Now once a week it is quite normal for me to set the alarm and be out of the house heading to Welly Dam for the almost weekly training session. However, that happened on Wednesday this week when Rongy, Alana and I went there and today was Saturday. So after a night of noisy neighbours with barking dogs, slamming car doors and loud chatter at about 11’ish and then 1’ish I woke up surprisingly fresh and even beat the alarm. The drive out of Peppy was made all the more special with a very specky crested moon and lots of adult and joey roos hopping about:
I picked Kym up from Dunsborough and we made our way to Castle Rock beach, by which time the sun was already well above the horizon. Kym has not been out much lately and was in need of some rock therapy, well that is my excuse for getting out today and I’m sticking to it! Knowing that family life should take precedence we agreed on an early start and finish. This was also in part due to the days warming up a tad, and as we got ready for the short walk in it was already 14 degree:
Today however we did not head for the great, small in stature but mighty in routes, Castle Rock. Instead taking a northerly path to Copper Rocks and we timed our approach well. With the early morning light giving us full appreciation of why it is so named. Nestled right on the water’s edge it’s a place best visited on calm days and now summer is here that will be most days:
Of course as many of you will have realised today was not about ropes, gear/bolts and running it out. Today was a very different style, one which I don’t often and probably to infrequently indulge in. With each of us shouldering a boulder mat this would be my first proper boulder at Copper Rocks and my fingertips were tingling in anticipation:
We didn’t muck about and got stuck in. A gentle warm up on the big scopes to start with. Big being the operative word, and you’ll see Kym styling up these, while stretching out and all in bare feet. I followed up after a false start, which happened when I was suddenly reminded of the rounded slopey nature of the rock here. For yet another weekend I was lucky to climb at a different place, with a different rock type that required yet another different climbing style. I still marvel how lucky we are with the varied geology of the SW:
As we warmed up the swallows were darting about catching the morning flurry of insects. Unlike Cosy Corner where I imagine they rarely need to contend with people here they see us on a regular basis. Mostly fishing, occasionally relaxing enjoying the area and of course sometimes bouldering. They didn’t seem too worried about us being there and every so often would perch on a scope and simply watch:
Right-o the warm up was over with all too quickly and we were into it. Most of Copper Rocks is steep, and as such the grades here tend to be high (for me). My last boulder session, also with Kym, was down Whaleback Boulders many, many months back. It was an awesome time and we did heaps, but it is also more slabby and there were many problems in the V1-V3 range. Not so here as I was to find out:
I let Kym show me the way on each problem and was pleasantly surprised to smash the first one with relative ease. That said I could feel the fingers stretching out on the small crimpy holds that had to be used to get over the bulge, and wondered how they would fare. The good news being that we couldn’t blame the rock condition if we failed it was perfect:
That said the next line was a tad harder and as such Kym diligently cleaned the essential holds with his trusty toothbrush. I still find this a strange practise but can understand it as when caked in chalk and grease the holds soon become far less effective. This is one of Tom’s problems and as I was to find out not one for me, there is no way I could use the hold Kym was cleaning here, well not today:
It required some pretty strenuous moves to get going and then a hand match on that horrendously small and slopey hold he had cleaned. I managed to get a hand to the hold but that was all slipping and sliding off onto the mat the few times I bothered to try it:
As for the next move forget it, a slap for a sloper! One thing I was quickly reminded of was the need for full body tension and maximising the use of all points of contact during bouldering. Short powerful moves and little time to hang about unless you are on the easy stuff. Try as he might Kym was simply not able to stick the next hold and eventually had to admit defeat and move on:
A quick break during which I kept an eye on the swallows. Just like last week at Cosy Corner we came across a nest, but were unsure if there were chicks. The good thing this time being there were no lines that got close to the nest site, as there seemed to be no chalk around it. Either that or people were respecting the swallows and were leaving them be:
Next line, and no it never did get any easier here. Kym was trying a variant, a hard one put up by Andy Lampard who is a local bouldering guru having put up some ridiculously high grade problems. Still this one Kym has managed before so he set his sights on the task to hand and tried and tried eventually unlocking the sequence. It’s pretty obvious where he was going to next in the image below:
The next hold really wasn’t much considering it was a dyno to slap to this hold, and the next hold was even less inviting. It was inspiring to watch but again beyond me, damn I’m beginning to sound like Sinead! I was however glad to have brought my big camera as that allowed me to run about and get some good shots:
I may not have done the direct Andy Lampard problem but I did have a bash at using the same higher holds by doing a variant to the line. It took me several goes and I tested the landing many times, but the elusive jug at the end of this traverse evaded me and we eventually moved on:
Next up was the classic of the crag which had a V3 start but if completed the finish bumped it up to a V6 – who am I kidding! It was however easier than the lines Kym had just been playing on so why not give it a go eh:
Kym romped up the first half in style, and looking through the lens I didn’t really take great notice of how he did it. But I could tell it was steep, required good body work and had a series of holds that did not give me great confidence. Even more so when I saw the look of concentration on his face:
He managed to get almost up the final moves several times but kept slipping. This gave me a great opportunity to take more images of this line than any of the others we played on. Here he has just got onto what would seem to be the crux hold, but as I was to find out that was the easy’ish bit:
The hardest part was getting the left hand up to the equally small hold and then pulling through to the next hold. He again dug deep and managed to pull it off:
My turn. It took a while to figure out the bottom half. It was like learning to climb again placing heal hooks and using body tension to a far greater degree than I normally do, Kym was patient and talked me through it. My main problem was that I kept trying to face climb it, but that simply wasn’t going to work on these steep problems. I did eventually manage the bottom half of the route which felt very good:
So Kym kindly made sure the two small crimpers were in the best possible condition for me. He had confidence in me as I normally I relish on small crimpy moves. I was able to attempt the top half without needing to go through the motions of the bottom so had a bash and managed it with relative ease. So with renewed confidence it was time to try ground up:
While Kym was dabbing away I heard the familiar sound of the Carnaby Cockatoos, and sure enough a small flock of them cruised past screeching out as they went past. So to take my mind of things I took the time to snap a few images of them ambling along:
That distracting didn’t last long… I kept trying and each time managed to get my right hand to the crimp but failed to get the left up despite having made the move when I practised the top. My footwork and stamina were both were failing. That unfortunately was not all that was failing and the little red dots were telling me to try something else or risk flaying part of my finger. So I bouldered up one of the only V2s here and enjoyed the more reasonable holds:
Time for a rest so we had a quick bite (thanks Megan) and a drink to get some energy back. The swallows kept watching us as we munched – see if you can spot the one in the image below. But unlike gulls and other birds we often come across they didn’t seem interested in mopping up the crumbs after we had finished:
Refreshed Kym showed me some of the other problems including this chestnut, which is his own unfinished problem. It starts right underneath the rocks with barely enough room to lift your body of the deck, so any drop in body tension means you have to start over:
It looked awesome climbing out from under the boulder to traverse along the bottom scoops with a series of twists and turns to maximise the hand and foot holds. It looked pumpy and I didn’t even both asking what he reckoned it went at:
It also looked very funky, and he went through the motions several times getting to the same hold and then running out of gas. So the problem was not been extended today, and I’m sure he will continue to work it. I gave it quick a bash but really didn’t get very far, so enough said:
One thing that I did manage, was to see the swallows go into the nest. Up until then we were not sure if the nest was in use but sure enough they did pop in and out. Taking food in and removing the excrement sacs. They were so quick that it was not possible to catch them in the nest but I got close:
There was another V3 which looked reasonable, so I decided to give it a bash. A sloping rail on a (surprise, surprise) steep wall. It didn’t look that hard and I hear that Tom simply campus’s the whole rail. I soon found out why, as the feet were awful. I know my bouldering skills are not that good but this was evil. I gave it several attempts and even got to the end of the rail once or twice but, but simply didn’t have enough left to get to the jug:
Most of the time this was the position I was in, as I looked up in wonderment and still unable to work out the footwork required to haul my sorry arse up this short problem. It was however a very comfy spot to lie:
So I gave in and let Kym show me the moves, he made it look more stylish but still failed to get any further slipping out of the rail as he approached the left-hand end. So we decided that maybe it was time to call it a day. While it may seem we didn’t do too much we had spent close to two hours and our bodies were telling us that enough was enough:
Before we walked out I had one more look at the nest and for the first time we could see the chicks; just like at Cosy Corner there were three. Well it was time to leave them alone and head back to Kym’s for a cuppa and some pikelets:
We agreed that maybe we could sneak a boulder in one day after work. With longer days it would be quite doable so in a few weeks we might sneak out and enjoy the evening light, which will also be when most of the boulder will be in shade. Um, but we could also head to Castle Rock with the rope and gear as both are equally close – nah I need to practise my bouldering:I was back on the road home to see my girls by 9 and the temperature was up at 28, damn I was glad we had an early start (stop laughing Lou!).
Sandbagged 