road Home at V3. The holds were small but with just enough edge on them to get purchase but the bottom was bulging out making it tricky to get your feet up:

As some of you know slabs are my thing, I do enjoy the technical and delicate climbing. So in this instance I was able to work the moves first and once the feet get onto the slab proper the game was all over but being as high as it was the top still required a cool head. It seems from checking out the mini-guide while I write this, that we took a more direct line to finish rather than the obvious crack to the left:

Kym was persistent and managed to bag another great line. Meanwhile I was really starting to appreciate how great a playground this place was if you get the right conditions:

The only bad thing today was when you got close to any of the shady cave like places in which thousands of bugs were keeping cool. If you looked closely it looked like the wall was alive, and if you go to close it exploded onto you which could be a bit off-putting. Fortunately very few lines got even close to these places:

After the glory moment on the slab I was all fired up to try that elusive slopey Slippery Crab and with a bit more understanding of the rock managed to get it. Better still I did it in great style all in a controlled way with no snatches, and it felt very good. I also tried to bag the unnamed one move wonder V4, but still kept falling short:

We still had some go in us so we finished off on a couple of V1s one called Holey Moley and the other is unnamed. They were great fun, and the unnamed one had us foxed for a quite some time but in the end we worked it out. As we were slipping off small slopers before bagging it, what was left of our fingertips were crying out in pain and advising us to call it a day:

So after a great and hugely successful morning we rock hoped back to the car ready for a short drive back to Kym’s. There we had a very welcome cup of tea and tasty cookies freshly baked by Kym’s girls just that morning:

Something tells me I will head back down to Whaleback again one day