It has been a long while since I have written a bit of an outdoor climbing email, so I thought it was about time I did and the only way to do that is to get out and climb. My last weekend climb was six weeks back and on that fateful trip I hit a roo, so I didn’t have the same keenness to document that trip.
So to remedy my long silence Lou and I decided to head out for an afternoon climb yesterday, and it was also to be the first time I would catch up with Glen. However, the forecast was looking a bit dicey and that morning the weather was on and off pants. As I drove to Busselton the rain came down hard and it was liking iffy. Lou pulled the pin so I went to see Glen, as we checked out his woody the rain was coming down hard on the roof and we almost resigned to having to boulder in the shed. That was until Kym sent me this text and we decided to go for it:
With a positive mind we drove down and while the rain came down here and there it certainly looked like we may be able to squeeze a climb or two in. Glen hasn’t done a huge amount of trad leading but is keen, has some gear and is heading to Arapiles in a week’s time to meet up with Leigh. So being possibly wet we plumped for Moses where the routes are a shorter but the friction and gear (on the lower grade routes) is more plentiful:
We were sand blasted as we walked along the beach all rugged up. With a strong northerly that made us lean forward as the trudged onwards. There were blue patches in the shy interwoven with dark looming clouds, and the ocean was pretty wild. Those who know the place will realise that with rough seas the rock can feel very greasy with the salt spray and that was a risk we took:
Due the northerly we started on the first buttress that was shielded from the wind. We had heard from Kym that it had rained down here almost every day last week and that had washed any remnants of salt from the rock, That with the strong wind provided us with the perfect conditions. To boot as Glen set off on his first lead at Moses rocks the sky above was a wonderful blue and the sun was out – it was T shirt weather!
I was keen to throw Glen on Hathersage a great grade 15 (VS 4c), but decided to start a bit slower and plumped for Stanage Youth at 13 (VS 4a/b). He did a fine job and soon learnt the great friction that Moses has to offer on these rare days of perfect conditions. The gear was a another story. While he found great placements, the outwardly flared nature of many of the cracks was a tad disconcerting and made him think long and hard at each placement:
It was a real weird day and as he was setting up the belay I took a peak to see what the northerly was brining, it didn’t look good. Basked in brilliant sunshine and watching the marching army of dark clouds making their hasty way towards us made me think we made the right choice with Moses, short routes and easy to make a run for it if we needed to:
Next up I decided to send Glen up a lower grade route that had more plentiful and probably slightly easier to find gear. So it was time for a bit of Easy Listening 8 (severe), he certainly chewed up the first half of the route until the ledge with well-spaced and solid gear. The T-shirts were still out but I was mindful of the clouds rolling in, that Glen was oblivious too:
The top of this climb which should go straight up had him baffled, as all the holds slope and the wrong way and the flared cracks made the placements seem less than secure. So he slowly drifted with the slope and ended up finishing up the fun chimney of Drop the Donk at the same grade:
Before leaving the northern end I couldn’t resist and jumped on Hathersage. This was the first climb in WA that I attempted, the only thing that held me back being that I was by myself and soloing and the top headwall is a tad thin and exposed. It’s a great climb full of character and is also named after a little village in the heart of the Peak District, the home of gritstone, where I have spent many weekends camping out and climbing. Glen had no problem on second and I think he will be back sometime to try his luck on lead:
We then decided to head to the main Hand’s Up Wall for some longer routes. As we walked along the cliff the wind hit us and we stared at the looming rain that was quickly approaching. So we doled up in a crevice and allowed it to pass, which didn’t take long. The best bit about the winds that day was a few minutes after the shower the rock was back to being bone dry, so with the next patch of blue sky we jumped onto one of the crag classics:
Wheely Things 15 (VS 4c) is an awesome jamming crack and if you don’t jam the grade goes up considerably. I was super impressed as Glen walked past the start which usually throws people off guard, but the next bulge had him worried so it took a bit of time and a rest before he finally managed to make progress and get over it. The only down side of the climb being that there is an escape at two thirds height to avoid the final steepening section, which is where he is at in the image below and he gladly took:
As we came back down a rainbow started to form over Wilyabrup, but I doubt there was anyone climbing there to get wet. Despite the temperature feeling like it was dropping we still seemed to have a fair amount of blue sky to make use of, so we went for one final line:
I decided on the roundest and most flared crack on the wall, Hands Up which is another 15 (VS 4c). Glen had not seen tri-cams before and so this was the perfect climb to show their true versatility, they can be used where no other gear will do such as on this climb. It’s normally a nervous lead but with all the saltiness washed away the friction was good and it was a fun walk in the park. Following up I think this may be another line that he’ll have his eye on for his next trip to Moses:
As we both topped out something was telling us that our time of dry conditions was running out so we packed up our still dry gear and wandered back out. This time with the wind on our back we didn’t have the strong of the sand and the slog through ‘the sand with a pack on seemed much more pleasant than it normally does after a climbing session:
As we reached the final dunes the rain caught up with us, not too hard but enough to let us know we had made the right decisions. It’s always great to catch those unexpected great days out on rock, which we wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the local knowledge and encouragement of Kym, so thanks Kym and Lou we both reckon you lucked out:
While it was a fun climb we also spent a fait bit of time watching the sky, ocean and landscape rapidly changing with the unsettled weather. So much so that I took more images of the that than us climbing, so here to finish are a last couple that I particularly like:
Thanks for reading, and don’t be put off getting outdoor just because it feels like winter as hit.
Sandbagged 